This experience will take educators beyond the cliché of self-care and into the realm of self-awareness, emotional efficacy, and personal power mapping. We’ve been jarred out of our comfort zones and have been forced to battle internal and external demons. Special assistance is needed to level-up our strength and capacity for personal and collective greatness. Let’s take this journey together. The concepts covered in this workshop align directly to the Believe In You Empowerment Program by Varsity Brands. This experience can be done as a 3 to 6 hour live professional development, or in a series of 3 virtual sessions. It is designed for a K-12 audience with faculty, staff, and administration.

Let’s backward-design healthy eaters with fun and meaningful learning activities. Are you looking to understand the why and how of nutrition education? This workshop answers two essential questions: 1) Why is nutrition education important for elementary school students? 2) How can I start integrating meaningful and engaging nutrition education lessons with my students? Walk through evidence-based dietary guidelines, establish the overall goal of nutrition education, break down priority learning outcomes, and explore resources that are meaningful for students and realistic for busy teachers. This experience can be customized to meet the needs of physical educators, classroom teachers, or both.

This workshop puts the focus on using OPEN’s free standards-based curriculum resources, which give physical educators creative ways to engage students and teach lessons that ensure academic rigor in any instructional environment. This is an activity-based session — come prepared and ready to move! Every OPEN instructional module includes research-based teaching tools such as academic language resources, depth of knowledge tiered question techniques, Marzano academic rigor strategies, universal design strategies, and social and emotional learning integration. Additionally, this professional learning experience will address assessment and evaluation in learning management systems, and how to plan for changing educational environments. This workshop is designed for a grades K­–12 audience.

Physical education is the only academic subject area to have standards and outcomes specifically targeting social and emotional learning (SEL) concepts. Physical educators have specific expertise on SEL and an opportunity to deliver innovative ways to develop SEL core competencies in their students. This workshop is designed to provide an overview of SEL concepts aligned to the CASEL core competencies with a focus on trauma-informed teaching. From there, teachers will discover and experience OPEN resources that have been backward designed from those competencies. This professional learning experience will also feature the Believe in You video series featuring Kevin Atlas. This workshop is designed for a grades K–12 audience.

Varsity Brands and OPEN have collaborated on outcomes-based social and emotional learning journals for intermediate grades (3-5), middle school (6-8), and high school (9-12). Students benefit when journals are used as a tool to improve group dynamics in classes or small groups, as a problem-solving tool, and to encourage emotional healing. Journals provide a safe place for children and adults to explore emotions, learn optimism, develop a growth mindset, and take control of their goal-setting effort and success. The Empowerment Journals integrate CASEL core competencies and trauma-informed instruction to support student and teacher safety, empowerment, and healing in today’s unique educational environment. This session will explore the Empowerment Journal design and process to elevate the student/teacher experience for schools/districts purchasing the journals. This workshop is designed for a grades 3–12 audience.

Not only is Field Day an event that promotes physical activity and fun, but it is also a fantastic opportunity to bring the school community together and advocate for physical education! This virtual session will guide teachers through the process of creating a successful event. When you plan, prepare, and perform for your Field Day, an effective event can be executed for all to enjoy! Additionally, free resources from OPEN will be highlighted that assist teachers with implementing Field Day at their school. This workshop is designed for a grades K–12 audience.

We all hope to be back in a “regular” classroom with our students face-to-face. But, what will that look like? There is no question that physical and social distancing will become the new normal. This professional learning experience will help physical educators tackle important questions. How can we teach effectively with these new expectations? What does this new physical education experience look like? Participants will learn strategies to manage classes and will take away ideas for keeping students safe, learning, and physically active. This workshop is designed for a grades K–12 audience.

This session will prepare teachers to implement FitnessGram® in their school or district. The workshop will cover FitnessGram® assessment protocols and tips for working with large groups. Next, participants will log in to the web-based platform and receive a guided exploration of the website, including creating test events, entering data, creating student reports, generating class and school data reports, SmartCoach® resources, and online support. Finally, the group will explore OPEN lessons and content that support fitness education and assessment. This professional development is designed for grades 3–12 audiences and will require activity space along with WiFi and computer devices for participants.

Many of today’s physical education classrooms feature both in-person and virtual learners due to the pandemic. Teachers are faced with the dilemma of assessing virtual students with FitnessGram® while never seeing them face-to-face. Created in collaboration with The Cooper Institute®, this professional development takes teachers through solutions to utilizing fitness assessments in the online environment. Assessment solutions, equipment modification, links to resources that can be posted for student access, free OPEN resources that can assist, and more will be shared. This session is designed for any teacher using FitnessGram® with virtual students.

Students need 60+ minutes of activity every day for healthy bodies and healthy brains. Physical activity helps build brains and prepares students for optimal learning! This will help them leap over any learning gap they may be facing. OPEN’s Active Classroom and Recess resources are also designed to improve social and emotional health with activities that address physiological stress response. Teachers participating in this session will learn about the connection between physical activity and learning, as well as how to safely implement physical activity into every school day. This workshop is designed for the elementary classroom and physical education teachers.

Participants will engage in techniques and methods to create innovative Sport Education seasons.  Sport Education seasons promote physical literacy while maximizing student participation, engagement, empowerment, and leadership. Frameworks and examples will show Sport Education in action by incorporating OPEN content. The session includes an activity-based walkthrough of Sport Education example lessons.  This workshop is designed for a grades 4-12 physical education teacher audience.

Education technology is a valuable tool that enhances any instructional delivery method. Physical educators can utilize it to minimize learning loss, address student SEL needs, and raise engagement of both virtual and face-to-face students! This session will expose teachers to low or no-cost interactive teaching tools, like virtual classrooms, and teach them how to expand their professional learning network via social media channels. This workshop provides a hands-on experience to help participants overcome technology challenges and deliver creative lessons focused on grade-level outcomes. Teachers should bring a tablet or laptop and have WiFi access. This workshop is designed for a grades K–12 audience.

In conjunction with our partners US Games and the American Heart Association, OPEN provides professional development to help teachers coordinate OPEN modules to the Kids Heart Challenge service-learning event. Teachers will receive not only professional development for OPEN curriculum resources but also training on content from OPEN modules that can be used to enhance a Kids Heart Challenge event (e.g., Jump Rope, Basketball Skills, Dance, Ninja Warrior). This active session will also feature notes from an American Heart Association representative on how they can support teachers who are working to facilitate a local event. This workshop is designed for a grades K–8 audience. (Note: These professional developments are scheduled through local American Heart Association representatives in your geographic area.)