Derek Rodriguez

In 6th Grade Health, students develop the knowledge and skills needed to make informed, responsible decisions about their physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. Through discussion, scenarios, reflection, and skill practice, students learn to evaluate health information, communicate effectively, build healthy relationships, manage challenges, and seek support when needed.

 

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Health Course Units & Objectives: 

• Unit 1: Healthy Choices Start With Me
  • Students build health literacy by evaluating reliable information, interpreting nutrition information, and making informed choices that support wellness.
• Unit 2: Safe, Respectful Communities
  • Students explore bullying prevention, personal safety, conflict resolution, assertive communication, advocacy, and help-seeking.
• Unit 3: Growing Through Adolescence
  • Students learn about physical, emotional, cognitive, and social changes during adolescence while exploring healthy boundaries, personal safety, trusted adults, and responsible decision-making.
• Unit 4: Mental & Emotional Wellness
  • Students examine emotions, stress, coping strategies, resilience, technology, and healthy ways to support their own and others’ mental well-being.
• Unit 5: Influences & Healthy Decisions
  • Students analyze how peers, family, media, culture, and personal values influence health decisions, including choices related to substances and other risky behaviors.
• Unit 6: Healthy Relationships & Communication
  • Students practice communication, boundaries, refusal, negotiation, conflict resolution, advocacy, and help-seeking skills that support healthy relationships.

 

Health Policies & Expectations:

• Students are expected to:
  • Arrive prepared with required materials.
  • Participate respectfully in class discussions and activities.
  • Respect the perspectives, experiences, and privacy of others.
  • Complete assigned learning activities.
  • Ask questions and seek help when needed.
  • Contribute to a safe and supportive learning environment.
• Health includes topics that may be personal or sensitive. Students are expected to communicate respectfully and help create an environment where classmates feel safe participating and asking questions.

In 6th Grade Physical Education, students develop movement skills, fitness knowledge, tactical understanding, teamwork, and confidence. Learning emphasizes personal growth, safe participation, decision-making, and transferable skills rather than simply winning or mastering individual sports.

 

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Physical Education Course Units & Objectives: 

• Unit 1: Building Our PHE Community
  • Students establish class routines, practice teamwork and safe participation, complete baseline fitness assessments, and set personal goals.
• Unit 2: Creating Space
  • Students explore spacing, support, defense, communication, and decision-making through a variety of invasion games.
• Unit 3: Training for Improvement
  • Students learn about fitness components, the FITT Principle, training concepts, exercise intensity, and safe workout design.
• Unit 4: Rally & Recover
  • Students develop positioning, consistency, communication, recovery, and strategy through net and wall activities.
• Unit 5: Aim, Strike & Score
  • Students apply accuracy, force, placement, strategy, and decision-making in target and striking/fielding activities.
• Unit 6: Active for Life
  • Students participate in adventure and lifetime activities, reassess their fitness, reflect on personal growth, and develop strategies for staying active beyond school.

 

Physical Education Policies & Expectations:

