Life Is The Future

Life Is The Future

By Scott TodnemEducation
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Life Is The Future episodes

  • Maturing Through Middle School - S3 E15

    From childhood to teen years!

    This week's hosts, Naomi and Zoie interview classmates Julian and Emanuel and all four 8th graders discuss the middle school experience, focusing on lessons learned from 6th to 8th grade. Specifics include elementary worries about recess, lunch, and homework, physical growth and stress management, social circles and true friendships, and excitement for high school.

    RESOURCES

    Students:
    MindBe Education - 30 Mindfulness Activities for Teens

    Parents:

    Parent Learning Center - Expectations That Your Teen Will Appreciate In The Future

    Teachers:

    Chicago Tribune - 'No worse fate than failure': How pressure to keep up is overwhelming students

    Tune in next week for a new topic and a new set of guests. Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year.

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    30 min
  • Rethinking Schoolwork in the Pandemic World - S3 E14

    Schoolwork during a pandemic... what should that look like?

    This week's hosts, Tami and David interview classmates Tanuj and Olivia and all four 8th graders discuss the topic of schoolwork, focusing on remote and hybrid learning, grading, teaching techniques, learning apps, and considerations we should all take during the COVID pandemic.

    RESOURCES

    Kids, Teachers Making School Work During COVID-19 from USA Today
    Should Schools Be Giving Failing Grades This Year? from Education Week
    I Can’t Believe This, but I Would Rather Be at School from New York Times
    What Is Homework's Purpose in a Pandemic? from ASCD
    Pandemic Teaching Is The Hardest Thing We’ve Ever Done from We Are Teachers

    Tune in next week for a new topic and a new set of guests. Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year.

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    23 min
  • Teens in a Pandemic Check In: Recap of 2020 & Hope for 2021 - S3 E13

    Pandemic check-in!

    Back for the new year... it's 2021! We are a doing these from time to time this school year-- a "temperature check" from our 8th graders on how everything is going in our COVID era of learning and living.

    This week's hosts, Naomi and Zoie interview classmates MeShauna and Tiffany and all four 8th graders have a conversation to recap all of the events of 2020 before looking ahead to 2021.

    Specifics include worldwide catastrophes and political events like wildfires, celebrity deaths, Black Lives Matter, murder hornets, Trump & Biden election, storming of the Capitol building, remote learning, hybrid approach, vaccine possibilities, and more.

    MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

    Students:
    MindBe Education - 30 Mindfulness Activities for Teens
    Health Mind Platter - Essential Brain Activities

    Parents:

    Parent Learning Center - Expectations That Your Teen Will Appreciate In The Future
    World Health Organization (WHO) - Self-Care and Self-Help

    Teachers:

    Time - Teen Depression and Anxiety: Why the Kids Are Not Alright
    Chicago Tribune - 'No worse fate than failure': How pressure to keep up is overwhelming students

    Tune in next week for a new topic and a new set of guests. Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year.

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    26 min
  • Winter Break Fun: "Would You Rather" & "Never Have I Ever" - S3 E12

    "Would You Rather" & "Never Have I Ever" 

    This week, all four 8th grade hosts-- Tami, David, Naomi, and Zoie-- take a little break from their weekly interview routine. They've been through some important topics already this school year and decided to have a little fun the day before winter break. Listen in as they debate some great questions and laugh through random scenarios together. It's an entertaining episode and lets the teens speak candidly for a bit.

    Below are some resources I like to offer at this time of the year during the holidays and upcoming new year.

    RESOURCES

    What is Motivation? from Psychology Today
    The Scientific Guide on How to Get and Stay Motivated by James Clear
    Managing the Seemingly Inevitable Holiday Season Stress from Elizabeth Scott

    Continue to tune in after the new year as we continue in 2021 with Season 3 of our podcast! Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the remainder of the school year.

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    23 min
  • Mental & Social Health in Middle School - S3 E11

    The crucial meeting point between mental and social health!

    How does cognitive and emotional wellness influence the interactions with family, friends, and society? And vice versa?

    This week our hosts Tami and David have a conversation with classmates Aimee and Lucas. Their discussion focuses on coping through the COVID pandemic, what is currently influencing emotional well-being in teens, how students are maintaining social interactions, if schools and Health Classes help, and recommendations to fellow middle schoolers on how to stay mentally healthy going into the new year.

