Week 12

I do not remember any NU Educators Panel members coming into class? Was this the group of people who talked about the international school in the pacific ocean?

If so, I wanted to ask them:

• What type of technology they have at their disposal at their school?
• Does their school have Wifi? 
• Is there any type of PE program there?

Week 11

I added my comment to a blog that talked about the origins of writing. I did this because I am not really that interested in writing… It really changed my mind about how interesting writing really is. Here is the link to the blog I checked out. My comment is under the name Jeff because I wasn’t sure about putting my information on a random blog. So here is the link:

Free Technology for teachers

The comment I contributed to the blog:

“I think movies and videos are a great way to teach students because it is engaging, visual, interesting and fun. If learning is fun, students will want to know more and they will want to dive in deeper. Maybe they will even dive into a history text book just to find more information! Who knows? I am not very interested in writing and this video engaged me in a way where i want to learn more. The same thing could be said for a student.”

Reflection 12

I realize that I am very interested in utilizing technology in the classroom. I think it makes my job as a teacher so much easier. It helps with organization and management of the classroom, it is engaging to students, it can be creative, and it can be fun.

One thing that my friend told me was that technology is the future of our society. If you know how to use technology you are sure to have a job. Mark Zukerburgh has opened up a job at facebook to anyone who can write in code. Today people are becoming more and more tech savvy, and it is important to pass this on to the next generation, whether it is in a simple form of using a watch, or being so complex as to create a movie for drama class.

Reflection 11

I have seen students write papers on their cell phones and email them to their teachers. I have also seen student’s texting in class. My question is, what should schools do about having smart phones in the classroom? Obviously students use it as a tool to learn, and as a way to escape the classroom.

I think it is interesting that just under 5 years ago I was not even allowed to text in the hallway between classes. Today students are punished for utilizing their resources. However, people are forgetting how to do mental math because they have calculators do it for them. I want to find the line of overusing technology and stripping away student resources. I believe technology is a good tool to help solve problems, but I also think that other resources need to be used so that people don’t rely on technology if the lights go out.

Reflection 10

I presented a health lesson to my teacher the other day and she really enjoyed the fact that I integrated technology into my lesson. I used the scenario that I had set-up a class blog, and students were supposed to write a paragraph on it trying to sway a long-term smoker to stop smoking by giving the smoker a list of the substances in tobacco smoke as a reason to quit.

I was told by my professors in the Ed program that facebook is not a good tool to use for classes; I was wondering why that is? Blogger is very similar to facebook. There can be just as many stalkers/creepers on blogger as there are on facebook (maybe more). At least on facebook you know you will grab student attention. And who knows, maybe students will actually learn something better on a site that they are more familiar with. I was told I was not even allowed to add students on facebook, because it is an invasion of a student’s personal life, and it might get misconstrued. I think that the facebook company (Mark Zukerburgh) should create a classroom messaging system that does all the same things that blogger does, but does it in a way that students can relate on a more comfortable note without having to learn all about blogger.

Reflection 9

One thing that has really bugged me is the fact that as a PE teacher I am required to integrate technology into my classroom. I realize that technology is a great tool for student learning, but it does not flow well with a PE class unless it is a pacer, heart rate monitor, or some type of workout equipment. I know some PE teachers have their own TV’s to show videos for kids, but honestly there should be an equal amount of technological resources available for every teacher.

I feel like technology classes should target specific subject areas and focus on how technology can be integrated into various subject areas. I also think it needs to include all sides of the spectrum, including PE. Integrating PE and technology is very difficult.

I purpose that PE classes integrate more technology, but in order to do that PE teachers need to find practical ways to integrate it into the class. I know that they are interactive video game systems that help student fitness. I think schools need to invest in products like this to benefit student health.