Power OFF

I recently took my technology teacher up on an interesting challenge. The challenge was to power down for an entire day. This meaning, no computer, cell phone, video games, ipod, radio or TV. I wasn’t able to check Facebook or Twitter. I couldn’t Google anything and I couldn’t respond to any text messages or phone calls. To go the extra step, I even omitted all electronics. The only thing I made an exception to was bathroom facilities, lights and cars. (for obvious reasons)
I choose to power down the day after Thanksgiving. Also know as Black Friday. I woke up at 4am not by my alarm but by my mom waking me up. If I would have used the alarm I would have violated the power down day right at the start. I was unable to make coffee and had to settle on coke as a morning pick-me-up. My mom drove use to several stores, in which we battled the crowds to shop. After a few hours, we came home and I went back to bed. Later that day, my family went to pick out a Christmas tree. We went out into the field and cut one down using only a hand-held saw. We spent the rest of the night decorating the Christmas tree together.
The next day, I checked my phone first thing. Had two missed calls, one from a friend and one from my mom. At first, I was confused why I had one from my mom because I was with her most of the day. Turns out she left me a voicemail at 5:46 am because she had lost me for a few seconds in a crowed store and was ready to check out. Half way through the voice mail she remembered I was powering down for a day. I also had eight missed text messages from an array of people. When I really looked at them, I realized actually only one of them was somewhat important. My best friend, who knows I usually have my phone right next to me, sent me three text and the last one seemed a little panicky because I wasn’t responding. On Facebook I had two new friend request and 9 new notifications.
This challenge made me realize that without technology I spend a lot more time with my family. Not just time, but quality time. Instead of texting a friend, I was talking with my family. I also realized that sometimes days like this are needed. It was nice and relaxing to get away from the world for a while. Looking back, some other days it may have been hard to do this and taken a lot of planning, especially if I was at school where I use technology so much. I picked a really good day to do a power down because I didn’t have to plan too much, but I also learned a lot. In the future, when I’m home, I am going to strive too not use technology too much and just spend much needed quality time with the family.

Physical education reaches new heights

Everyday teachers are looking for innovative ways to get kids excited about physical education and give them new, valuable skills. This middle school is doing just that! With the rope challenge course the students are getting a sense of confidence and adrenaline rush as well as learning balance and teamwork. I believe more schools need different activities like this rope course instead of just the regular game of dodge ball in the gym. So often, gym becomes a repetitive class. An activity like this would really change it up and give the kids something to look forward too. If only every school had the funds, space and motivated teachers to offer such inventive ways for kids to stay active and excited.

Omnikin!

Want a fun easy game everyone can play in gym class? Well, Omnikin is your answer! There are so many different games you can make from this one ball. A few example are shown in the video. I have also seen a game played with two omnikin balls and a volleyball net. Two teams, one on each side. They hit the ball over to the other side at the same time and try to get the ball to land on the others teams' side. The catch is that sometimes there are two balls on your side and your team has to divide. With communication and teamwork your team can be successful.

Unicycle it up!

More and more I keep hearing that kids of all ages are learning how to ride unicycles in gym class. From 4^th graders to high school aged kids it seems to be a new trend occurring in physical education. Not only are schools offering unicycle units in gym but also full classes. Some schools are even lucky enough to have their own unicycle clubs. The school district I graduated from has a unicycle club that meets every Wednesday before school starts. Ever since, there has been a huge jump in the number of unicycles popping up around town. The kids parents have even starting to get involved with the program and ride their unicycles together to school. When normally, they may have just ridden in a car to school and dropped their child off. This new program that requires a little skill and lots of fun will keep kids and parents happy and fit in the long run.

Jing

Jing is a web 2.0 tool that would be great for any classroom teacher. This cross-platform screen casting program can be used for creating tutorials, screenshots, and much more. You can easily share anything you do in Jing on the web, email, IM, Twitter or even your blog. You can take a picture or make a short video of what you see on your screen. Its extremely simple and can eliminate phone and email time. The best part is that you can download it for free.
Any teacher could utilize this to clear up directions or even introduce a home work assignment over the Internet. A teacher could also be showing this on a projector or smart board while walking around the class room helping any kids. Also, it saves the teacher from repeating directions over and over again. If you record it once, then every individual student could watch it as many times as need and on their own time. I could definitely see myself using this in my classroom.

Back in Action... Sorta

When Good Technology Means Bad Teaching
We've all been there. In a dark classroom, with a monotone professor and the lecture dumped into a power point that students in the back can barely see. What a great way to get a college education. That is, if you can keep your eyes open. Technology these days are off the charts, but the professors trying to use it to make their classes better aren’t quite making the grade. Universities are spending thousands to millions of dollars for smart classroom and smart technology. However, the professors are uneducated in this area and most fail to us it successfully. The most common program used is Power Point. This can make or break the class. If a professor posts a Power Point to a form of Angel or Blackboard, attendance can drop 20% or the students that actually attend will pay less attention especially if they know they can view it later. If universities would just take the time to train teachers how to properly use the smart technology our kids would be smarter. Training would eliminate that extra 15 minutes wasted at the beginning of class trying to plug USB cords in the right outlets or tracking down someone else to do it. Schools with great technology are nothing but money suckers if they don’t have teachers who correctly and effectively use what is offered. Students love technology, but if not used in a practical way will hate the class. Artin Bastani, a senior at Miami University says it best, "If you're going to attempt to use technology, either use it right or don't use it at all."

On a Closing Note...

Welp, the semester is over and so is my observation time. Overall, the experience was wonderful! I can honestly say that I STILL want to be a physical education teacher! I enjoyed everything from meeting the students to learning the ins and outs from my teacher and from playing active games with the kids to having the experience of a lifetime. And even the not so enjoyable stuff like grades, hall duty and waking up early. At first, getting into a routine was a little difficult, but after a few times I stated to settle in and feel comfortable. By the end of my observation, I felt very confident and sure of what to do. I loved when the kids finally felt comfortable with me to come up and ask me questions about rules or how to do a tumbling move correctly. I really loved just being there and observing everything I possibly could. As my education teacher would say, you will learn wayyy more out there than you ever will in here. Needless to say, she was definitely right! This experience just further confirmed the fact that I want to pursue physical education as a career.
ps. This is not the end of my blog... just the end of the beginning. :)