Technology Project

Technology Project

Vocaroo

EALR:   1. The student acquires the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain an active life: Movement, physical fitness, and nutrition.     Component:   1.5 Understands relationship of nutrition and food nutrients to body composition and physical performance.

Grade Level Expectation:   1.5.1 Applies nutrition goals based on dietary guidelines and individual activity needs.    

EARL: The student acquires the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain a healthy life: Recognizes dimensions of health, recognizes stages of growth and development, reduces health risks, and lives safely.     Component:   2.1 Understands foundations of health.

GLES 2.1.1 Analyzes the dimensions of health and relates to personal health behaviors.

   EALR:   2. The student acquires the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain a healthy life: Recognizes dimensions of health, recognizes stages of growth and development, reduces health risks, and lives safely.     Component:   2.3 Understands the concepts of prevention and control of disease.

Grade Level Expectations

2.3.1 Understands factors and prevention related to communicable diseases.

End of Semester Blog

After being in this class every Tuesday night of the week I realize how significant technology plays in education and it is a key component in every classroom and hopefully one day in physical education. By the time I have a classroom of my own someday I think technology will be completely different then what it is right now but now I feel like I am prepared for everything that technology is going to throw towards me. It will take some time of mine to integrate technology well in my classroom but learning along the way will benefit my students in the long run. Although this class has not taught me everything there is to know about technology because technology changes every year, but I do believe that this class has made me more proficient in using technology.
When looking at the NETS I realized that there are areas with technology that I have benefited in this year.  I disagree that older teachers do not use technology in their classroom, but now I see how important it is in student learning because of their culture. I feel like I have grown the most in NETS 2 for teachers, Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, I have used blogging to help me become more familiar with this process. The blogs that I created have shown me how I can use technology to stay in contact with students and their parents/guardians. After this class I now feel like I will be able to use technology to create a  better opportunity for my students to learn.

Comments

Angela
Kyle
Pedro
Beth
Jodie

Reflection 12

Today I witnessed how technology is so important today in education.  I was working on some homework this afternoon and my computer crashed.  My computer is what I needed to complete my assignments, so that I could receive credit for my class.  But thankfully it rebooted it self and fixed it with my antivirus software.  Technology is so important in today's education that we cannot always rely on it, but what we do know is that it is fixable. 

Reflection 11

It always makes me wonder where technology will be in the next decade as it changes all the time.  But there is one thing that won't change and it is the younger generations will always have an advantage in learning and problem solving technical difficulties faster than our generation.  The other day I was with my cooperating teacher and after class the teacher asked one her students if he could help change some setting on her phone.  It didn't surprise me that this student figured it out less than no time.  What technology has created is students that are outstanding problem solvers and critical thinkers.

Reflection 10

Once again the semester is coming to an end and I am noticing the use of technology in the classroom and outside the classroom easier than I used too because of this class.  I notice that having the privileged of having an online database like Discovery has help me tremendously with knowing my grades in a class.  It helps me with being better prepared with knowing my grade after completing an assignment that week.  By taking advantage of this technology it has also better prepared me to get feedback immediately on an assignment and what I can improve on. 

Reflection 9

Last Friday I made a trip to the outlet stores and visited the Nike store for one specific reason.  I was looking for these special shoes that would calculate the number steps you take when running and then calculate the calories you would burn.  I thought this is a great way for students to get involved in fitness and the advanced technology that Nike has created we can benefit of encouraging a healthy life.  Anyway that technology can help improve or motivate students to create an interest in health is always a number one seller in my mind.

Reflection 8

The other day I notice a student who had an IPAD and had some type of software where he was controlling his main computer with the IPAD.  This software would work great with students because its exciting and interesting where it would grab students attention.  I think its great that new technology can help engage students learning experience because its interesting and cool!  This type of software can help students if they forgot their homework or didn't email it to the teacher. This means no excuses for students who didn't complete their assignments.    

Reflection 7

The last couple of weeks I have not posted any updated posts on my experiences with technology in education, but I have track my observations with pencil paper.  So about two weeks ago I met my cooperating teacher and observed one class session and was amazed with the interaction and communication with emailing.  The students each had their own blog that they had to post their workout for that week.  I think its so awesome that PE is integrating technology somehow in their lessons for enhancing the students learning opportunities.  

The Future of Technology in Education

I have researched a number of articles and the one that really caught my attention was Diana Oblinger article.  She used to be the vice president for 10 years at IBM and talks about how technology in the education world is suppose to enhance student learning.  Well so far new and advanced technology has help students learning experience of specific software and the World Wide Web.  But what does the future hold for new technology that will help enhance the learning experience even more, well this question cannot be answer until big companies like IBM create better technology.  They are in the process of creating faster equipment and databases that will hold huge amounts of memory through the internet.  They are also trying to create tools that will always help the interaction process with communication tools.  She does not know what will hold for the future of technology in education, but we know as consumers it will be more efficient for our students learning experiences.   