• Physical Education Attire & Dress Out Policies:
  • The uniform shirt is a CHARCOAL Mesa T-Shirt with a place to write the student's first and last name.  Athletic shorts or pants should be brought from home.
  • UNIFORM COST--Shirt is $10.50 paid through My School Bucks ONLINE - We do not accept cash.
  • If a shirt is lost, a replacement shirt may be available for purchase ($10.50), based on the remaining supply of shirts for that school year.
  • Athletic shoes are REQUIRED for safety and participation in PE. 
  • Athletic Shoes--have laces or Velcro or are not going to fly off the student.  
  • NO--sandals, flip flops, slides, crocs, boots, heels, shoes with wheels, slippers, or anything that is going to fly off. No modified clothing, the dress code still applies.
  • We also encourage students to bring extra socks, deodorant, and any other personal hygiene items they may need throughout the year.
  • Due to the importance of personal hygiene and preparedness for quality participation in PE activities, there is a point reduction as well as a consequence when a student is not dressed out/prepared for PE classes.
  • “No Dress” days will result in a loss of 1 Work Habit Point for Preparedness each day of PE that a student does not dress out
  • Students must fully dress out to not be counted as “No Dress” (Changed Shirts & Bottoms)
• Participation Policies:
  • “No Participation” days will result in a loss of 1 Work Habit Point for Participation each day of PE that a student does not participate 
  • Students must fully participate in all aspects of the class period to avoid being counted as “No Participation” 
• Physical Education Locker Room Policies:
  • ***Every student will be assigned a Combination Lock and a Locker at the beginning of the school year***
  • Small lockers will be shared among 2 students
  • The Large lockers will be shared by up to 4 students
  • The lock and locker are the student's responsibility 
  • Damaged or missing locks must be reported to a teacher as soon as possible
  • Damaged or Vandalized lockers should be reported immediately! 
  • If a student's locker is damaged or vandalized at Check-In at the end of the year, that student will be solely responsible for the cleaning or repair of that locker.
  • If a student’s lock is missing at Check-In at the end of the year, the student will be responsible for covering the replacement cost of the lock.
  • *IMPROPER USE OF THE LOCKER ROOM OR INABILITY TO FOLLOW LOCKER ROOM RULES & EXPECTATIONS MAY RESULT IN SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION FROM THE LOCKER ROOM*
  • * ALL PERSONAL BELONGINGS ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF EACH INDIVIDUAL STUDENT. THE SCHOOL / WELLNESS TEACHERS ARE NOT HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPROPERLY STORED BELONGINGS*
  • The use of the locker rooms at Mesa Middle School is a privilege. Any student caught violating the rules or damaging/vandalizing the locker room will be suspended or expelled from use of the locker rooms.
  • The locker room should be used for dressing in and out only.
  • When a student is done dressing in or out, they should sit on the benches until they are instructed to leave the locker room area by the teacher.
  • ANY STUDENT WHO SEES ANY MISCONDUCT SHOULD REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY TO A WELLNESS TEACHER.
  • Students should lock up all belongings of high value:
    • Cell Phones
    • Tablets
    • Wallets
    • Computers
    • AirPods / Headphones
    • Etc.
  • Backpacks will be stored in a central location where teachers can monitor them to ensure no students are damaging or going through bags that do not belong to them.
  • The school / Wellness teachers are not responsible for items that are taken from unlocked lockers
  • Locker rooms will remain closed and locked during all class periods and will only be opened at the beginning and end of each period.
  • After the locker room door is closed, students will not be granted re-entry without teacher supervision.

• *** Locker Opt-Out Statement for PE***

• Students have the option to opt out of being assigned a locker for Physical Education. However, please note that neither the teachers nor the school will be held liable for any lost, stolen, or missing items if a student chooses not to use a locker. Students who wish to opt-out must Request & Complete a Locker Opt-Out Waiver and have it signed by a parent or guardian.

Students will alternate between Health & Physical Education Classes every other week

Content Knowledge:

• Criterion A: Knowledge and Understanding
  • i. Outline physical and health education-related factual, procedural and conceptual knowledge
  • ii. Identify physical and health education knowledge to describe issues and solve problems set in familiar and unfamiliar situations
  • iii. Apply physical and health terminology to communicate understanding.
• Criterion B: Planning for Performance
  • i. Identify goals to enhance performance
  • ii. Construct and outline a plan for improving physical activity and health.
• Criterion C: Applying and Performing
  • i. Recall and apply a range of skills and techniques
  • ii. Recall and apply a range of strategies and movement concepts
  • iii. Recall and apply information to perform effectively.
• Criterion D: Reflecting and Improving Performance
  • i. Identify and demonstrate strategies to enhance interpersonal skills
  • ii. Describe the effectiveness of a plan based on the outcome
  • iii. Describe and summarize performance.

Work Habits:

Work Habits represent the behaviors students demonstrate as learners and are separate from Content Knowledge.

Work Habits are assessed using the Mesa Middle School Work Habits Rubric and include areas such as:

• Behavior
• Participation
• Work Ethic
• Preparedness

Examples may include arriving prepared, using class time effectively, participating appropriately, completing responsibilities, following expectations, and demonstrating productive learning behaviors.

Work Habits do not determine a student's level of Content Knowledge.

