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Take It Outside! Mar 31, 2009
Feeling cooped up? Need a change of scenery? We all do from time to time, so why stay in when you can Take it Outside! Using outdoor facilities is an excellent way to include a wider range of activities in your physical activity programming and introduce students or campers about they places they can go to be physically active when not at school or at camp.
| Coaching Today's Youth and Tomorrow's Physical Activity Leaders Mar 31, 2009
Lacrosse team captains, first line soccer forwards and all-star hockey players all seem to possess an innate ability to lead their team mates to realize their OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) dreams. But for most students, taking on a sports leadership role, can be about as comfortable as ill-fitting gym shorts. Exactly the reason that Kathy Brook, a Health and Physical Education teacher from the Waterloo Region District School Board, unofficially dubbed her grade 12 Fitness and Recreation Leadership (PLF4CI) course “Coaching”.
| Active Kids Score Higher: More Activity Time Adds Up to Better Learning Mar 31, 2009
The 2009 Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth, released in collaboration with ParticipACTION and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute – Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (CHEO-HALO), reveals that children who are more physically active are also more academically fit, resulting in better scores in math and reading, higher grades, greater perceptual skill and overall academic readiness.
| World Asthma Day - Tuesday, May 5, 2009 Mar 31, 2009
Ophea is celebrating World Asthma Day all month long! In recognition of all the people in the world who live with asthma, World Asthma Day takes place each year on the first Tuesday of May. The Ontario Lung Association is doing their part in the fight against asthma by helping parents make the connection between serious childhood medical conditions like asthma and the exposure of second hand smoke, urging parents not to smoke when their children are in the car with them. To learn more about asthma and the Smoke-Free Ride campaign and do your part in fighting against asthma, read on!
| Youth and Mental Health: Are Your Students Worried and Stressed Out or Truly Overwhelmed and Unable to Cope? Mar 31, 2009
Spring - a beautiful time of year, summer is just around the corner, and yet students may feel stressed. There are exams to study for, summer employment to find, college and university acceptances to receive– not to mention to pay for, and these represent only a few of the potential hurdles faced by youth today. Needless to say, it can be a difficult time. Add financial or family problems, alcohol or drug problems or a mental health issue to the mix – and it can become too much.
| Taking Steps Toward a Healthy School – Part 3: Make Public Health Your Partner Mar 4, 2009
Taking Steps Toward a Healthy School – Part 3: Make Public Health Your Partner
| Taking Steps Toward a 'Healthy School' Step 2 Jan 29, 2009
Building a healthy school means making positive changes—both big and small. It means modeling and encouraging healthy living and involving every child in physical activity. As educators, we all want to provide a healthy learning environment for our students. But while the idea of building a healthy school is wonderful, the logistics can sometimes seem daunting.
| Taking Steps toward a Healthy School: Step One Jan 6, 2009
Imagine your entire community coming together to create a school where the students get excited about taking a winter walk; where they can’t wait to get to their after-school intramural activities or hip hop dance programs at the local community centre; where achievements are celebrated with healthy snacks instead of fast food and candy; and healthy, active living goes hand in hand with learning…It’s called a ‘Healthy School’, and these schools are quickly becoming a reality across the province.
| Talking the Talk, Walking the Walk Nov 26, 2008
The winners of Ophea’s 2008 awards are spreading their messages about the importance of healthy active living for children and youth in some big ways. Find out how they’re sharing their knowledge and experience locally, nationally or internationally. They might just inspire you to get up and get active yourself.
| Play, Live, Be…Tobacco-free in Ontario! Nov 3, 2008
The second annual Youth Action Week is being held on November 23-29, 2008. Youth across Ontario are being encouraged to take action and break the connection between tobacco industry products and sport and recreation by banning tobacco consumption, advertising, promotion and marketing from all sporting events and venues, and eliminating exposure to second-hand smoke.
| Differentiation in Health and Physical Education Oct 1, 2008
Nowhere is diversity more apparent than in a Health and Physical Education class. Students enter our classes with vastly different and varied skill sets, levels of confidence and interests. Building the key elements of differentiation into our planning increases our ability to engage all of our students in learning.
| This School Year put Safety First Sep 1, 2008
Safe practices are essential when preparing to lead, teach and coach physical activity and sports, in and around the school. In order to minimize the element of risk, Ophea supports school boards and schools with the Ontario Physical Education Safety Guidelines. These documents have just undergone an entire review and are available on a new website.
