FINAL REFLECTION

This class has provided me with an opportunity to learn about all sorts of new technologies and how to use them. I learned how to use Google docs to collaborate with other people via the internet and work on all sorts of projects or assignments. I also learned some important things about copyright law which I am sure I will need to know as a teacher! I think having a website will be incredibly useful both as a teacher and a coach. Also, iMovie will be fun to use! I'll be able to use it with friends but also I'll be able to use it on lots of school projects and to create educational videos. Studiocode will be very useful with my classes, to evaluate my teaching. Also, I enjoyed learning about the opportunities to use the many sites and programs available on web 2.0.
I plan on using tech in my classes as a teacher. I think I will be able to accomplish a lot more and teach more efficiently through using technology with my teaching. I will use tech in many ways. I will use google docs in communicating with parents. I will use powerpoint to present information to them so I can use more visual aids and help them learn and remember more. I will use websites to keep my students and parents informed of what's going on in class and to give them access to course materials.
This class has enhanced my thinking of teaching. I now think of teaching with more technology in a way to be a better and more effective teacher.
I think I like technology the same amount, now I just know how to use more of it! :D
This has been a good semester and I have learned quite a bit! I'm sure I will continue using it as a teacher!!!

WEB 2.0

First of all, I have to say that I had no idea what 'web 2.0' was prior to last class period... so apparently I was a little behind the times! ha ha! But after last class I feel that I learned a lot and I learned specifically that there are lots of web 2.0 programs and sites that are great educational tools! One I especially found to be interesting and cool was penzu.com. this site has a journal sort of setup. I definitely see this site being helpful in classes where I want to have students reflect on discussions from class, etc. This way their entries are automatically dated and can easily be kept somewhere they won't get lost! (online) Also, the site makes it easy for students to email entries so if I want to check a specific entry I can simply have the students email it to me. I'm excited to use this and I'm sure many other web 2.0 features when I start teaching!!!

also, as a side note: I discovered tuberadio.fm while looking for web 2.0 tools and I think it's awesome! :)

STUDIOCODE

After watching and coding my video I realized that I did a good job of doing demonstrations and giving cues. I was able to notice how demonstrating and giving cues was helpful to the students and allowed them to more successfully engage in the activity. The area in instruction that I think I needed to work on was feedback. The feedback I gave was repetitive. I used the same phrases over and over again. Also, I didn't give very much feedback in general or specific. I would just end sentences with "good job." In the future I want to improve this by making a conscious effort to give more helpful and specific feedback to individual students. I also want to do a better job of giving more sincere general feedback to the class.

In coding and watching the video I also noticed that there were some areas I could improve on in management. I think I did well with giving 'when before what.' That is something I want to continue to do well with. I think that with signals I could work on using them more throughout the lesson. I gave them at the beginning of the lesson but didn't really reinforce them or use them frequently throughout the lesson. I think using them more frequently in the future will help to keep all the kids on task and prevent them from goofing around too much. I also think I could have done a better job with disciplinary actions. When a student did some sort of misbehavior I always started by saying "oops" and then trying to correct them. I think that is an ineffective way to begin because the students generally aren't misbehaving on accident but rather they are misbehaving intentionally. By telling the students directly that their misbehavior is inappropriate and will not be tolerated I will have more respect from the students throughout the lesson. Also, the students will be less likely to misbehave multiple times throughout the lesson.

I plan on making changes to my teaching after watching and coding this video. I will make changes by making conscious efforts to focus on the areas in which I need improvements. Also, I can do a better job of improving those areas by practicing ahead of time how I will handle any foreseeable situations. In giving feedback I can think of good types of feedback to give for a particular set of activities and remember to use them during my lesson.

iMovie... ALL FINISHED!!!!!

WOO! After finishing this movie I certainly have a new respect for people in editing or any sort of film business. Although I know I have learned a TON and have done some cool things I still don't think my video is cool enough to be compared to anything on TV... So, I obviously still have some room for improvement...

