Wag's Classes Working Hard in Health

We have covered a lot of material in these last few weeks in health. Today we started on our disease prevention and control unit. The students were given a learning menu to complete. They had to complete 4 appetizers, 1 entree and 1 dessert over the material. It's just a fun way to look at the material in a different way. They will be working on this for the next three days in class. The requirements can be found on our Moodle course under "Disease Prevention Project". Every student should know how to log in to Moodle but if not, I have attached directions on how to log in. We are in health for three more weeks and then will be back in the gym for the rest of the school year. Crazy to think we have already been in health for 5 weeks, I feel like we just started.

As always, keep those activity logs coming in and let me know if you have any questions.

Logging in to Moodle

Go Flyers!!!

Coach Mertens' Classes Moving Back to PE!!!

After 8 weeks in our Health curriculum, we are now moving back into our Physical Education units!  We are going into two weeks of swimming beginning next Monday 1/30.   Students need to bring trunks, a towel, and goggles if they would like.  Students should continue to work on their activity logs which are always due at the beginning of the week.

CHAD's Coalition Visited Wag's Health Classes

Today in health, Coach Wag's classes had a guest speaker from CHAD's Coalition (Communities Healing Adolescent Depression and Suicide). For those that are unfamiliar with CHAD's, it is a group that speaks on the topics of depression and suicide and is geared towards adolescents. They are a local group that was founded in 2005 by the parents of a teen that committed suicide. I have provided a link to their website, which has more information and may answer any questions you have.

Due to the mood of this topic, I recommend asking your child about the presentation and having a conversation about any questions they have. This is a serious topic so please reach out to your son/daughter and talk about any problems they might be having.

Hopefully your son/daughter learned something from this presentation but if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact myself or someone in the CHAD's Coalition.

Website Link:

Presenter: Abbie

  

Wagenknecht's Classes In Health

Coming out of our break, Coach Wag's classes will be in health for 8 straight weeks. I like to do all of my health weeks in one chunk because the kids tend to do better in class when it is all at once. Going back and forth sometimes creates chaos in the classroom. This also prevents any confusion as to where students are going on certain days. While in health I ask that students bring a device in everyday (if they can and are allowed to) as most of our learning is done through Moodle. Moodle is an online classroom similar to Google Classroom where students can view, complete and submit assignments to me online. This means that kids who are sick, miss a day or are in Leap can view assignments even when they are not in class. I will update the calendar daily with assignments but understand that some students may be further ahead or behind what I post on the calendar. By the end of February all students should have all assignments turned in and completed. Once health is over, I will no longer accept health work.

During health, the students accept a big role in their own learning and discover what it means to manage their time efficiently. Some students may struggle with this and I do my best to work with those students. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Check with your son or daughter to make sure they are keeping up with their assignments and you can always check the calendar.

Lastly, we are still expecting activity logs to be turned in. Since we are not active in class however, they cannot count their PE time towards their log. As a reminder, we also offer a 100-rep option of exercises and Anywhere Workouts that count the same as a 60-minute exercise. Those can be found under the activity log tab of this blog.

Thanks and Go Flyers!!!

Mertens' Classes Finishing Up Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Unit

That's right, we are moving on.  Remember, if you miss a day, be sure to check the course page through Moodle to see what new item(s) have been opened up.  Just a reminded that you can access the page from anywhere you have internet.  Follow this process:  Lindbergh District Home Page- Students drop down tab- Lindbergh Cloud- Login with the same username and password the students use everyday to sign in to the computers at school (all should know)- choose the orange "Moodle" block- For 7th Graders- scroll down to the "Sperreng" subsection- Choose "Health"- At the top choose "7th Grade Mertens Health".  For 8th Graders- scroll to High School- Choose "Health"- Chose the course with the label of just "Health" without a name attached to it.

As always, email me with any questions you may have!

Wag's Water World

This week started our first week in the pool this year. We will swim again next week and then two more weeks in March. Week one starts off with the deep end test and swim stroke development. We worked on 4 strokes (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly) so be sure to ask your child about it. Some students were excellent swimmers and so this was more of a practice time while others struggled so we scaled things back. We used kickboards, different techniques and other flotation devices to help kids out with their swimming development. We ended the week with a free swim day, kids always love the free swim days!!

Next week we will begin a graded water skills sheet. Skills on the sheet range from blowing bubbles to endurance swimming to water survival skills. Rest assured that all of these skills are done in a safe environment and are highly structured. Also, a student's inability to complete certain skills will not drastically alter their grade but I am looking for students to be able certain water movements. I have attached the water skills sheet so you can look over the skills we will be working on and you can ask any questions you may have.

Let me know if you have any other questions, comments or concerns and I will try to have pictures next week. Sorry for none this week, I get skittish having electronics near water since I dropped my phone in the pool back in my first year here :)

Go Flyers!!!

Skills Sheet

Coach Mertens Classes are in Health!!!

All of Coach Mertens classes are currently participating in our Health curriculum.  We will remain in these units until January 27th.  During this time, students are NOT expected to dress out, but they are still expected to complete their activity logs.  The only difference is that students may not count time spent in class towards their daily total.  For clarification on expectations, be sure to visit the "Activity Log" section of the blog.  Logs will continue to be due on Monday at the beginning of class.