Final Reflection

What did you get out of this class? Will you use tech in your classes?
I really enjoyed this technology class. I learned a lot about different technology that I have never used before. I really liked learning how to use imovie. I also think it was good to learn how to make a website. And I guess studiocode was important to learn since I will be using it next semester, but it wasn't as fun to learn. I will definitely use technology in my class. I would love to have a class website to keep students and parents informed about what is going on in class. I think it would be cool if I gave the students the ability to edit the website so they could add stuff to it. I think it would be fun to assign students to create an instructional video like we did in class. It will be good for me to know how to use imovie so I could help students.

How has this class changed the way you think about teaching? About technology?
I don't think this class has really changed the way I think about teaching. I still want to teach and coach. I think I still think about technology the same, I am just more confident in using technology. I am more comfortable with technology and think it is a great tool for enhancing teaching.

VoiceThread

VoiceThread.com is a really cool web2.0 site. It is an audiovisual tool used to upload images or video files. Its a multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos. People can view pages and leave comments. The coolest part of this website is that you can leave a comment using voice with a mic or telephone. VoiceThread can also be embedded to on other websites to receive comments. But also text or video comments. I think this would be a cool tool to use for teaching. Students could be assigned to post something on VoiceThread and then leave comments on other students submissions.

Skype

I have only used skype a few times while at my parents house but I thought it was awesome. I called my sister in Hawaii using skype and was able to talk to her and see my nephew. Skype could also be used for teaching. It could potentially help improve class participation and collaboration. This is kind of a stretch but it could even be used for virtual field trips, which would not be near as fun as a real field trip. Still I think skype is a really cool technology.

Web 2.0

I had no idea what web 2.0 was until we talked about it in class. I thought it was really interesting to see how many sites out there are considered web 2.0. I never realized a site is web 2.0 if you can add a comment to it. I think wikis sound really cool. I think it would be a great tool I could use in my classroom. I could make a wiki for a new section we are in or a new skill we are learning. I could have students even help edit and comment on the wiki page created for my class.

Studiocode Reflection

I have never used studiocode before so it was good to learn how to use it. I like that I can evaluate different aspects of my teaching and record exactly when and what I did. I had the instruction and management for the main buttons. Then I focused on Cues, Demos, and Feedback under instruction. And Formations, Signals, and "When before what" under Management. I was able to code these things and see how I do when instructing my class and how I use management. I like that you can get a matrix that will show you how many times you coded demos or signals. I think that it is helpful when evaluating myself so see how many times I do something.
I learned that I am good at using signals for instruction. I use my whistle signals consistently throughout the lesson. I saw that I used when before what to give instruction most of the time but that there are times when I don't use it. I do well circulating around the class and giving feedback to the students for management. I also use the cues to help give specific feedback to the students. I also learned that I give fairly good demos with cues, but I think I could get more specific with the cues.
After evaluating myself on studiocode I can see things that I want to do different next semester. I will definitely work on cues. I will use cues that are short and to the point to make it easy for the students to understand. I will work on saying "When before what" more so students know when I want them to begin. I want to keep giving specific feedback to help students progress and become better at all skills.

Filming Reflection

Filming myself teach and then reviewing the film can help me become a better teacher. This is what we do in class and it is really helpful for me to see. Watching myself teach on film is very helpful, although I don't really like hearing my own voice. It lets me see how I actually teach. I can see what I look like, what things I do well, and what things I need to improve on. I think self evaluation using film is important for teachers. It is the easiest way to get feedback on your lessons. I will be able to improve my teaching from the feedback I get from watching myself teach.

imovie: The finished product

I enjoyed making this video. I have never used imovie before, but it really wasn't very hard to figure out. Using instructional videos in class would help students grasp concepts better than just reading about it. It is better for students to see the correct form for skills. Basically all lessons and activities in physical education would be enhanced by instructional videos and technology. When I am a teacher i can implement such technology in my own class. I can have students watch an instructional video before performing the skill or activity. This would help them perform and would allow me to use technology in my class.

imovie outline

For my imovie project I am going to focus on serving in tennis. So my project will therefore be titled "How to serve a tennis ball" And here is an outline of how it will go down.

