The text titled The Technology Fix by William Pflaum provides examples of schools that are trying to incorporate technology in the classroom. Here observed many schools who did not use their resources to the maximum possible. Pflaum provided recommendations in his text for what schools could do differently. With the shift in Common Core Standards, technology is a big part of the instructional practices. I have been trying to find new ways to this in my own classroom.
I took a few main ideas away from this text of how I can personally change my instruction with the resources I have available. One big idea is that computers and technology is a great resource to use for assessments. I find that assessment takes a lot of instructional time away in my classroom. Another big idea that I took away was that at many of schools Pflaum visited left their computers unused. I am going to try to find more ways to really utilize my computers for more than currently an hour a day. I am also going to provide more opportunities for my students who would benefit the most from using the computers. These are recommendations for myself but also for my coworkers. I plan to share some of the insights from reading this text with them.
Pflaum, W. (2004). The Technology Fix. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
I recently explored some of the top blogs for education according to www.eiaonline.com. One of the blogs that I visited was Curriculum Matters on Education Week. This blog provides information about current issues facing curriculum. There are a few post about Common Core standards and instructional practice. This blog is helpful for educators because they can find more information about current issues that are relevant to them. I would encourage educators to ask themselves what their curriculum is lacking and find more information about how to fix it on this blog. Another blog that I visited is titled Cool Cat Teacher and I found it to be very helpful as well. The author has a daily post titled "Daily Education and Technology News for Schools" that provides links to other blogs and journal articles (Davis). I would encourage educators to ask themselves how they can include or change technology use in their classroom and look to this blog for answers.
References
Curriculum Matters. Education Week. Retrieved from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/
Davis, V. Cool Cat Teacher Blog. Retrieved from http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Podcasts
After recently investigating and learning about ITunes podcasts and ITunesU I am very impressed with what they have to offer. I first began just looking through the different podcasts but I realized that I spent a lot of time searching. One great thing about ITunes is that they have a search bar. I am going to write a paper about inclusion for another class so I decided to search for inclusion. I found many podcasts that had great clips about inclusion.The podcast I chose to listen to was by Tara Stevens titled "Inclusion". The author is a professor at Texas Tech University. Another podcast that I listened to was titled "Tippin Mother's Day" by Instructional Technology. This podcasts has storytelling podcasts done by elementary school students. I wanted to know different ways that you could incorporate podcasts in the classroom. In this podcast, students retell a story and are recorded on a podcast (Instructional Technology, 2011). This was my first experience with podcasts and I see how they could be very useful. I was able to listen to lectures about inclusion in the comfort of my own home. I also think that it is very useful because you can subscribe and have access to the podcast without Internet access. I could definitely incorporate the use of podcasts in my classroom.
Stevens, T. (2006, July 27). Texas Tech University College Of Education. Podcast retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/inclusion/id129950726?i=96632169
Instructional Technology (2011, August 2). El Paso ISD. Podcast retrieved fromhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grade-2-tippin-mothers-day/id360543177?i=81851581
References
Instructional Technology (2011, August 2). El Paso ISD. Podcast retrieved fromhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grade-2-tippin-mothers-day/id360543177?i=81851581
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Current K-12 teachers face many new challenges and opportunities with incorporating technology in the classroom. There are many resources available for students and teachers such as virtual environments. One virtual environment that provides educational resources for children is Secret Builders. Secret Builders ties in academic learning for students because they are able to visit with historical and literary figures (Secret Builders, 2009). It is very interactive for young students becuase rather than only reading about historical figures they are able to "interact" with them. Although there are many only resources for students, teachers and administrators need to protect students from innappropriate websites on the internet. Fortunately, The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which was adopted in 2000 prevents both children under 17 and adults in from accessing “certain objectionable visual materials on the Internet” (Conn, 2002). Technology changes all of the time and there are more and more resources available to teachers. Educators should continue to investigate new ways to incorporate technology into the classroom.
