WCA-HPE-Luke Erickson

BMI Calculations - Health 10

2009-03-13T11:01:00.000-07:00

Directions:

Type in your Body Mass Index (BMI) information into the calculator on this blog.
Post a response to the shape of the animated character as it morphs into what your body should look like.
Do you think the BMI calculator is something that is correct all the time?
What do you think about the BMI calculations...give me your true personal opinion!

A side note:

Underweight = 18.5 or less
Normal weight = 18.5 - 24.9
Overweight = 25 - 29.9
Obesity = 30 or greater

MyPyramid.gov - Health 10

2009-02-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

Go to MyPyramid.gov, go through the website and find 10 interesting facts from the website that you could apply to your life.

List the 10 interesting facts into the comment box and post to my blog.

Favorite Family Food - Health 10

2009-02-25T07:57:00.000-08:00

What is your favorite family food tradition that you have?

Why is this a tradition (the story behind the food), is it healthy (what are the ingredients), and would you recommend this food to others?

Please write a 3 - 7 sentence answer.

Favorite Food Commercial - Health 10

2009-02-23T09:01:00.000-08:00

Describe your favorite food commercial. Why do you like the commercial? Is the food being advertised healthy or not?

Another Day in the Life

2009-02-10T06:27:00.001-08:00

A former teacher of mine, Kurt Reynolds made a comment on my 'Technology' blog and made a great point. He noted a quote made by Senator George Miller, that said, "The students are digital but the systems are analog and some of the teachers, I'm sad to say, are vinyl."

I find this statement to be increasingly true. Many of us have great intentions, but for whatever reason, things that are new/different seem to be very intimidating. As educators, we must try to find the latest and most cutting edge ways to reach out to our students in a way that makes sense to them.

Just yesterday our principal mentioned an idea of possibly being able to stream the high school sporting events here at the Secondary school live over the in-network televisions and possibly the local area channels. We all think this is a great idea, but are unsure if the technology the school was made with in the mid 90's, would still be compatible with what is currently in existence. This is good stuff...we need to find this out!

Moving on, the first three weeks of the new quarter have gotten off to a great start. The time is flying by! With the warm weather we have been enjoying the past week or so, it is almost starting to feel like spring is arriving. However, I hate to get my hopes too far up, I have found out the last two track seasons that Mother Nature has a bit of a cynical side.

We have started Weight Lifting for the next three weeks. We will lift for 30 minutes three times per week and begin the day with an activity to get our blood pumping. Cardio Kickball is a favorite of the kids. We play inside the gym and the students must run the bases twice before coming home to score a point. Unlimited number of teammates are allowed on the bases, so the action can get pretty intense. Also, we will be practicing some self-defense. Last semester, the classes had a good time with the self-defense unit. At the end, I have groups of students act out scenarios where they demonstrate strategies and techniques. It is fun to see the creative minds of the students at work.

...and we're done

2009-02-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

Today is Friday and I believe that quite a few of us are ready for a relaxing weekend. No more football, no basketball tournaments, just some good ol' sleepin' in on Saturday. Also, I need to do some homework for my college class I'm taking to finish my Health degree.

Well yesterday we finished up our unit of Ultimate games. We had a good week, but after about a week of games in a block schedule, it feels like we have been playing for 2 weeks. The thing about block scheduling that I really like is that it gives me as a physical education teacher a real chance to get into a game each day and not have to feel like as soon we get warmed up we have to go change.

Wednesday, Feb. 4

2009-02-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday went quite well...for the most part. My day got off to a bit of a rocky start with two students having a bit of a blow-out in my morning PE class. Needless to say, we got it under control and things seemed to be much better today.

We have been playing a mixture of various types of Ultimate games this week and I think the reception of the new games has been a mixed bag. The kids who work hard, participate and try to have fun seem to really like the games and I enjoy watching them have a good time. Other students who walk around and keep muttering to me and the other kids how bored they are, find the games to be quite lame. When I hear this I find the game and class time to take much longer.

My goal for the class time is for the students to learn a variety of skills, get exercise and find some time to socialize with their friends.

After school, it being a Wednesday, the 9th grade basketball players had the day off, so myself and Kolten Lee played against the varsity team during the scrimmages. We got some great exercise and had fun schoolin' the guys.

Technology

2009-02-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

So this morning in the 7:45 staff meeting, we talked about the use of blogs and wikis. I would say both are interesting concepts to all, but confusing to many!

We have moved past the students Generation X, in fact myself just caught the tale end of the Grunge and Nirvana era and slipped into the current generation of Generation Y. With my experiences, I have learned the value and understand the addiction of my cell phone and Facebook. I look at both means of communication as a way to make my world smaller and keep contact with those in my world.

I have found that people of whatever generation that was prior to X as being more apprehensive about certain types of technology and find greater value in face to face contact. I mean some people actually go to the store and buy things other than just groceries!

I find greater comfort in trying to stay in pace with the step of the world, so as to not be left behind. Or maybe it is just growing laziness.

I am contemplating having the students of my 10th grade Health classes start blogs of their own as a way to track thoughts and ideas. Furthermore, I can issue assignments in class and they would need to offer a green response via the web, compared to using another sheet of paper.