1. Still pictures of each component of a serve with narration of proper form and technique. Beginning with the grip and stance, toss, swing and follow through.

2. Show some complete tennis serves with all of the components.

3. Then have credits.

imovie

I have never used imovie before so it was fun to learn about it. I think it is a really cool program. I liked that I could have different effects to my video. I also like how you can split a clip. This would be useful if there was a part of the clip that wasn't needed. It would also be useful as a teacher. I think it would be fun to make videos for my physical education class when I am a teacher. I could make instructional videos or just a video of what we do in class for parents to see. I hope I can learn more and become better at using imovie.

Internet Safety

I think the internet is a great tool that we all have access to. It can be very useful, but I think it is also important to understand internet safety. There are so many ways that someone can get information about me on the internet if I am not careful. And so I need to know how to protect myself. I am usually pretty conscious about what information I share on the internet. I do have a facebook account. But I have put up privacy and security settings to monitor what information people can see. I also have a personal blog. After our discussion in class and reading more about internet safety, I have really considered making my blog private. That way I can monitor who can read it and make comments on it. I also really like what church articles say about the internet and I think it is a good idea to pay attention to what they say.

Internet safety applies to everyone. Teenagers and children need to be aware of safety procedures when they use the internet. it is true that sometimes teens don't make the smartest decisions so they need to be informed so they can make smart choices regarding the internet. I think that parents also have a responsibility in monitioring internet use and keeping the computer in a public area in the house. When I am a teacher, I will need to let my students know about safety procedures. I need to teach them the importance of being safe on the internet when they are doing homework and also during perosnal use and social networking. My students need to know that this is a serious issue. Teens and studnets should know what personal information is okay and not okay to put on teh internet. I would also stress to my students to never meet someone in person that they have met on the internet. I would also tell them to talk to their parents aobut any concerns they may have.

I taught my roommate/best friend about internet safety. I would never want something to happen to her because she was not careful enough on the internet. I taught her about the personal information she allows people to see on her facebook. And I talked to her about the privacy settings and how they might be beneficial. I metntioned to her that future employers may look her up on the internet so we shoudl be careful what we put out there. We talked about emails and that if we dont know who sent it and it looks suspicious to just delete it. We also discusse the fact that we should use safe search engines and use pop-up blockers. Overall I think the most important thing is to be really careful about giving out personal information on the internet.

Website

Building a website is something I have never done before, so it was kind of cool to learn how. The hardest part for me I think was the calendar part. I made my class calendar but had all of the events on my personal calendar. This meant you couldn't see the events on my website so I had to go change all of the events to the right calendar. I also had fun with the picnik photo editing site. It was cool to see all the different things you can do to your pictures. If anyone cares to see by website here is the link.

Copyright

I totally agree with the copyright laws. If I were an artist I would want to have my creations and works protected. I wouldn't want people to use them anytime they wanted with no restrictions as to making copies and such. I do think that it is pretty easy to violate these laws, especially if you are not totally aware of what the laws entail. I never knew you have to have a citation for pictures you use, I just thought they were there for my using. But I do like the fair use law for teachers. Since I will one day be a teacher, I will be able to use different works with out violating copyright laws if its for educational purposes. Now that I know a little bit more about copyright laws, I think I will be more aware of them when I am doing things.

Technology Resources

I really liked the google docs that we talked about in class. It seems like a really cool program that google offers and I could see myself using it as a teacher. The diigo website we talked about looks like it would be helpful if you had a lot of readings to do or a research paper. Although I am not a big highlighter and sticky note person. I like that Zotero if an extension to firefox. I think these sites will be good to know about for future use in my schooling and as a teacher. They could help me stay organized and I could even share them with my future students.

Reflection

So my reflection on technology is this... I don't have much background with it. The last time I took a computer class was in the ninth grade. Sure I can make a blog or a simple power point, but that is about it. I just know the basics. I hope this class will help me become more familiar with all this technology stuff. And that I will be more confident with my abilities the next time I need to use it. And since I think all posts should have a picture, I googled computer technology and found this diagram that might help some of you out...