Word, Excel, Powerpoint

Word:
Work on typing stories/research papers
Learn the tools of word, such as spell check, formats, and font size
Posters
Brochures
Letters

create resumes

Excel:
Budget sheets
Financial reports
Organize specific information
Math related-charts, tables, etc.

PowerPoint:
Presentations
Notes
Larger posters than 11x17
Handouts

One project I created using Microsoft word was typing out a research paper.  In excel you can create budget sheets that keep track of your finances.  In PowerPoint I once created a timeline that made it easy to print out because instead of 11x17 paper it printed out in length of up to 4 feet long.  Microsoft Word has made it easier for teachers to create a number of projects, so that it helps students to become engaged in the activity.

Edducational Questions About Teaching

1) Since most schools now have some sort of technology, how can physical education classes benefit from technology too?
2) How can future teachers receive more opportunities and experience in the education program?
3) How do I handle classroom discipline in the best possible way?

Educational Blog

Today I was surfing the web and I came across Lesley University New Teacher Community blog, which is interesting because I am going to be student-teaching in the next couple of months.  This blog is extremely helpful in preparing new teachers before a class because I am in-experience.  For example, I enjoyed the  9/11 In Your Classroom post on how to address the anniversary of 9/11 and to be better prepared on how to create a lesson in respecting this important day.  The blog addressed to ask your colleagues in your school what they are going to do to recognize 9/11, or to find appropriate lesson plans and resources to teach about heroes, tolerance and peace.  I hope this helped on how in-experience teachers need to be better prepared in the classroom, so that our students grow in their learning experiences.  

Bloom’s Taxonomy

The Bloom's Taxonomy is an interesting philosophy as it helps with cognitive development. The article on Assessing Student Learning: Applying Bloom's Taxonomy  is extremely interesting how cognitive development is developed through this approach that which students have to apply, analyze, evaluate , and create.  These four areas are used to master the learning experience to develop critical thinkers.  This theory accommodates all levels of cognitive development so that students gain more from education.  This theory is helpful in creating an assessment that fits all students abilities, for instance testing on multiple choice, short answer, or essay questions.  The development helps students to become successful in all areas of education.     

Caught on Video

I really enjoyed this article and how it talks about technology has helped many professions in the world. For instance, the article talks about how this one doctor has used his iPhone to explain certain procedures through video on his phone instead of scientific terminology. I thought this piece of information helps a patient understand their procedure and learn about it at the same time. Then the article transitions into talking about technology in school and how it has helped benefiting their learning experiences. There are several ways video technology can benefit a students learning experience and one way is through student demonstration. This could either be through demonstrating their ability in problem solving or just simple goals and dreams students have to accomplish, which is caught on video. This article was very helpful in reading how technology has helped a better understanding of various learning experiences.

Glog

Reading Games week 8

I finally decided to pick a website that is related to the subjects reading and writing.  The site that I chose was fun brain because it has a variety of fun educated games that benefits reading and writing.  I will probably use this web site in my classroom situation because there are variety games and they would get students interested in reading and writing.  That is key in this subject to get students interested and have fun with learning reading and writing.  The game that I was fascinated by was word confusion, which provides a sentence that is not completed.  The game shows two answers and the words are very closely spelled the same, but the two words have two different meanings.  The name of the game explains it all "Word Confusion." 

Comments

 These people listed below are the posts that I commented on...
Angela-reflection 5
Stephanie-reflection 3
Kyle- reflection 6, 5, week 6 Generation IM
Jodee-What I learned re: Smart Board
Jodie-Week 6 
Pedro- reflection 3
Camille- My First Blog
Beth- Reflection 5

Reflection 6

Today I was in class and my professor was a great example of a teacher who understands technology in a classroom.  The professor demonstrated this by not having technology as a distraction in the classroom.  Whenever the teacher used the smart board he would address the lesson and then quickly transition into the next lesson.  Typically the transitioning period would be blackening out the smart board, so that students would not get distracted by the smart board.  This is a great way to keep students interested in your lecture, so that you do not get off topic.  I believe that technology is advancing the way education is being benefited from students today, but we as future educators need to use these new tools professionally. 

Reflection 5

I was surfing the internet and trying to find new software or databases that could benefit education.  I started to talk to some of my tech savvy friends and they started to talk about this new web site that you could log into your computer with another computer with complete control.  Apparently it is free and to access this site you can go to logmein.com.  This site could benefit education in many ways like in a computer class and the student wanted to access a presentation from a different computer.  Also students that forgot to email their homework could access their computer documents from their computer at home and their would be no excuse for late work.  Schools could also afford this because it is free on the world wide web.  It amazes me that technology keeps getting more advanced.  