Secret Builders (2009). Retrieved from http://secretbuilders.com/teachers_learn.html
References
Conn, K. (2002). Internet and Law: What Educators Need to Know. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Alexandria, VA.Secret Builders (2009). Retrieved from http://secretbuilders.com/teachers_learn.html
Friday, June 4, 2010
KINE 302
1. Briefly summarize the information found on each of these sites (one paragraph for each site).
PE Central has a variety of links for things such as lesson plans to job opportunities. My favorite part of this website was the fact that they had links for adaptive physical education. From that link they have other links such as what adaptive physical education is and the national standards for this type of physical education. This website is easy to use and has tabs on the top of the home page to quickly find lesson plans for various age groups and equipment to shop for the classroom through the website. http://www.pecentral.com/
PE Links 4U seems like a more formal website and does not have as many links. It does have links to archives which I thought was interesting along with newsgroups and podcasts. This website also has a PE store and the state teaching standards. It also has a link to websites of PE professionals from various schools. PE Links 4U has a link to the NASPE forum online. This is a helpful website for physical education teachers. http://www.pelinks4u.org/
The Surgeon General's Report website has information about the health benefits of physical activity. It talks about health concerns for the public and describes what qualifies as moderate physical activity along with vigorous activity. This website provides graphs describing the physical activity levels of adults and young adults by age and sex. It gives many statistics of the amount of physical activity that occurs in the US and ways to improve. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/ataglan.htm
My Pyramid.gov takes the idea of the food pyramid and expands it. With this website you are able to make personalized eating plans or analyze your current diet. It provides links to information about various foods and calorie intake. There are also links for professionals to use and information for specific aged audiences. It provides multimedia such as audio, video and animation. This website focuses on eating right and healthy. www.mypyramid.gov
PE4LIFE provides news about physical activity and childhood obesity from across the country. It has a couple links to articles talking about Michele Obama’s anti-obesity campaign and other actions in various states. It has information about various seminars and workshops that they hold and their core principles of these workshops. I think this website contains more news about what is going on within physical education. www.pe4life.com
Concerned adults and Students for Physical Education Reform is an organization made up of teachers, staff, and student who want to improve health issues related to physical activity. This website had links to what they believe quality education is and the standards and guidelines. It also has an extensive list of do’s and don’ts for teachers. My favorite part of this website was that it had a space for you to write about your personal physical education experience and it posts many other peoples personal experiences. www.csuchico.edu/casper
Physical Activity for Everyone provides physical activity guidelines in three categories by age; children, adults, and older adults. Within each age group it describes how much activity you need within three main types; aerobic activity, muscle strengthening and bone strengthening. It also has tools on how to measure the intensity of your activity and video resources. This is a good link to use when trying to set personal physical activity goals. http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/index.html
2. What are the benefits of having access to these 7 websites and national documents via the Internet?
Each one of these websites has different resources in different areas but are all very helpful. Websites such as PE Central and PE4U provide a variety of ideas and lesson plans for teachers. Website such as My Pyramid and Physical Activity for Everyone are helpful because they provide information about the amount and intensity of your physical activity and the benefits of eating healthy also. I think that having these documents via the internet make a huge difference because now they are easy to access through several websites and you can easily look over them whenever you need to.
3. Discuss the significance of these sites and their documents and how they affect you as a teacher of children in our public schools.
These sites and their documents will be helpful to me as a teacher because I am able to access what the teaching standards are and how to incorporate them in a variety of new ways. I am also able to access previous students’ experiences and learn what not to do as a teacher so I do not have to try something and learn the hard way. These websites are also helpful because I am able to access news stories about what other teachers are doing in other states and what new campaigns are occurring that would affect my teaching.
4. Identify and briefly describe (5) different Internet sites that will benefit you in your future teaching. Include the URL, Name of site and a brief description of information and services provided.
http://www.physicaleducationupdate.com/
This site is called Physical Education Update and it provides videos and tutorials along with several links to learn how to have a quality physical education program. It also has links to many articles and blogs about physical education and activity.
http://bodyfitnesshealth.com/benefits-and-importance-of-physical-education/
This site is called Benefits and Importance of Physical Education and it has a list of reasons why physical education is important.
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/
This website is called Action for Healthy Kids and it provides a variety of school programs for students and other programs to keep children healthy.
http://www.pezone.co.uk/
This website is called PE Zone and is based out of the UK but I found that it had a lot of information that is till applicable even though our standards are different. It had link to various activities for different sports to use in the classroom along with podcast, slide shows and a link for new developments in physical education.
http://www.teachers.tv/getphysical
This website is called Teachers TV and it provides videos the issues in physical education and how to raise the standards.
