Lil A

As I look ahead into my future teaching plans there are many goals that I want to achieve. One of the areas that concerns these goals is in the area of technology. Incorporating technology into physical education looks like it could be quite difficult. As a Physical Education teacher I plan on integrating technology into my curriculum as frequently as possible. There is not as much technology out there for this subject area as in others.

One of my goals is to incorporated technology as frequently as possible. There are some software programs that the students can use in their learning. I plan on buying these programs and teaching my students in this way. The biggest challenge will be incorporating computers into PE. Much of physical activity is learned kinesthetically and working with technology will not accomplish this goal. Using Excel will be very helpful for recording student’s times and scores. Printing these scores out for each activity will help the students know what time to beat and how much better they need to be performing in an activity.

To continue my learning I plan on taking classes that are offered through my school district that I will be teaching for. If the school district does not offer these courses then I will go else where to find classes to keep me up to date with technology. Hopefully PE will begin to use technology more in the near future.

If I was to just look at the website address of this site, , I would think that the site would be a trustful site since it ends in org. Once I started reading though I knew this site wasn’t trustworthy. The material that the site presented was absurd and completely irrelevant to what I’ve always known about MLK. The fact that the site posted rap lyrics seemed a little fishy, too. I started reading more and found out a group called the Kwanzaa had made the site. But all in all the site was just a fluke.

When I entered the words, “martin luther king”, into the google search engine this webpage appeared third on the list. How is a child to know that this site isn’t trustworthy when it appears third on the search engine and also had org. in the url?

Constructivism is an approach that could be used in physical education. Constructivism requires students to use prior knowledge to formulate and learn new concepts. This can be very useful in physical education because learning new motor skills requires students to build off of what they are already familar with and what they have gained so far in motor development. In motor development there are two types of skills: phylogenetic and ontogenetic. Phylogenetic are skills that we as humans naturally obtain by the process of maturation, and ontogenetic skills are those that must be learned for either practice or by another person showing them. Since everyone matures at a different rate, constructivism would be a great way for students to acquire motor development. Students would be learning on thier own and using thier prior experience to help develop these skills.

Constructivism seems as thought it would work great in a classroom, but there has been a debate as to whether students are still getting the same amount of physical activity time in the classroom. The following website conducted a study that addresses this debate http://aahperd.confex.com/aahperd/2005/preliminaryprogram/abstract_6976.htm
They found that students learning with the constructivism approach had the same amount of physical activity as those in a traditional setting. The students in the constructivisim classroom also gained more valuable knowledge than the other students.

I think that constructivism is a controversial issue in our society today. There are many different learning theories and there is not a single theory that will specifically cover every child’s needs. I think that this issue will continually be discussed in the on going future.

Technology and constructivism are interwoven to some degree. Technology can offer ways for the child to use thier pre-exisiting knowledge to learn more on thier own. Technology also provides many different perspecitives for the learner. A teacher could easily use technology in this type of classroom.

This is my first experience with an online class, and I absolutely love it! At first I was a bit worried about what was expected and if I would be successful, but now I’m sure online classes are awesome. I like being able to go at my own pace, and having a whole week to complete assignments. It’s really nice to know that you can set your own time for this class. I wouldn’t change anything, I’ve enjoyed doing what we’ve done so far in this class. After having this online course, I actually prefer it over a live class session. I don’t necessarily know if an online class would work out for a class that involves a lot of complex content (biochem). I can learn at my own pace when taking an online course, but you have to make sure you are self disciplined. Some students need live sessions to motivate them, but I could manage just fine in an online setting. I would definietly take another online course, and I’ll be looking for them when I sign up next year for classes. I know GV offers a variety of courses online and I’ll be looking to take them if I can.

The software applications that I think most important (listed greatest importance to least importance) are:
1. Word Processors
2. Spreadsheets
3. Presentation Software
4. Desktop Pusblishing
5. Imaging Software
Word Processors get the number one position for me, because this is the most frequently used application. Students will use this application longer than any of the other ones in thier lives. This application should be taught as early as 1st grade. Students are becoming familar with computers earlier than in previous generations, so by this grade they should already have been introduced to a computer.
Spreadsheets are very helpful, too. They save time, create charts, and can analyze data effectively. In many classes students will be required to make graphs and spreadsheet programs often have this option (and do it rather quickly). Spreadsheets are another application that can be used throughout life. I would think these would be introduced in either late elementary or middle school, because this is where students will begin to use them in school.
Presentation software is important to learn how to use. Often it makes presentation more neat and more organized. They can also be used in a variety of ways. Some people will probably use presentation software frequently in thier jobs, and having background with this software is a great advantage for presenting to a group. Middle school would be an ideal time for this software to be introduced. Students start to make presentations in these years, and it should be introduced to them at this time.
Desktop publishing ranks number four. I think the concept of using this type of application is important to understand in terms of making work look professional in a variety of ways. Students will probably use this most when making a resume, and a great looking resume may make or break them getting the job. The best time to introduce this software is in high school. This is a time when students will start to acquire jobs, and learning how to make a resume would help them out a lot.
Imaging software is becoming more and more popular in our society. Digital cameras are becoming rather popular, and being familiar with a program that can help with imaging is very useful. I find myself using this software a lot, and it’s very helpful in making a picture fabulous.
Middle school is when this application should be introduced, and maybe before that age. I know that the use of digital cameras to spreading to lower grades so it would be nice to introduce a program that would help them refine pictures.

I’m sure that as a teacher I will face many issues which are difficult to deal with. It’s my best hope that I will be able to effectively communicate with the students in the most appropriate way, and give them as best information that I can on any issue. Our most current issue hurricane Katrina is what I’m going to focus my journal entry on. I would definitely address this issue to my students. Many students are not interested in the news, and they need to be informed somehow of the current issues that we are facing today in our society. As for locating resources, I think there are many reputalbe new stations out there that effectively cover the issue of hurricane Katrina. Everywhere you looked you could find some sort of information regarding this natural disaster. People learn from a tragedy such as this one, by becoming aware of the world, noticing that people live in different situations, and sometimes living conditions are not as great as many of us are blessed with. Students should be aware of situations like these, because it effects everyone in one way shape or form. I would definitely take time out of my regular curriculum to address this issue, because it is a very important issue to discuss with students. Making them aware is the best thing I could do as a educator. I’m sure that many students would also like to know what can be done to help in this devistating situation. To make sure information is age appropriate relies heavily on how you present the information and what information you present to students. Obviously, you wouldn’t present the same information to a 1st grader as to a 10th grade. You would have to present it at a level where the child understands. I would address the issue in my classroom, though. Tragedy’s need to be addressed, sometimes children need this to cope with the way that the tragedy is affecting them.

This is my first blog. I am sure that I have done it correctly! Let’s hope.