FINAL REFLECTION

So my teaching with technology class has come to an end. I must say it has been an adventure. I began this course with mixed feelings on technology and I have to be honest I still have mixed feelings towards technology. See, my computer actually crashed this past weekend so me and technology aren't on the best of terms. However, in this reflection I am going to give my overall perspective on what I did in this class. We began by making our own blogs. My sister actually introduced blogs to me about a year and a half ago- so this aspect of technology was not new. We also made our own websites. I took a teaching math with technology last semester so I also knew how to make a simple website. However, I had never used the Google Calender feature before so that was good to learn. In both my math and PE classes I want to put up the different assignments that we did in class each day on the internet so that parents and students have access to it. This way if a student is absent, they can go online to see what they missed. This will help me as well so that I won't have to make special arrangements every time a student is absent. Also, parents can look at my profile page and get to know me better so that they feel more comfortable with me teaching there son or daughter. Out of all the projects we did I can see myself using a website the most.
Learning how to use iMovie was interesting. It was fun to see how you can manipulate videos. Honestly, I would need to get a lot more comfortable with the program before I used it in teaching. My students would also need to be very familiar with it before I would assign a project to them using it. The problem with iMovie and some of the other projects is that the time spent working on the technology aspect takes over the time that should be spent learning the material. I experienced this with my iMovie. I had issues with uploading the video, then saving, and making sure there was audio. Thus, the actual time spent editing the video was little in comparison to the time fussing with making sure the equipment worked. With that said, I was impressed with the PSA we made in Advocacy. The black and white, slow motion, music, and fading made the video look very professional. Thus, iMovie does have potential- I just need to find the patience to use it. Overall the class introduced me to some new ideas. I've realized that there is a lot out there to help me in teaching and I don't have to do it all alone!

Using Technology Newsletter

To make up a post that I missed, I went online to try and find a site that would be beneficial to teaching Physical Education. I came across the following website: Top Ten Websites for Physical Education One of the sites recommended was a using technology in physical education newsletter. The short description was as follows: "Newsletter provides physical educators and health educators with the latest information on using technology in physical education." After going to this newsletter I noticed that it offered many insightful tips on using technology. For example, it told how to turn PowerPoints into diagrams as well as describing the "Google Translate" feature. One thing that is hard to do as an educator is to simply keep up with technology. Improvements are constantly being made so it can be overwhelming to keep track. Thus, when I start teaching I can have this website bookmarked and simply check up on it every once and awhile. This way I will not have to blindly go out and research new developments on technology on my own.

Web 2.0

Some of the Web 2.0 tools that I thought would benefit my students would be the social networking ones. For example, Web 2.0 includes sites like gmail and facebook. Gmail has a feature called "gchat" which is like instant messenger. You can chat with others that are online at the same time on gmail. This would be helpful for my students if they had any questions on assignments that I've given. Communication is key, and social networking sits like those can help my students succeed. I most likely wouldn't use facebook for my classroom because I think it is less professional and wouldn't want my students access to that much of my information.

Studiocode Reflection

After looking at studiocode I realized a lot about my teaching style. First of all, in regards to Instruction I do not circulate the classroom enough. I think I walked a full circle around the class one time. For this lesson it was officially difficult because with the paddles and balls I need to help specific individuals. To do this I walked in the middle of the class which caused me to lose sight of the entire class. In the future I need to get the student to step to the side where I can talk to them so I can still see the entire class. Also, I do a good job at disciplining but I let it slow my lesson down.
Also, I learned that I demonstrate a lot- which is a good thing. I used other students to help me demonstrate, which makes the students feel special. So I think this is one of my strengths with teaching. Another weakness would be transitions. At one point I needed to get the students into partners. This turned out to be a much harder process than I anticipated. The students were confused on who they were partners with and it took way too much time away from the lesson. I've realized the
Some of the changes that I need to make is to 1) Keep up the pace of my lesson. This keeps the students interested and I think avoids discipline problems because the students are too busy being active. 2) I need to rehearse my transitions. This is something that you just cannot "wing it" during the lesson. They need to be crisp, clear, and concise if you want them to be smooth. 3) Circulate the classroom more and avoid the middle. I can give individual feedback by pulling the kids to the side. Lastly, I just need to relax. With all of the things to think about with teaching I forget to just enjoy myself and enjoy the kids. The kids can sense when you're stressed and they want someone to teach them that is fun. I think that is the most important thing I need to do next time.

PLE-Evaluating

"How could filming myself teach and reviewing the film help me become a better teacher?"

No one is a perfect teacher. We all know that. But as teachers sometimes we aren't sure what specific mistakes we are making. For example, do we repeat the same word fifty times or constantly tug at our shirt? Maybe our voice is too soft or comes out in a negative tone. These are all things that can we can learn about ourselves through evaluation. Evaluations by others is important, but just as crucial is evaluating ourselves. This is really helpful for me because I am actually my toughest critic. I've noticed different trends and habits that I have that could hinder my teaching ability. For example, I tend to turn my back on the kids more than I should as well as repeating the same words. Another benefit to evaluating yourself is you can see what your strengths are. This way you can continue to do those things that you are doing well while improving on the things you need to.

iMovie Final Video

After creating my iMovie video I need to answer, "How you might use instructional video projects in your teaching. What specific lessons or activities would be enhanced by using these technologies? How would you implement them?"

