EDUC 573 Experience

   The experience thus far in EDUC 573 has been enlightening for me. As a physical education teacher, I started my career at the middle school level in a school that was enriched with technology. All teachers had I Pads and in the gym we had things such as our own HD camera, TVs, computers, and Dartfish software. I felt there we were up to date on all the latest technology. I then moved to the high school level 3 years ago and the school has a good amount of technology integrated into it but the PE department does not. Currently, we have an out of date laptop to share between 5 teachers and a stereo. We do have a Smartboard in our wellness room but not a computer to run it. All other technology used in the PE department is the personal property of the teachers. With that said, over the last 3 years I have became "out of touch" as a teacher with some of the current practices involving technology in PE. This class has already shown me how far behind we are and spurred ideas our department can present to the school level administration to gain funding for these ideas. Technology is essential the vast amount of data collection and sharing available in the PE setting as well as the enhancement and enrichment possibilities for students.

Education 573

I am new to blogging. I have heard other teachers talk about following blogs and blogging themselves. I can see how this could be very useful in the classroom. Student can become published authors by blogging. I believe that it could help them to become better writers once they realize that other people now can read what they are writing.  I am also excited to try to make my own podcast. After listening to Mr. C's podcast, it gave me some ideas of things that I can now do in my classroom. I have computers and Ipads in my classroom.  I now can use them for other things besides learning games and websites.

New Blogger

I am new to blogging and am excited to learn!  As I am researching the art of blogging, I find that there are many benefits to blogs in the educational setting.  Students learn confidence and social skills through blogging as well as enhancing literacy skills and internet safety.  Students can post their writing, reflections, and thoughts.  Since their writing will be public, they will feel more pressure to be a better writer.  Blogging can be a useful tool for communication.  Communication is vital in the classroom with students and their parents as well.  I think I have a lot to learn about the use of blogging in my classroom, but I am ready to start.

EDUC 573 (Post 2)

I have enjoyed this winter term class so far. I did not know about Jing and the ability to record step by step instructions to show through avenues like Youtube and facebook. I look forward to expanding my understanding and knowledge about other technology that I may be able to utilize in the future. So many students are connected to each other via text and social networking, but teachers are out of the loop. This class has opened a door that we as educators may be able to make that connection (through professionalism of course) to help our students learn.

EDUCATION 573 - Technology and Education in PE/Wellness

I have been teaching high school physical education and wellness for 7 years. Technology in physical education is a vital learning tool that has remained untapped for years. While classrooms thrive on technology, students in the gym are still using bats and balls (along with various other equipment). I think the biggest problem is that physical educators and wellness teachers lack the resources to use technology. In our school, every physical education teacher and wellness teacher is operating on their own personal technology. We have been promised iPads for a couple of years now and we have completed grants to get iPads and Apple TV's.

I feel that we as educators would utilize apps and other resources in our classes more, if we were uniformed and most importantly provided with the tools we need to get the job done. Let's face it, you don't send a surgeon in to perform heart surgery with nothing in hand. We don't hire a painter to paint our house, only to find out that he/she doesn't provide the tools necessary to complete the job. As teachers, we are walking into a classroom/gym full of students that thrive on technology, only we have tools that don't allow students to learn to their maximal potential.

'The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.'

- C.S. Lewis

Podcasts

Several years ago, I attended an AP Forum and learned about how the potential uses of podcasts in the classroom to teach tone and voice.  This was something that I wanted to use in my classroom, but we did not have the technology available for students to create their own podcasts.  Just recently, we purchased new laptops for the English department that have the microphone capabilities.  The chapter and activity about podcasting reminded me about the lesson on tone and voice.  I plan to have my students create a podcast using various types of topics and voices.

Technology in the Classroom

I have enjoyed learning about different types of technology that can be used in the classroom.  It is easy to get in a rut of using the same types of technology over and over, and not utilizing new technology as it becomes available.  I started a blog for my AP class, and I would like to continue to add to that so that students have another way to access additional information.