Teachers say they’ll find a way to keep Ontario’s updated sex-ed curriculum alive.

July 19, 2018July 17, 2018Leave a comment

iStock-170431571-810x445

As many of you are aware my I’ve spent nearly 15 years in public education, teaching and consulting on health and physical education. In 2008 I was part of the technical analysis of the 1998 curriculum identifying areas that needed to be revised, and then in the summer of 2009 I was a member of a diverse writing team for the health and physical education curriculum from grades 1-12. This was an amazing experience which connected me with awesome leaders across the province and led to my consulting position at Ophea and experiences trainer teachers from across the province for the past 8 years.

Last week, in less than a month in office, Doug Ford announced that Ontario public schools will revert back no the 1998 curriculum, disregarding all research, parent and student consultation, and international best practices on sexual health education. This 42-page document refers to “Sexually Transmitted Infections” and “STDs”, the Internet as the “World Wide Web,” and has no mention of consent, social media, and the devise families we see today. It also contains minimal reference to mental health, and the application of relationship and social skills in a sexual health context.

Last week I was interviewed by Macleans Magazine on what I thought Teacher’s would do regarding this change. I know great teachers will make the best decisions for their students. That’s our job. As the article states ” Teachers, she explains, will be able to have discussions in the classroom about current events happening in their communities, or issues arising from their use of social media, which will serve as opportunities to introduce ideas from the 2015 curriculum. ‘It’s about having valuable conversations with students that they might need in a way that’s relevant to them,’ she says.”

Read the full article here: https://www.macleans.ca/education/teachers-will-find-a-way-to-keep-ontarios-updated-sex-ed-curriculum-alive/

Ophea has also put out a statement saying that they will not be revising their health lessons reverting them back to the 1998 content and state “Ophea and OASPHE continue to believe that students have a right to learn from an up-to-date, research-based Health and Physical Education curriculum that includes human development and sexual health education.” View Ophea’s advocacy tools here.

Fostering Good Digital Citizenship in the Classroom

November 9, 2016November 8, 2016Leave a comment

Whether we’re looking up a recipe, getting directions, sharing a photo on social media or doing online banking — there’s no question: we’re living in a digital world.

And while there are many positive aspects to our connected world, there can be drawbacks and dangers, especially for young people who are still developing the critical thinking and interpersonal skills they need to stay safe and have positive interactions online.

Here are three tips shared by Ophea Canada in their blog post, Safe & Savvy Online, which I had the opportunity to contribute to and be interviewed for.

1. Connect to Curriculum:

The 2015 H&PE Curriculum includes expectations around online behaviour in the Personal Safety and Injury Prevention component of the Healthy Living strand, in the Human Development and Sexual Health strand and through the Living Skills—the personal, interpersonal and critical and creative thinking skills that are woven throughout the curriculum.

We want students to use Living Skills like critical thinking so they’re questioning what they’re seeing online and thinking about the integrity of what they’re doing, as well as the behaviours and actions of others.

2. Connect to the Community:

School administration, the OPP, Kids Help Phone or local police and public health for are great resources and sources of support. As teachers we can learn from professionals and subject experts about situations that have occurred, what resources are available, and what actions the school or community have taken in the past and can take in the future.

Collaborating with other teachers and various organizations (like the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario) can also be a good way to stay up-to-date on trends in technology. It changes very quickly, and in most cases students know before we do as educators. Be willing to learn and comfortable knowing that your students will likely know more than you.

3. Connect to the Everyday:

Internet safety needs to be part of the everyday safety we’re teaching students. As teachers we can model positive behaviour and learning through “Think Alouds” as we Google search various topics connected to the curriculum.

Learning online is simply an extension of what we’re already doing. Teachers should be integrating online safety as they would any safety topics, including road safety, safe handling of food, and bullying.

By teaching students to think critically about what they read, see and share and then to act with kindness and integrity, just as we want them to do in real life, we’ll help to ensure our students success and safety—both in the virtual and the face-to-face world.

To read the original blog post through Ophea, click here.

How schools, families, and community can work together to support healthy active living.

September 10, 2015September 10, 2015Leave a comment

With a revised curriculum for Health and Physical Education has come not only new expectations to help keep learning current and connected to students real lives, but Ontario teachers also have a new set of five Fundamental Principles of which to guide their teaching. These Fundamental Principles can act as a self check for teachers to personally evaluate their instructional practices and teachings. In order to support the understanding of these Fundamental Principles I’ve had the pleasure of supporting Ophea (the provincial subject association for Health and Physical Education) create a variety of tools to share the Fundamental Principles including a series of conversation starters videos which teachers can use to self-check and promote best practices.

This past week the first of five videos was released. The topic is on Fundamental Principle number one, “Health and physical education programs are most effective when they are delivered in healthy schools and when students’ learning is supported by school staff, families, and communities”. Check out what some leaders in Ontario H&PE have to say, and how they bring this Fundamental Principle to life in and out of the gym and health room.