First of all, before I answer this I just need to say that technology is great but it can also drive you insane. This project was not easy and I hit a lot of road blocks along the way. With that said, since I made a video myself I know what it will be like for my students when they are making a video. I would definitely be sure I gave them enough time and resources for them to be successful. We would probably do a lot of in-class work on it as well. One way I would use an instructional video in my teaching would be to have the students make an outline. By having students write step by step how to do a movement, it helps them have a better understanding of the movement itself. Also I would want my students to go look up instructional videos on teacher tube or youtube. You can find some good insights on the internet on how to perform a skill. True that not all of the resources are credible, but that could be another lesson in itself: how to evaluate a website. I would specifically use this video, "How to Dribble a Soccer Ball" when teaching or coaching soccer. I specifically used three cues in the video which I would repeat throughout the lesson. Also, I'd post the video on my class/coaching website along with a worksheet on dribbling.

iMovie Outline

Title: How to Dribble a Soccer Ball
Music in background

Video Footage “My name is Coach Blevins and today we are going to talk how to dribble a soccer ball. So watch and learn.”

Cues
1. Use the inside and outside of the foot.

Video Footage: Showing how to use the inside and outside of the foot. (Don’t use the toe)

Cues
1.Use the inside and outside of the foot
2. Keep ball close to feet

Video Footage: Showing that you do baby taps and not kicking

Cues
1. Use the inside and outside of the foot
2. Keep the ball close to feet
3. Head Up

Video Footage: keeping your head up.

Putting it all together…
Music in background

Cues
1-same as above
2-
3-

Show me dribbling

Credits

iMovie

When we were working on iMovie in class on Thursday, I kept thinking to myself "Wow if I could actually get the hang of this program, this will be so much easier than the video projects I made in school growing up." I remember trying to edit footage by rewinding and recording over mess ups. Projects would take all day simply because of this. iMovie is intimidating but it would save so much time if I was able to get familiar and comfortable with the program. I can definitely see myself using this in advocating PE. I could tape footage of my students and put music to it and show it to the parents at parent-teacher conferences. Also, I can make my own video of me coaching or teaching to promote myself. It's exciting.

I often find my best friend and roommate Kristen, on the computer. It is a fun late night activity for us. We like to surf the web and laugh and different things we find amusing. So last night I decided to teach her about what I had learned about internet safety. The first thing I brought up was something that I found particularly useful- how to tell if a site is “secure” or not. If the URL has https: then you know that the site is secure. This means that if you put in personal information such as your credit card number or birthday, you know that your information will be kept private. An example of a time when you should use this would be if you wanted to look up your bank information online. Before putting in your account information you should be sure that there is an “https” in the url. Kristen thought this was good to know and I proceeded to explain to her that sometimes people create links to a website that you think is one place but is really a hacker site. Thus, typing in the actual url would help to avoid this dilemma. Other random facts I told her were to never put your real birthday, and to avoid using full names when you can.
She found this all informative but the discussion got more interesting when I started talking about facebook and blogging. I told her how you should be careful what pictures you put up because there are companies that specifically look at your personal sites before hiring you. She then shared how she had recently went on a friend’s facebook that she had not seen since middle school. There were pictures of the girl smoking, partying, drinking, and other embarrassing shots. Then Kristen noticed that the girl’s dad was her friend on facebook. How would you like to know that your dad is looking at this part of your life? Not only is your dad, but the entire world can have access to your embarrassing night out. Another thing I discussed was how when you blog you should try and use “code” names for people and putting up pictures of where you live. The highlight of our discussion was when Kristen told me about someone she knows that owns a blog. This person has numerous photos of her and her family in front of their house. Their house has a very distinguishable door and coloring, which would make it very easy to find. Also, this women posted that she and her husband were going on a cruise for two weeks. Kristen said that she was driving around one day and saw this person’s house. How scary is that for her and her family? Any stranger could know that she was out of town, where she lived, and probably even more details of her life.
After our discussion I realized that I definitely need to make some changes when I go on the internet. First of all, I am always going to check for the “s” in the url before purchasing anything online. Secondly, I am going to make my blog private. I really like getting personal because the blog is for my family. However, they are the only ones that need to see it. Lastly, on my facebook I need to go through my videos and pictures and make sure there isn’t anything I wouldn’t want a family member or future employer to see.
For the students I teach I would definitely want to them to have a basic knowledge of safety on the internet. Especially during this time when facebook, youtube, and twitter are all so popular- it is even more crucial that students are careful. Thus, if I ever give my students an assignment to do research online I’ll be sure to have a discussion on searching techniques and safety beforehand.

