Blog Post #8

Finding the Right Tool
Authors: Victoria Williams, Phillip Hall, and Duane Nelson (Collaborative)




Blog Post 8 challenged us to find new tools and tell how we would incorporate them into our classroom as future educators. We did not realize when we began research on this project, that we would come across so many different tools that would be beneficial when teaching. Phillip had to learn how to incorporate technology into physical education. He thought this would be a hard task, until he did the research for this project. After collaborating as a group we found many tools that Phillip could use to provide technology into physical education. We discussed how to incorporate ipods into physical education to offer music while students perform activities such as running. We also thought about incorporating tools such as the Wii Fit and Heart rate counters.

While researching this project, we came across some amazing resources/tools. The websites Phillip will incorporate into his lessons are: Electrikids for Teachers www.electrikids.com and www.peuniverse.com. Electrikids for Teachers provide teachers, parents and students, free fitness related activities to download and use. These website's also provide other websites related to physical education. Electrikids include activities he intends on incorporating into his individual lesson plans. Some of the activities listed included: Traffic Cop, Body Map, Applauding Heart-rate and Bean Bag Hockey. All of these activities include helpful tips and demonstrations on how to keep our bodies healthy and fun ways to enjoy physical activities. PE University is another website found while researching this project. PE University provides PE video activities, demonstrations on how to use weight-lifting equipment properly and social media websites exclusively designed for the physical education profession. The social medial component is compared to YouTube and Facebook.

There are also many other tools that can be used in the classroom. Victoria Williams becoming a future Elementary educator and Duane Nelson becoming a Secondary Educator the possibilities of using different tools in the classroom are limitless. One of the great tools that can be used in the elementary setting is ePals. This gives students a great opportunity to connect with anyone, anywhere. This tool will allow students to explore different cultures of their own and communicate with other people globally. Another great tool that can be used in a Secondary setting is Ning. This tool allows anyone to make a personalized social network which is a great use for both students and teachers alike. The number of tools of technology that can be used in any grade level are countless. It just takes research and drive of the teacher to incorporate these amazing assets into the classroom.

Although the tools listed above, is more than sufficient to improve classroom objectives, we came across another tool that Phillip plans on incorporating in his physical education class. The tool is the Wii Gaming System. The activities on this game is directly linked to the physical education classroom. This will be a most useful tool in Phillip’s class, especially on rainy days. Phillip learned that physical education should always include teaching that will promote good health, but also include learning that is enjoyable and fun. This in turn, will hopefully help Phillip's students become life-long lovers of physical education. Wii Youtube Video


Technology Used in the Classroom

Authors: Victoria Williams, Duane Nelson, and Phillip Hall



We all became excited when discussing what all could be used in the classroom when acknowledging technology available. Many teachers are unaware of all the resources that are steadily provided to us on a daily basis. We plan to use iCurio for our students to look up important people they are interested in doing research for that is relevant to the lesson. Victoria discussed how using iCurio in her elementary classroom would be a safe way for her children to navigate the web without stumbling upon negative or inappropriate material. Discovery Education is another beautiful resource to use especially when engaging in science. Discovery Education allows students to watch science in life action and bring the pages of a textbook and what students are reading to life! The SMART board is one of the latest innovations at the moment which we all can not wait to have the opportunity to use in our classrooms. The use of the SMART board is crucial to all of us because we did not have the opportunity as students to learn through an engaging process using technology, which the SMART board demonstrates so effectively. All of these resources have been discussed in our EDM 310 class so we took it upon ourselves to discuss resources outside of what has been brought to our attention in EDM 310. We discussed the many reasons that we could incorporate cameras and camcorders into our classrooms. Cameras and camcorders could be a wonderful asset when applying project based learning. We recently wrote a Project based lesson plans on for third grade science about insects. Cameras were used in this project/lesson. Which can be found on our blog. Cameras and camcorders could also be used in the classroom to engage students in participating in a learning scavenger hunt. There are endless possibilities to incorporating cameras and camcorders into the classroom. To be the best teachers that we can be it is a necessity to keep up with the latest technology and learn how to incorporate it into our classroom. Students will be more willing to learn material when they are using devices and experiences that many use on a daily basis.