Monumental Reflections

From the beginning of class 8 weeks ago until now I see a different outlook and a new reflection on the horizon. Technology is reaching all the corners of the world and putting its imprint in the classroom.  When one adopts this new pedagogy and embraces all its tools and strategies we will then get monumental reflections of learning and growth. 

In our first discussion board we introduced each other by using our own names to describe ourselves.  I can use my name now to demonstrate who I am in technology. Hello, my name is: 

     
S upport learning new ways to enrich our educational experience using tech tools. 

U nderstands the importance of creatively engaging all parties in the educational process. Teachers, parents and students are instructors and learners in the process. 

S ing it out loud.  Share what you know and know what you share.  Practice it then use it right now. 

A mple resources that are relevant, meaningful and timely. 

N ing, Jing, Wikis, Blogs, Twitter, and YouTube are the language of the MySpace Gen.  Teach with them and build publishers, editors, writers, creators and teachers out of our students.

I am very thankful for our instructors and classmates because I have learned a great deal from all of you.  I hope that this class has been as eye opening to you as it has for me.  I am equipped to begin learning more and perhaps I will see you out there in the wacky World Wide Web!

Here's the thing about Jing!

This had to be my favorite project of them all. I procrastinated on this project because at first glance it seemed way out of my league. Boy am I glad I stepped out in faith. This tool, single-handedly changed my mind about how I can use technology practically in my discipline. Here's the thing about Jing the possibilities are endless. I was so excited about Jing that I went to work the day after my video creation and showed it the librarian, the curriculum director and the superintendent. None had seen it before and all were amazed by its usefulness. Technology seems to be the gift that keeps on giving.

The ABCD's of Teaching with Technology

In my original teaching philosophy post I gave you the bare bones on why and how I teach.  I teach the ABCD’s; Attitude, Behavior, Character, and Discipline to my students.   In the process of the course my paradigms have switched slightly.  I don’t think I will be able to teach the way I used to ever again.  Although I still find the principles of my ABCD’s important and essential, I also found a new approach to creating ownership in learning.  Technology is common ground and gives the teacher a window into the heart and soul of it’s students.  When I think about my original philosophy both methods are going for the same thing creating citizens responsible for their own learning outcomes.

Teaching with technology gives me different ABCD’s:

A         Advantages:  the advantages of using technology clearly out way the reasons not too. It is a new pedagogy emerging in our teaching culture.  From access at home to use in the classroom teachers have broadened the learning environment.

B         Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, YouTube, Ning , and Jing are all tools to display audio, pictures, videos, articles, news and so much more to enrich the educational experience.

C         Create an environment of community learning.  Social networks make learning together a journey unlike any classroom I’ve been in.  Students become the teachers and teachers only direct and orchestrate possibilities.  The internet and all it’s resources make the old encyclopedia laughable.

D         Do it!  Although I have been hesitant to do some of the things I’ve been asked to do in EDU 255, I just did it.  The more I do the better I get.  The more familiar I am with these tools the better opportunities I can create for my students.  Isn’t that theme of our last week, practice, practice, practice? As it is with my philosophy, just do it!

Hot Diggety Blog

This blog describes briefly why I choose the blog list you see in my EDU 255 ePortfolio

The following sites married my love of physical education and my new friend technology.

http://blog.classroomteacher.ca/;

http://mrrobbo.wordpress.com/ ;

http://smallsteps.edublogs.org/

However, for you teachers out there who are also interested in technology related to you and your discipline. This site had a heart rate activity on google docs that used screencasters technology to bring what was on the screen to life, a blog on the top ten tools for teachers in the digital education revolution, using mobile phones in the classroom and many more interesting topics.

I was really surprised that it was so easy to find blogs. Even the most remote blogs are found on the internet. I even looked for my own blog and found it. That is so cool! I decided that being connected to up to date news in education is important so I found this link This Week in Education. I also wanted to find more blogs in my teaching discipline physical fitness. I think I will use these blog: Best of the Web: Physical Fitness Education ; Physical Education Update Blog . The first listed in my discipline also included the Presidents Challenge .  This is a very valuable resource because we use the Presidential Fitness Testing guidelines to pre and post-test our students and document longitudinal improvement.

My goal is to create a blog for my department at Mingus Union High School and I found a personal site much like what I want to create. Making Fitness Fun-Coach Lewis' Physical Education Blog

Lastly, I found a site that lists a bunch of other blog sites… it was like the mother lode. Top 100 Education Blogs.

As with any blog I hope that these prove to be great resources for you as I know that they will for me.