I can definitely think of a few instances in which instructional videos would very helpful to teaching concepts to a PE class. Any specific skill could be introduced easily through first watching an instructional video. Another way an instructional video could be effectively used is in a situation where a new game is going to be learned. The students could then see what the game is about and learn some of the rules in the video before playing the game themselves. I think that specifically an instructional video would be very helpful in depicting something such as how to shoot the basketball, or how to throw and catch a frisbee. I think implementing these videos wouldn't be too difficult. Most gyms have classrooms right on the ends so I could plan on having my class meet in the classroom first and then have them watch the video in there on the projector first and then go back to the gym or outside to practice the skill or game.

Also, I think that video could be useful in coaching a team. Sometimes players don't understand a certain situation that could maybe be better explained with using game film. with iMovie I would then be able to edit the film and put together the pieces that the player or team can see to learn a certain skill or see a problem that we are having or something we are doing well at.

iMovie Project!

Alright... so, I'm thinking this iMovie business will be pretty cool. As long as I can figure out how to use it that is... ha! but I think it will be a really great experience to practice using the program so I can use it more in the future. Anyway, here's my idea for my video... hope it works out!

I'm going to do a video showing a soccer throw-in. I think it will be a good way to demonstrate how a proper throw-in is performed.

For my video I'm thinking I'll have video of the two foot positions that are generally used for throw-ins. Also, I'll have a video of a full-body angle showing the complete form. I will also maybe use still images that illustrate specific points but I'm not for sure on that. My video will have music in the background that compliments the movie but does not distract. My video will have some narration and some text. The narration will be more for the whole thing and the text will be to highlight key points. I think it will be a bomb video! ha... hopefully it looks good when I finish it!!! Also, maybe this video will be awesome enough that I can use it when I teach soccer in PE someday!

iMOVIE!

So... last week was exciting working with imovie. I feel like I learned a lot. I have never really worked with any movie making program before so I'm pretty much starting from scratch. I feel like there is still a lot for me to experiment with and learn before I am able to make a movie that anyone would enjoy watching for educational or fun purposes. I think that learning to use imovie will be a really beneficial tool for me to use in creating presentations for classes or meetings with administration. I am excited to continue learning to use the program and figure out how to make a sweet movie!

Internet Safety Reflection Paper!!!

I think that now, more than ever, internet safety is something that should be paid attention to and learned by everyone. As technology continues to progress there are more ways that internet users become vulnerable. There are so many websites that require giving some amount of personal information in order to use them. Also, there are many social networking sites that encourage people to post their personal information for everyone else to see. I think that initially people think only of how using these sites is beneficial to them, not how it could potentially cause them problems. I think that is honestly the biggest problem with internet safety today. People aren’t worried enough about what could happen to them through the internet if they aren’t careful.

I think personally there are some changes I will be making with my internet usage. Particularly I will be putting more restrictions on access to my facebook profile. I currently don’t have it open to everyone, but I think it would be a really good idea to limit the information available to some of the people who are my facebook “friends.” Some of the people I feel I should add because I do know them but I don’t necessarily know them anywhere near well enough to give them access to all the details of my life. Another thing to change is to make sure that when I need to use my email address for something on the internet I will be more careful about making sure I uncheck any boxes saying they can give my email address to other people. I think overall I need to work on changing my mentality on using the internet safely. I need to start thinking about what could potentially happen rather than thinking that something bad won’t happen to me.

This knowledge applies specifically to teens and students I will potentially be teaching because they will be using the internet very frequently and will be asked to provide personal information on many websites. They will be at huge risk for running into potential problems if they are not made aware of the dangers of the internet. Teaching them the importance of internet safety and how to use the internet safely will be an invaluable tool in their lives.