| Active Safe Routes to School Aug 1, 2008
Active & Safe Routes to School (www.saferoutestoschool.ca) is a comprehensive community-based initiative that taps into the increasingly urgent demand for safe, walkable neighbourhoods. Active & Safe Routes to School promotes the use of active and efficient transportation for the daily trip to school, and addressing health and traffic safety issues while taking action on air pollution and climate change.
| Water, Water, Everywhere Jul 1, 2008
We drink it, wash ourselves with it, cook with it, spray it on our lawns and gardens, fish in it, and swim in it. In winter, we skate on it. Water is an important part of our lives. It is hard to imagine our world without water!
| The Ontario Curriculum: Health and Physical Education, Grades 1-12 Curriculum Review Jun 1, 2008
The focus of the Health and Physical Education (H&PE) curriculum is to help students develop a commitment and a positive attitude to lifelong healthy active living and the capacity to live satisfying, productive lives. Health and physical education teachers have the opportunity to help students develop critical living skills that will make a long-lasting impact.
| Student/Youth Leadership - from "leading the way", to "taking the lead" May 1, 2008
When asked, people most often define a good leader as someone who is honest, inspiring, competent and caring. Good leaders have integrity, vision and are hardworking. They share their vision with others, promote a common purpose and enable others to act. Ultimately, a good leader encourages and provides opportunities for others to lead.
| Fostering Hope Through Physical Education: How Ophea Resources are Helping to Change Lives in Sri Lanka and El Salvador Apr 1, 2008
Anyone who’s seen the look on a child’s face when they’ve just scored a goal, finished a track meet or mastered a dance routine knows: to a kid, physical activity isn’t about burning calories—it’s about having fun.
| The Purpose of Fitness Assessment in a Quality Health and Physical Education Program – Six Key Messages developed by OASPHE Jan 1, 2008
Over the past number of years, there has been considerable debate and discussion regarding the purpose and use of “fitness testing” and “fitness standards” in Ontario schools as a means of assessing the physical fitness expectations in the curriculum. Recently, this debate has been extended to include the use of fitness tests to assess the impact of the daily physical activity mandate.
| The Supportive Classroom Why school-based suicide prevention programs? Jun 1, 2007
Among youth, suicide rates tripled between the 1950s and 1980s, and have levelled off since. We can identify clusters of factors that put youth in a higher risk zone, but although they may be good for statistical generalizations, unfortunately, they often don’t tell us that the boy in Grade 11 biology who sits in the back of the classroom is contemplating suicide. You’ll often hear a parent who lost a son or daughter to suicide say these factors were not present in their child’s case. We spend so much time looking at risk factors that we often neglect protective factors.
| Organizing Effective Elementary and High School Intramural Programs Aug 22, 2008
When I began to think of intramural programs for elementary and high schools I thought of something else I once wrote, “I loved going to school and coming home. I loved recess and lunch. It was the in-between part that got to me” (Byl, 2002). I was always one of the first ones at school so I could be the first one up at baseball. Before and after recess and lunch, I and other classmates would continually think about the neat activities we did during those breaks. I loved the activities and times with classmates. These memories played a significant role in how I got involved with developing great intramural activities for kids.
| How Sabrina’s Law applies to Outdoor Education and Field Trips Feb 1, 2006
Sabrina’s Law, An Act to Protect Anaphylactic Pupils, came into effect on January 1, 2006 with the purpose of protecting students at risk of anaphylaxis.
Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction to any stimulus. Reactions are characterized by sudden onset, and involve one or more body systems with multiple symptoms. Allergens are the stimulus, or substances, that cause allergic reactions.
| Integrating Daily Physical Activity into Instructional Time Jan 1, 2006
All elementary students, including students with special needs, must have a minimum of twenty minutes of sustained moderate to vigorous physical activity each school day during instructional time. The goal of daily physical activity is to enable all elementary students to improve or maintain their physical fitness and their overall health and wellness, and to enhance their learning opportunities. Daily physical activity may include walking, active games, dance, aquatics, sports, and fitness and recreational activities (where facilities permit). (Ministry of Education P/PM 138 – Daily Physical Activity in Elementary Schools). |
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