PE Central has a variety of links for things such as lesson plans to job opportunities. My favorite part of this website was the fact that they had links for adaptive physical education. From that link they have other links such as what adaptive physical education is and the national standards for this type of physical education. This website is easy to use and has tabs on the top of the home page to quickly find lesson plans for various age groups and equipment to shop for the classroom through the website. http://www.pecentral.com/
PE Links 4U seems like a more formal website and does not have as many links. It does have links to archives which I thought was interesting along with newsgroups and podcasts. This website also has a PE store and the state teaching standards. It also has a link to websites of PE professionals from various schools. PE Links 4U has a link to the NASPE forum online. This is a helpful website for physical education teachers. http://www.pelinks4u.org/
The Surgeon General's Report website has information about the health benefits of physical activity. It talks about health concerns for the public and describes what qualifies as moderate physical activity along with vigorous activity. This website provides graphs describing the physical activity levels of adults and young adults by age and sex. It gives many statistics of the amount of physical activity that occurs in the US and ways to improve. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/sgr/ataglan.htm
My Pyramid.gov takes the idea of the food pyramid and expands it. With this website you are able to make personalized eating plans or analyze your current diet. It provides links to information about various foods and calorie intake. There are also links for professionals to use and information for specific aged audiences. It provides multimedia such as audio, video and animation. This website focuses on eating right and healthy. www.mypyramid.gov
PE4LIFE provides news about physical activity and childhood obesity from across the country. It has a couple links to articles talking about Michele Obama’s anti-obesity campaign and other actions in various states. It has information about various seminars and workshops that they hold and their core principles of these workshops. I think this website contains more news about what is going on within physical education. www.pe4life.com
Concerned adults and Students for Physical Education Reform is an organization made up of teachers, staff, and student who want to improve health issues related to physical activity. This website had links to what they believe quality education is and the standards and guidelines. It also has an extensive list of do’s and don’ts for teachers. My favorite part of this website was that it had a space for you to write about your personal physical education experience and it posts many other peoples personal experiences. www.csuchico.edu/casper
Physical Activity for Everyone provides physical activity guidelines in three categories by age; children, adults, and older adults. Within each age group it describes how much activity you need within three main types; aerobic activity, muscle strengthening and bone strengthening. It also has tools on how to measure the intensity of your activity and video resources. This is a good link to use when trying to set personal physical activity goals. http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/index.html
2. What are the benefits of having access to these 7 websites and national documents via the Internet?
Each one of these websites has different resources in different areas but are all very helpful. Websites such as PE Central and PE4U provide a variety of ideas and lesson plans for teachers. Website such as My Pyramid and Physical Activity for Everyone are helpful because they provide information about the amount and intensity of your physical activity and the benefits of eating healthy also. I think that having these documents via the internet make a huge difference because now they are easy to access through several websites and you can easily look over them whenever you need to.
3. Discuss the significance of these sites and their documents and how they affect you as a teacher of children in our public schools.
These sites and their documents will be helpful to me as a teacher because I am able to access what the teaching standards are and how to incorporate them in a variety of new ways. I am also able to access previous students’ experiences and learn what not to do as a teacher so I do not have to try something and learn the hard way. These websites are also helpful because I am able to access news stories about what other teachers are doing in other states and what new campaigns are occurring that would affect my teaching.
4. Identify and briefly describe (5) different Internet sites that will benefit you in your future teaching. Include the URL, Name of site and a brief description of information and services provided.
http://www.physicaleducationupdate.com/
This site is called Physical Education Update and it provides videos and tutorials along with several links to learn how to have a quality physical education program. It also has links to many articles and blogs about physical education and activity.
http://bodyfitnesshealth.com/benefits-and-importance-of-physical-education/
This site is called Benefits and Importance of Physical Education and it has a list of reasons why physical education is important.
http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/
This website is called Action for Healthy Kids and it provides a variety of school programs for students and other programs to keep children healthy.
http://www.pezone.co.uk/
This website is called PE Zone and is based out of the UK but I found that it had a lot of information that is till applicable even though our standards are different. It had link to various activities for different sports to use in the classroom along with podcast, slide shows and a link for new developments in physical education.
http://www.teachers.tv/getphysical
This website is called Teachers TV and it provides videos the issues in physical education and how to raise the standards.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Shakespear & Poetry
Friday, March 12, 2010
YA Novels
I enjoyed these novels and definitely want to use Speak in a high school classroom and Stargirl in a junior high class. I think that Stargirl is a good novel not only because of the quality of writing, but also because of the ideas represented. I think it is important for the students to be more like Stargirl and have another idea about what high school is like rather than just from the movies they watch. On Jerry Spinelli's website he has a link http://www.jerryspinelli.com/stargirl.htm where you can create a stargirl society. I would like to use some of these activities in the future.
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