Recent studies reveal worsening mental health outcomes for teens today with many pointing to sharp rises in issues such as anxiety, depression, self harm, and loneliness in American youth coinciding with the introduction of smartphones and social media in society.

What can schools do to help & what are they doing that may be fanning he flames of the rise? Coach shares his opinions on how a nothing is right in society, a social justice approach, expansion of the words such as "trauma" when we mean "discomfort" seeing students as data points, and lack of recess are contributing to the problem.

He also has statistic based advice for parents to help improve mental health outcomes for their children...go to church.

Episode Three in the Disconnect from Tech Series

Coach will be conducting a session on Non Digital Games in the the Classroom for the NJAMLE (New Jersey Association of Middle Level Educators) Conference in mid March 2024. The next few podcasts will be expansions of some of the ideas he will be sharing.

In this episode, Coach discusses some disturbing trends for teens. He begins by giving us a history of how communal our entertainment once was and the move to individualization. He then shares statistics on teen self harm, anxiety, depression, and loneliness, and those stats are NOT in a positive direction.

Jonathan Haidt's video referenced in the episode (author of upcoming book "The Anxious Generation). Some of the statistics mentioned in the episode are presented for you to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVq4ARIlNVg&t=210s

Episode Two in the Disconnect from Tech Series

Coach will be conducting a session on Non Digital Games in the the Classroom for the NJAMLE (New Jersey Association of Middle Level Educators) Conference in mid March 2024. The next few podcasts will be expansions of some of the ideas he will be sharing.

Episode One in the Disconnect from Tech Series

Coach will be conducting a session on Non Digital Games in the the Classroom for the NJAMLE (New Jersey Association of Middle Level Educators) Conference in mid March 2024. The next few podcasts will be expansions of some of the ideas he will be sharing.

In the first of this series, Coach shares how being a recreation/camp director of a small church camp shaped his views of how to develop community in the classroom in order to engage learners.

How fun and games help break down differences of the diverse experiences of kids from various racial and socio-economic communities as well as to "pick the lock" of barriers kids build out of fear of rejection by others to form a cohesive camping experience for all the teens and allow them to engage with the messages being presented.

And how these camp lessons can be adapted to the classroom setting.

Coach celebrates the start of his 3rd year of the Parent Teacher Conference podcasts by doing a retrospective of his teaching career in order to discover the reason he remains in the classroom while other teachers are quitting the profession.

Restorative Justice is a modern buzzword in education, and although some of its practices can be chalked up to what is already considered good classroom management & relationship building, many teachers are questioning its move to remove consequences from the equation (and some are even quitting the profession due to this issue). Where is the justice for the teacher and the majority of the students in the class who want to learn?

After a month break, Coach discusses his struggles with the winter months, and shares his approach to students who have missing assignments. He questions if we are teaching them to narcissistic by never deducting points or giving out zeros. He ends by praising the parents who have been supportive when he approaches them for their assistance.

What does a near perfect game in baseball have to do with the classroom and the family?

In this episode, Coach discusses how an official on the athletic field demonstrates the necessity for the need of a power imbalance in the classroom by the teacher and by the parents in order to satisfy the purpose of the game, class, and family and to keep kids safe.

My father living the quote "I'm not your friend, I'm your father" was the most loving gift he ever gave me. He kept me from dangerous falls and helped me be the man I am today.

From a Harvard President, to President's Biden and Trump, to AI use among students in the Classroom, Coach offers his opinions on plagiarism and what we really should be teaching our students, character development, the one thing each individual can control.

In this year in review episode (the 80th of 2023), Coach revisits several topics that seemed to span several episodes:

How the Disney Way can influence the classroom positively

The classroom behavior crisis, the impact of digital devices on kids, and the teacher shortages.

Why Coach is proud of his daughters for choosing a colorblind approach in their relationships rather than an Anti-Racist one.

Along the way, you will hear the 80's teen comedy Better Off Dead mentioned along with Super Bowl Champion football player educating the president of an esteemed school on race relations.

IF YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED THE ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL EPISODE, DELETE IT.  A LOT OF ERRORS

HOPE THIS ONE IS MORE ENJOYABLE!

On a very special episode, Coach uses the format of an old Christmas special, with 4 different talks centering on Christmas. Being addressed are:

1) Coach's Christmas Tradition Origin Story

2) The Grinch Who Want to End Christmas

3) Why Die Hard is a Hallmark Christmas Movie for Men

4) What the carol, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" can remind us about Christianity.

Here is the link to the song discussed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7670CXvPX0

Merry Christmas!