Coach Blevins' World of PE

I have a created a website, "Coach Blevins' World of PE" that is an example of a website I might have while teaching. I can definitely see how this would benefit my students. Although a lot of creating the website came naturally, I also ran into a few problems. I found that when I tried to add a lot of the gadgets, they wouldn't work. There would simply be a blank spot on my page where the gadget should have gone. This got really annoying, so I simply deleted them and added a few that actually worked. I noticed that the ones specifically created by google worked. Another problem I ran into was similar. I made a playlist on playlist.com, the same place I made the playlist for the one on this blog. I copied the embed code and pasted it into the html as I did with many other things on my pages, but this too did not work. There was simply a blank spot where it should have gone. I may try and work on that again at some point. A playlist isn't essential. Also, it took me awhile to figure out how to embed my Glogster poster. I then realized you go to the "html" button and paste in the embed code. That works for many other things such as videos, and playlists (obviously only sometimes). Overall, everything else was pretty self-explanatory. Embedding the calendar wasn't too difficult. I did have to figure out how to create a link to my google document. In Google Docs you have to go to "Share" then there is an option to get the link to the page. Then you can simply create a link on the web page that will go to your google document.

Reflection #3 Copyright

"What do you think of copyright laws? Are they helpful or harmful? Do you think changes need to be made? If so, what would you change?"

Honestly, when it comes copyright laws I have a lot of mixed emotions. I see their purpose and understand why they are needed, yet as a college student I cannot deny the fact that I think they are a big hassel more than anything. There are so many technicalities and the laws have so many grey areas that if you are violating laws, you probably don't even realize it. Especially as future educators we have to juggle so many things from discipline, lesson plans, and tests, that worrying whether or not we are violating copyright laws when we show a movie is not going to be our main concern. Thus, I like how section 110(1) of the copyright laws basically says that if you are showing something in an educational setting for educational purposes, you are usually covered under fair use. The problem with this is the word "usually." This is the part I would change about the copyright laws. The words, "usually" and "limitations" are all contributing to the ambiguity of the laws. Any time there are grey areas it leaves room for different interpretations, which leads to court battles, which leads to wasted time and money. Thus, I would just make it clear that if you are an instructor using something for educational purposes you are covered under fair use.

An Apple A Day Explained...

Welcome to my blog! Judging from the large rugby picture at the top of the screen, I'm sure you can already tell that I have a love for sports. I love it enough to tackle girls twice my size with no padding. The quote below the picture is one of my favorites. My senior year of high school our Varsity Soccer team chose this to be our theme. We put it on the back of our practice t-shirts to remind us what it takes to be a champion. To go along with this "Champion" theme I listed my favorite inspirational sports movies as well as some of my favorite songs to work out to.

I am sure we have all heard the saying "An Apple a Day keeps the Doctor Away." Since entering the Physical Education program here at BYU I have discovered a new love: a healthy diet. My roomates would probably say that I have turned into somewhat of a health freak. The Biggest Loser is officially my new favorite TV show and healthy cooking has become a new hobby. Proper Nutrition is not only crucial to the health of athletes, but it is important for everyone. Thus, if I can convey this message to my future students along with helping them discover a love for physical exercise then I have done my job and a PE instruction. And if this Instructional Technology in Teaching can help me use technology to do that then-bring it on!

Reflection #2

"Would you like to use any of the resources we talked about in class (or perhaps others you found on your own) to help further your learn? Which ones? How might these resources be useful to you as a student and as a teacher?"

I thought it was really neat how you can highlight web pages by using Diigo. In the past I have had to do a lot of research projects using the Internet. It gets complicated by having many different tabs and getting the bookmarks mixed up in my other bookmarks. This would also be really neat if you had to do a project with someone else. Both of you can highlight and then compare what you have highlighted. I can definitely see myself using this in the remainder of my college career. I might even have my students do a project on physical fitness and require them to do research. My brother is a PE teacher at Mountain View high school. He had his students do a report where they learned about nutrition and recorded what they ate. This website would be a help in the research aspect of the project where the students are actually looking online for information.

Zotero might actually be an even better website for my students to use because it cites the articles for you. You can organize the articles and bookmark them just like in Diigo, but this site does the referencing for you. With my past experience referencing in reports, I have found it to be quite a hassle. Also, it is time spent on something that should be spent researching more material. So any program that can save me or my students that time would be beneficial.

Reflection #1

When it comes to technology, I would say it neither frightens me nor excites me. I recall last year when my computer crashed and I lost all of my photos from the past five years. Yeah, that was not a happy day. But I also recall being able to keep track of all of my siblings and nieces and nephews by viewing their blogs. So, like with most things in life, technology has pros and cons. Last year I was in a "Teaching math with Technology" class. I dealt with Excel, various computer math programs such as Geometer's Sketchpad, website evaluation, and calculator use. I had to create a google website "Danielle's World of Math" I enjoyed the class b I updated daily.ut I definitely think the technology aspect made it more stressful.

One of my goals for this class is to make sure I know how to successfully implement technology into the classroom. I want to learn specific things I can assign my students to do as well as programs that will help me in instruction. Basically I want to make this class as realistic and applicable to PE teaching as possible.