 

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IB Grading Scale:

• Student Content Knowledge is assessed using the MYP 0–8 achievement scale.
  • Score General Level
    • 7–8 Advanced / Exceptional
    • 5–6 Proficient / Strong
    • 3–4 Developing / Satisfactory
    • 1–2 Beginning / Limited
    • 0 No Evidence

Score Breakdown:

Level 7 & Level 8 = A Level 5 & Level 6 = B Level 3 & Level 4 = C Level 1 & Level 2 = D Level 0 = U or I

Assignments & Grading Policy for Health & Physical Education:

• Assignments & Google Classroom
  • All assignments and important course materials will be posted in Google Classroom.
  • Students are responsible for regularly checking Google Classroom and Infinite Campus to monitor assignments, feedback, missing work, and grades.
  • Assignments entered into Infinite Campus will identify the appropriate Content Knowledge criterion/strand or Work Habits skill being assessed.

• Late/Missing Work Policy:

• Students are expected to complete assignments by the established due date.
• However, lateness cannot reduce a student's Content Knowledge score. Content Knowledge reflects what the student knows and can demonstrate.
• Late or missing work may instead be reflected in the student's Work Habits – Work Ethic score according to Mesa Middle School's Work Habits rubric.

• Missing Work
  • Assignments that have not been submitted will be marked Missing (M) in Infinite Campus.
  • When appropriate, an absence will be identified in the assignment comments along with an adjusted due date.
  • Students receive one additional school day for each day absent to complete missed work.
  • A missing assignment will remain marked Missing until:
  • The assignment is submitted, or
  • The assignment is no longer being accepted because the unit has ended, the assignment is no longer relevant, or the grading period has ended.
  • When an assignment is no longer being accepted, a 0 may be entered with a comment explaining why the assignment can no longer be completed.
• Submitted Work
  • If work is submitted and provides assessable evidence, the minimum score a student may receive is a 1.
  • Incomplete work will be evaluated based on the evidence of learning that is present rather than receiving an automatic zero solely because it is incomplete.
  • All submitted work, including late work, will generally be graded within one week of submission.
• Retakes & Reassessment
  • Learning is a process, and students may have opportunities to demonstrate improved understanding through reassessment.
  • To be eligible for a retake:
  • Students must complete missing formative assignments connected to the assessment.
  • A retake must be requested or offered within one week of receiving feedback.
  • Students may complete one retake for an eligible assessment.
  • Students may earn up to an 8 on the retake.
  • The higher of the two scores will be recorded.
  • Retakes may look different from the original assessment while still measuring the same learning.
  • Not every assessment will necessarily qualify for a retake. The Wellness Department will maintain consistency regarding which assessments are eligible.
  • Teachers may use professional judgment when supporting students who require additional check-ins, accommodations, or other documented supports.
  • Retake requests and procedures will be available through the teacher's Google Classroom.
• Absences & Make-Up Work
  • Students are responsible for completing learning missed because of an absence.
  • Students will generally receive one additional school day for each day absent to complete missed work.
  • Students should check Google Classroom after an absence and communicate with the teacher when they need clarification or assistance.
  • Students will not be academically penalized for learning opportunities missed because they were receiving required school services or support.
• Homework
  • Most Health and Physical Education learning will occur during class.
  • When homework is intentionally assigned, it will:
    • Support current classroom learning.
    • Be appropriate for the learning goal.
    • Follow the Wellness Department and grade-level expectations.
    • Account for accommodations and individual student plans.
    • Homework will not be assigned over school breaks.
• Student Support & Accommodations
  • Mesa Wellness is committed to providing students with appropriate access to learning.
  • Students receiving Mild/Moderate, ELD, or AN services will work toward the same learning expectations as general education students while receiving the accommodations required by their individual needs and plans.
  • Students receiving SSN services may receive modified assignments and/or grading expectations in collaboration with SSN teachers and support staff.
  • Teachers will collaborate with service providers, case managers, counselors, and other support staff when additional assistance is needed.

• Assignment Numbering System:

• All assignments will be labeled using a 3-digit numbering system to help students easily locate them on Google Classroom and IC.
• Example: 1.1.1 = Unit 1, Lesson 1, Assignment 1
• This system is designed to make finding missing assignments easy.

Student & Parent Syllabus Acknowledgement