I taught my sister about internet safety. It went well and she was interested in the information I was able to share with her. She was particularly interested in the way to tell whether a website is secure or not. When I shared with her that https is different that http she thought it was pretty cool!

THE WEBSITE

So - here's the link to the finished product. My official website: http://sites.google.com/site/physicaleducationatbshs/home

ta da! haha!!

Building My Own Website

Okay so for the most part this website business wasn't too tough for me. I've made a couple websites before for other classes and so I was able to get the basic parts put together without too much difficulty. I haven't ever put google maps or calendars on before so that was fun to work with. I had one major hang up with the glogster poster that I attatched to one of the pages on my site. I made it and then I couldn't figure out how to get it onto the website! I was getting really frustrated and then I remembered to search on youtube for an instructional video on how to do it. Sure enough, there was a video of this like 11 or 12 year old girl telling me how to get it onto my site. PERFECT! It worked like a charm! She's a smart girl! So I got that put on the site! I also enjoyed working on picnik.com with my picture... it was fun to play with different editing tools and it is SO COOL that the site is FREE!!! I think this project was way cool and that it was really applicable to my future career as a teacher. It will be so convenient and efficient to have a website for students to access information, assignments, and other things on. I definitely look forward to using websites more in the future!

Making a Website!

Last class was pretty sweet! I've made one website before and I really had a fun time with it. I'm excited to create this website because I think that it's really helpful to have a resource everyone can access to get information on a class. As a future teacher and coach I am anxious for the opportunity to create websites that will be used by my students, athletes, and parents. I am also thinking it will be fun to learn some new tricks during next class because I feel like I can already do the basics so finding a way to further my knowledge will be cool.

Copyright Issues

During last class period I felt I learned a lot about copyright laws. I think an interesting point is that there are so many specific details that qualify as copyright infringement. However, amongst all of the somewhat disappointing information I was happy to learn of the exceptions related to education. This was of primary interest to me seeing as how I will be teaching for my career. I plan on using these educational exceptions frequently in my teaching experience. As a teacher I believe there are many opportunities to use music and video as a way to add variety into my teaching. I think that utilizing technology in this way will be beneficial to my teaching and to the learning of my students.

Also, in a more personal way, I have learned that I should be more careful when working with media, or anything really, that I have or find or want to use because copyright laws cover a lot of different avenues. yikes!

Reflection Question From Class on September 10th

I think that learning to use Google docs was great! It will be a beneficial tool in working with other students and, after graduation, in working with other faculty and coaches. I also liked using the google spreadsheet. That seems like a really awesome tool for staying organized with projects or assignments that have deadlines. These tools both seemed like an efficient way to get work done with other people. I also thought it was cool that we discussed the fact that to start feeling comfortable with computers and problem-solving on them we just need to be more willing to search around for answers. The diagram of a computer expert's process was a good illustration of that idea. As a teacher I could also see using Google documents or spreadsheets to communicate with parents of students. If I have a student who is struggling in the class I can develop some sort of progress report or chart to help the parents and I stay on the same page in helping the student achieve success in class.

Goals for the semester

This semester I would like to learn how to make my blog look more original and unique from anyone else's. I would also like to have opportunities to explore new ways of incorporating technology into physical education. In an age where technology is able to assist in learning I think it can probably be applied to PE in many ways I simply haven't considered before. I am excited to see how I can apply the things taught in this class to my own teaching in the future.

Reflection on my technology background

I have had a little experience with blogs prior to taking this course. I've had a few other classes that required either making or working with blogs so I feel fairly familiar with the process. One thing I haven't really figured out how to do is how to make my blogs look cool. I only know how to use the preset junk....
As far as other technology I feel like I'm pretty comfortable with most things. I've used PowerPoint for eons and I think I can do just about anything on there. I'm also a fan of Microsoft Publisher. I feel it is an under appreciated program in general but has a lot of cool capabilities.
So overall, technology is my friend most days - except when my computer acts up in which case i resort to hating technology. ;)