PARTNERSHIP FOR 21ST CENTURY SKILLS

Has anyone ever heard of or used this web site? I was assigned to check it out this week, and I have to admit that I found it somewhat intimidating. Not because it was difficult to navigate through, but because of the information on the site. Perhaps the thing that I had the hardest part time with was that I knew nothing about what I was reading. I guess that it could be much more inviting if I were technologically up to date in education. The home page is pretty dry reading, however once I got past it and started reading some of the articles it grew on me. It did take a couple of visits to the site to get an idea about what I was reading. This web site could be used as a very effective tool in integrating technology into education. Much of what I read were ideas that schools around the nation are doing to incorporate technology into what they teach each day. In fact, I greatly appreciated the web sites goal of trying to prepare students for today's world. This is a point that I try to teach by even though it continues to be difficult with the lack of technology available to most teachers. That being said, I think that teachers have a better chance a gaining that technology, or at least the knowledge of it, through this web site.
Take a chance to visit the site and let me know thoughts, likes and dislikes.

BMI on Report Cards?

I work in a school district that has decided to make a strong stand in educating students about healthy lifestyles and choices. One of the decisions to help educate students about their health habits was to include their BMI (Body Mass Index) on report cards in grades 1-6. This decision has been through some controversy among parents and educators. Personally I am on the fence about this one. On one hand, I do think that students should learn how to figure out their BMI score, and understand what it means. On the other, I think that overweight students already know that they are overweight. I also wonder if we are giving the parents the right amount of information about what the intent of the BMI score is. I guess that I have a couple of questions reguarding this subject. What is the benifit of including BMI on report cards? And, shouldn't we be educating parents about healthy lifestyles and nutrition? After all, students are usually going to eat meals that are prepared by the parents.

How has technology changed the way we teach health and p.e.?

There seem to be several ways to integrate technology into education in today's society. Physical education is no different. With the ever growing obesity epidemic physical educators accross America are looking for efficient ways to teach about healthy living and active lifestyles. My question to fellow physical educators is simple; what are you doing to create an effective learning enironment for students in the physical setting?