    RESOURCES

    Mental Health:
    MentalHealth.gov Let's Talk About It
    World Health Organization (WHO) Self-Care and Self-Help
    National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Top HelpLine Resources
    National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
    Health Mind Platter Essential Brain Activities

    Social Health:

    Teens and Socializing: Relationships, Coping Skills, Substances from Newport Academy
    Socially Active Teens are Physically Healthier from Today
    Social & Emotional Learning Competencies from CASEL

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    27 min
  • What Do Teens Know About Illegal Drugs? - S3 E10

    Drugs. Teens. Is it inevitable the two will meet? Or is that a stereotype of the past?

    This week our hosts Naomi and Zoie have a conversation about drug use, focusing on medicine vs. illegal drugs, lacking knowledge and information, media influence on teenagers, peer pressure and social image, and other perceptions surrounding the topic. This week's guests, Sania and Mia, help process things with their own thoughts, and the four 8th graders ponder their own future before leaving younger listeners with recommendations for handling the decisions in middle school.

    RESOURCES

    Youth Risk Behavior Survey
    CDC - E-Cigarettes
    Tobacco Free Kids
    Stanford Tobacco Toolkit
    NIH - Underage Drinking
    Illinois Policy - Marijuana Legalization

    Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year!

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    21 min
  • Introducing the Life Is The Future Podcast

    Life Is The Future!

    What influences exist in teenage life? What drives adolescent behavior? What else impacts physical, mental, and social well-being in this thing we call life?

    Tune in to hear directly from teachers and students as we dive into topics surrounding the lives of adolescents. Health Education teacher Scott Todnem and his middle school students open up conversations that get to the heart of it all.

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    2 min
  • Teens Reflect on the 2020 Presidential Election - S3 E9

    Let's get political! ;)

    8th Grade hosts Tami and David invite classmates Sania and Sophie back to the podcast to discuss the 2020 American Presidential election. All four middle schoolers give their thoughts on the state of the nation and provide insight on teenagers' interest and education in politics and activism. This is a must-listen! Hear their mature conversation about the presidential debates, mail-in ballots and potential voter fraud, and recommendations to fellow young people on how to stay informed and involved while growing up.

    RESOURCES

    Harvard Institute of Politics: Youth Poll - Election 2020
    Common Sense Media: Tips to Steer Kids of All Ages Through the Political Season
    Your Teen: Red, Blue, or In Between? How To Talk About Politics With Your Teen
    National Geographic: Talking to Kids About the Election

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    22 min
  • The Ins & Outs of Teen Technology Use - S3 E8

    The many faces of technology!

    Naomi and Zoie interview two other 8th grade students, Saryah and Ania. All four discuss the positives and negatives of technology, with a focus on its addictive nature, schoolwork vs. recreation, human advances, popular online sites/apps, practical uses, and how age factors into screen time.

    RESOURCES

    Common Sense Media: Teens on Social Media & How Much Screen Time is Okay?
    Pew Research Study: Teens & Social Media
    Vox Recode: Teens Are Hooked On Social Media
    Adam Alter: TED Talk & "Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology"

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    23 min
  • Teens in a Pandemic Check In: Remote Learning vs. Hybrid Set-up - S3 E7

    Pandemic check-in!

    We will do these from time to time this school year-- a "temperature check" from our 8th graders on how everything is going in our COVID era of learning and living. This week's hosts, David and Zoie interview classmates Mady and Baruni and all four 8th graders have a conversation about their current situation in our pandemic. Specifics include remote learning, hybrid approach, coping strategies, social health, media influence, testing and vaccine possibilities, and more.

    Below are some mental health resources we've always promoted during our podcasts.

    RESOURCES

    MentalHealth.gov Let's Talk About It
    World Health Organization (WHO) Self-Care and Self-Help
    National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Top HelpLine Resources
    National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
    Health Mind Platter Essential Brain Activities

    Tune in next week for a new topic and a new set of guests. Make sure to subscribe to keep up to date on our podcast episodes throughout the school year.

    Teaching insight, blog posts, and more from the Health Education classroom: LifeIsTheFuture.com

    21 min

About Life Is The Future

From the publisher's feed

Thoughts from the Health Education classroom, brought to you by Scott Todnem and his middle school students.