Reflection 4

Today I was thinking about how I could apply technology in my health class someday.  I thought of a pretty good idea when teaching a nutrition unit.  I could have students create a blog and create a healthy meal plan for two weeks and record what they have ate over this period of time.  Then each student could create a video of their favorite meal they think that benefits a healthy life.  They would do this by video taping the meal they cooked and explain step by step the food groups and total of calories.  The students would then post the video of their favorite meal and  write a description how it benefits the body.  This kind of technology is a fun and simple way to get students interested in healthy nutrition habits.

Reflection 3

The other day I visited a physical education class for an observation.  I was surprised to see that the teacher was using a P90X video for the class workout.  The teacher had access to the mat room for this type of workout with a projector to play the video.  This simplest form of technology (playing a workout video) is awesome to see in a PE class.  It can be very hard to think up of variety of fitness workouts to confuse the body, and what a great way to use this type of workout and technology.  Playing a video kept the students interested and easy to follow the workout because of the demonstration the video provided.  I think its awesome to see this type of technology in a PE class. 

Reflection 2

Last year I observed a physical education class at Overlake.  The teacher used technology in a variety ways which was the use of workout music through a play-list on the computer.  Music today especially in PE classes helps students to become more motivated in class to workout.  The teacher was also fortunate in having a classroom right next to the gym, so that the teacher could demonstrate videos through the projector onto the smart board from youtube.com.  The teacher would once a month have students use the internet in researching to find new games to play in PE  in their free time.  Technology has given PE a chance to expand and learn new innovative games through the internet to teach to students.

Reflection 1

A couple of weeks ago I was in a a class where the professor did not have a back up plan.  The professor could not get access in logging into her account on the computer which it made it impossible for her to teach the class.  We were suppose to go over some notes on power point to review for our test for the upcoming week.  This experience was discouraging regarding to technology in the classroom as the professor relied on technology with no back up plan. She had to cancel class and this tells me that I need to in the future to be prepared for a back up plan if this were to happen to me. 

Blogs for Educators

The class blog that I researched was Mrs. Yollis class blog.  Mrs. Yollis blog is updated in the technology world as she post examples of math problems with the help of Twitter.  It is awesome that her students can go to her blog and practice math problems with the help of a student demonstrating the problem through youtube.com.  Her innovative thinking involving her students to experiment with technology in a educated manner shows that it helps her students to receive a better learning experience with technology.  Technology in education has brought more opportunities for students to reach their potential in learning and demonstrating in the subject of math. 

Generation IM

After reading this article I realize how much kids rely on technology in their everyday lives.  Kids today spend countless hours interacting with technology that researchers believe their brains have been wired differently.  This means that students today rely on technology to help them learn more effectively in the classroom.  Technology has helped students to be more efficient with their studies, for instance the World Wide Web is the most important factor.  The first paragraph was interesting, how the young boy talked about how they can use technology to bring their family together.  Technology can be used in many ways that will be positive and effective in young students lives.

Applying technology in a science lesson would be awesome!  You could do this by having students create their own blog and video taping students experiments in the classroom and rating each others online.  You could also post lab results and share them with others in the same science class.

Smart Board Presentation

For my smart board presentation I have created a basic muscle chart on the human anatomy.  

Smart board Features:
Pen
Timer
Animation

Modifications:
-Added a timer
-Shorten the presentation towards posterior basic muscles
-guessing what the muscles could be by writing on the smartboard
-Added animation and visual imagery

Teacher Net
Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

-Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

-The teacher Net will be met because the students and I will be engage in the activity while interacting with technology.

Student Net
Technology Operations and Concepts
-Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.
-The student Net is met because I am allowing the students to use the Smart Board throughout my lesson.  The students are also practicing with the Smart Board and gaining experience with advance learning.

-An interactive white board can improve student learning in my future class because it is an effective tool that will engage students and get them involved in the lesson.  Interactive white boards can be helpful in accommodating different learners in my classroom, for instance visual learners.  The smart board can also be helpful when presenting students work, for example projects, videos, etc.  This new and advanced technology will help better my students learning in my future classroom.   

Promethean ActivBoard

Interactive Boards have impacted students learning experience in a variety of ways.  The article that I found is 30 Simple Ideas for Interactive Whiteboards and the author lists 30 different ideas how an Interactive board benefits students learning experience.  For instance after reading a book, go to Google Maps and show kids where the story takes place. The active board just doesn't benefit students learning experience, but helps teachers to expand new ways of learning.  For example, go on a field trip without any permission slips, you can this by finding a website that provides virtual tours.  I have learned from reading this article that being creative with technology betters the students learning environment.  If I were to ask one question referring to the active board, How can we require active boards in a Physical Education class?

