How to Play Cornhole

Using Technology to Teach: A Follow up of My Initial Thoughts of Technology in the Classroom

Reflect on using technology to help the teaching and learning process in your classroom, keeping in mind tools we have discussed so far this semester (such as those you listed in your portfolio) and how your repertoire of strategies and techniques has grown since the beginning of the semester.
- Taking into account the amount of tools my eyes have been opened to a vast amount of creative and helpful ways to use technology in my gymnasium or classroom. In the beginning I was skeptical of how technology was going to be implemented in to a gymnasium. Because I have been taught that physical education is important to have well rounded students, I did not know how computers, a very physically inactive activity, could have a place in physical education class. Since movement is the focus, it took a lot to convince me that technology does have a place in the gymnasium. I really think it does, and I have learned a lot this semester including how to use wikis, podcast and delicious and many other tools. I will be using some of the tools to help my students learn, but the way that I use these tools will probably be different than a teacher of a classroom. The tools will be more to help me facilitate learning by giving me information and using the tools. The students are not actually going to sit down to use the computers during class. I will use the podcast to record a timing system for the fitness circuit and while I am absent from school. Some of the websites that are more geared toward the students like delicious may not be used as often. Again, I might use the website to help me be organized. I would love to make my own teacher webpage to keep students and teachers up to date on the activities. I could have tournament brackets and scores on my teacher web page so that students can show their parents achievements they reached in class. Also, to inform parents of students about field day and other special occasions. I may use a virtual tour to show students famous athletic places, but this would be a brief showing. Those are a few ways I would implement the information I have learned this semester into my gymnasium.

Reflection on Podcasting

(1) Definition or description of podcasting.
- Podcast is a recording of a person's voice that can be listened to by many others. A website like Audacity is a free site that allows people to record their voice to make an MP3 file and then turn that into a podcast.

(2) How you will use podcasting in your classroom.
- Podcasting could be used in my gymnasium in an instructional or informational format. I could use podcasting to present a lecture to student if I know that I will be away for a conference or absent from school for some other reason. That way I know the material I want to be covered for that class period is being covered. I could also use podcasting to instruct students through an activity. Say I have stations set up around the gymnasium for a fitness circuit and I do not want to repeat when to change stations every class period. I could record myself using podcast blowing the whistle every 30 seconds to signify that the students should move to the next station. That way I am able to have more one on one time with the students helping them with technique or form.

(3) Pros and cons of podcasting.
- The pros I think are just what I stated in the second question, just that I could use podcasting in 2 beneficial ways by recording a lecture or recording a time sequence for a fitness circuit.
- The cons I believe are that a substitute teacher may not know how to access the podcast. Another down fall is that the school district I work with may not be able to afford the technology required for the podcast.

My Initial Thoughts of Technology in the Classroom

These were my thoughts on January 20, 2009. So far I have thought about using technology several different ways in my teaching. I first thought that it would be difficult to integrate technology into my teaching because of the setting that I am going to be in. Being a health and physical education major, I have never seen or ever heard of using technology in my gymnasium or classroom other than using a projector to show a video for a cardiovascular workout. This class has helped me to realize that technology could very well have a place in my teaching and my students education. Using technology can be used to inform me and help me inform others of information that will directly effect the information that I pass on to my students. I am also assuming that the video that we are going to be creating could be used to highlight different aspects of physical education and help to promote the program in the school that I will be teaching at.

Reflection on Ethics

(1) Definition or description of what ethics means?
- Ethics is what determines if an act or thought is right and wrong. Ethics usually vary from person to person depending on the person's culture, religion, background or race.

(2) How ethics will affect your work as a teacher with your students and your colleagues?
- In American school systems a set of ethics are usually set for the faculty and students. These ethics mostly relate to rules that are to be followed during school and are located in the handbook. There are also other ethics that are not covered by the handbook, which will have to be dealt with when they come around.

(3) Pros and cons of being concerned with ethics?
- The pros of being concerned with ethics is that our character is a representation of what we do in our everyday lives and so by being concerned with ethics we are improving our character.
- The cons of being concerned with ethics is that it naturally make life a little more difficult for those people. It is difficult to have good character and those who do not care take the easy way out and some of the time do not have the best character. So, by caring about ethics we have to invest a little more time and effort to become people with good character.

Getting Started Reflection

I viewed “Web 2.0 Tools to Amplify Elementary Students’ Creativity and Initiative” because I am interested in becoming a teacher of elementary age students. This video gave some incite as to how an elementary teacher could use Webquest, Wiki and a few other cites to teach students about technology while learning. I was amazed at the activities that students a such a young age became involved in. During the video they created their own profiles on a wiki. On their profiles' were an animated version of that student. They first designed the character and then added auto to the profile. The animation's mouth would move right along with the audio track that was recorded. The student would introduce themselves through the audio feed. Another positive activity that the teacher presenting this video talked about was Webquest. She mentioned that Webquests came out a few years ago and that she really likes that, but does not use is as much because they are still very teacher instruction based; whereas, she likes student discovery to be lead by the students themselves. She mostly provides links on Thinkquest for her students so that they can lead their own discovery. She makes the stipulation during the students computer time during class is that they stay on websites provided by her through the Thinkquest website.

Reflection on Teacher Web Pages

(1) What is a teacher web page?
- A teacher web page is a website that is made up completely by a teacher. It allows students, students parents and the community to keep tabs on the day to day activities of that teacher's classroom. This page provides users with information pertaining to class work and homework.

(2) How will you use a teacher web page when you teach?
- I will keep my teacher web page up to date so that my students, the community and the student's parents can see the progress that is being made in the class room. As a teacher, I will let my students know that when they are absent that they are to check my teacher web page for the assignments they missed while absent.

(3) Positives and negatives of using a teacher web page.
- Positives of having a teacher web page in my mind greatly out weigh the negatives. A teacher web page is just a great way to keep the line on communication open between student and teacher. Students can check assignments when they miss class or did not hear about an assignment so that they do not fall behind. Teachers can communicate directly to the student's parents rather than sending notes home with student (which we all know is not the most efficient way of communicating).
- The only negative that I can see as to why a teacher web page would be negative is that it might take up extra time for the teacher. The teacher may have difficulty finding time to update the site. I see no negative effect to a teacher having a teacher web page on the students of community.