 

Demographic Write-up

Student Class Enrollment	The student enrollment at Hunt Middle School is 700 students.  The average classroom enrollment is 31 students.
Grade Level(s) in Your Class	8th grade.
Subject(s) Taught	Health
Demographics:
School Socio-Economic Status	Hunt Middle School is located in Tacoma, Washington. The school is located in a low socioeconomic status area.  54% of the student body receives free or reduced lunch.  This is over half of the school enrollment of a growing number of 378 students.
School Location	Suburban area
Describe relevant aspects of your School & Community that influence and/or impact teaching & learning. (Examples: curriculum, reform models, school focus, community partnerships, community support level)	The school is a public middle school which makes for a diverse atmosphere.  The student body for 2011 is the largest turnover since the school first open.   Hunt Middle School focuses to provide the best possible learning experience to meet the individual needs of your child.  Majority of the teachers vary in the range of age as the staff is also a diverse group.  Since the school is located in a low SES area the Tacoma Public School District has passed many levies to better the students learning experience.  The levies that have been recently passed are technology relative.  This includes the recent advanced technology and has created more positions in the technology department.  The community that surrounds the campus was given a recent study on parental support, which showed that about 50% of the parents show interest in helping their child with school related activities and academics.  The community is always supporting on average of 1 volunteer a month  in the health class..  With the support from the school staff, the school’s staff volunteers their time with extra circular activities.  With the great funding the district raises and passes levies for the school to be financially stable.   This has always been positive towards students to better their learning experience.
Classroom  Mobility *your classroom	The student turnover within the school year was 12%.
Race/Ethnicity *your classroom	___65_% Black                                                __1__% Hispanic          __26__% White                                               ___0_% American Indian  ___6_% Asian/Pacific Islander                         ___2_% Multiracial
Spoken Languages *your classroom	Majority of the students speak English, but with the low percentage of the Asian/Pacific Islander community this brings other languages to the school.
Identified Special Student Needs (List any types of specific learning disabilities and/or gifted/talented students and the number of identified students ) *Your classroom	10 IEP students 12 Sped students 3 students impaired vision.
Classroom/School Environment
Classroom School Tech Standards	The school is provided with the latest technology; 8 computers to a classroom, smart boards, and document cameras.  There is also a computer lab that is available for students to use before, during, and after school for school relative tasks. The school district has done a great job in supporting the school with this new technology as it has gave students a better learning experience. The district has also supported the school with newer textbooks and curriculum, which has also help the students learning experience. Parent support is limited to the majority of the students because of many personal reasons.  Teacher support is highly respected for academic reasons. The school is a larger campus compared to other schools throughout the Tacoma area.  The school consists of a: cafeteria, gym, library, and one three story building for all classrooms. The school has a football/soccer fields, track, and a softball field.  The school supports the following sports; basketball, football, baseball, softball and track & field.  There are the same amount of sports and opportunities for both genders. Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:   a. understand and use technology systems. b. select and use applications effectively and productively. c. troubleshoot systems and applications. d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies. -Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.

Smart Board

This week I learned how to successfully use a smart board.  I am surprised how this technology is so similar to power point.  The difference between power point is that it is simple for students to get involved with technology in the classroom.  I also learned that smart boards can be very complex as there are many features and capabilities for creating a presentation.  I want to know if there are more tools to apply then just animation and writing on the smart board?  

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants

I really enjoyed this article and how it is so true that digital immigrants think there is only one way to teach.  I remember in high school that we had a few teachers that were "digital immigrants" and how they believe that they were getting through to the students with their old ways of reading a textbook to us.  Today students become bored really easy and to try and excite them with a textbook and a mono-toned voice is the worst way of teaching to digital natives.  I believe digital natives need other sources like music to help them relax and enjoy reading.  Digital Natives are considered to be able to multitask with ease.  And with that said teachers should try and accommodate every students learning ability and not just say there is only way to learn like for instance the "digital immigrants" would say there is.  Hopefully in the future it will be easier for me as a educator to accommodate students needs as the technological world will be even more advanced then today.

NETS Student/Teacher

Student: Communication and Collaboration

Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Teacher: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.

fall 2011 class blogs

angela cassie
stephanie
kyle
Jodee
Jodie
Pedro
camille
beth

My Feelings

My feelings towards technology integrated in education is optomistic.  I feel that the world we live into today is surrounded by technology and as a future teacher I have to do my very best in integrating technology to my students.  As a future physical education teacher I have to be willing to use technology as it can be helpful to my students for demostrating activities.  For instance, one program that I would use would be youtube.com for demostrating activities or a specefic game for visual learners in my classroom.