VLOG

UDL Principle III: Guideline 9

Tech Ed. Reflection

When I first realized the objective of this course, I was feeling quite dull and didn't think my content would have much to do with technology integration.  Typically, especially with the older generation PE teachers, technology is not used at all (maybe some HR monitors or a projector to show videos).  I have felt a big change towards technology being integrated in PE.  I still find it more difficult than the other core subjects because were restricted with it based on environment, but I have definitely learned a lot of new methods and ideas that I can use involving technology in PE.  Through all the units and assignments we were required to do allowed me to gain a larger understanding of what I can use in terms of technology in a classroom.  There are so many valuable resources out there that I never knew about until the course.

There are 2 technologies/tools that stuck out to me.  One is the screencast, and the second is all of the collaboration websites.  The screencast was a great tool to learn about because it is just another way to teach a lesson or concept to the students in a different way.  Some student might learn better based on the idea of a screencast.  I also like all the websites and sources out there that I can use to have students collaborate content together.  I honestly think during my ST time, I will try to integrate as much technology as I can to get experience before I start looking for a job.  One of them I would like to try is the screencast method during an exploratory lesson.  The students can listen and use my screencast during the lesson while I am observing and giving corrective feedback when needed.

I have suggested all the technology strategies and tools we have used in class to my CT.  He is not very open to the idea of it, and personally I think he just doesn't want to try it (laziness).  I have been telling him about the technology ideas we come up with and he basically shoots it down every time.  Because of this and only 2 weeks left of school I don't think I will probably not find a chance to try one of these tools or technologies.  I plan to use my lesson plan I have made for this class in one of my lessons (if they have HR monitors) at my new school next semester.  Hoping my CT will be open to the ideas I will bring involving technology integration.

Gifted Students

This is a late post, but I have still given much thought to the videos about gifted students.  Ever since Dr. Senkowski introduced her knowledge and experience about gifted students I have gained an interest to learn more about the specific community.  I have had a couple classes at GVSU related to children/students with disabilities.  Not once did I hear about gifted students.  To bring out a stereotype, which I'm sure many people have when they hear "gifted students," is the fact that students with disabilities is the same thing as gifted students.  I've learned that there is indeed a difference between the two, but a student with a disability can still be considered a gifted student.  Like some others said in their posts, a big myth was the idea of having a lot of friends versus a perfect couple of friends.  I thought it was better to have more friends growing up, but now from a teaching perspective when I see students who have 2-3 close friends, I know they are doing just fine.

I can bring a lot of this new knowledge to my classroom and future classroom.  Luckily, in a gymnasium we tend to have more room than most classrooms.  Some students engage themselves better when they can be more spread out and have personal space.  I will make sure to be aware of certain needs like personal space by modifying certain activities to the students needs that may require more space to be used individually.  In terms of technology, the biggest idea that came to mind was the idea of self-reflection by using a journal online that they can share to me.  It will give the students a sense of privacy in which they might be able to complete their reflection more
thoroughly instead of doing it in class or having a class discussion about it.

TILP Plan

My lesson plan is starting to come together pretty well at this point.  I will be a in a 5^th grade class setting that takes place during their Physical Education/Health Education class.  The topic will be about reading their own heart rate (HR), how to properly read their heart rate through the use of a HR monitor, and gain understanding of the importance of why we read/watch our HR during physical activity.  I chose this activity because I haven't actually had much work with HR monitors in a class and I thought it would be fun creating a lesson that is based of the integration of these monitors and other technology.

Through designed movement activities, HR monitors will be incorporated into each activity, students HR will be logged by their iPads to the smartboard, and then final discussions will take place based off the results of the lesson. After warm-ups and an implemented activity, students will log their heart rate by reading the HR monitor or manually (if I didn't’t have enough monitors) into their iPad which will be transmitted to the Smartboard.  By using the iPad to smartboard method, I will be able to see what results the students are getting, what HR changes are happening, and many other options related to assessing the lesson.

I would love to hear some different ideas to how I could integrate technology into this lesson while still using HR monitors?

Fair Use

Stanford University did a great job describing the "definition" of fair use: "in its most general sense, a fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an illegal infringement."  

Copyright Act Definition 

• Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances.

• Section 107 of the Copyright Act gives much more detail of what is needed in order to determine if something is under fair use and also identifies the certain types of uses.

• Purpose and Character of Fair Use.

There are 4 factors that should be included when determining if a piece of work is particularly a case of fair use:

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

This Act is unique because of the ability to use copyrighted material without permission the owner.  We can pull information from that material and not be afraid of getting in trouble, because of our freedom and rights we have when it comes to accessing copyrighted material.

• Revenue increased by more than five percent from 2006 to 2007.

• Fair use companies employed an additional 100,000 workers.
• U.S. exports by fair use industries expanded by nearly 12 percent to $281 billion. 

PE Central, SPARK, and SHAPE America are all examples of websites and resources I can use to help formulate a lesson or unit.  It is important to understand our rights with fair use.  As a physical educator, I can pull lesson ideas from these websites and create/modify my own with our getting in trouble for not citing my source every time.

Resources:

https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2010/04/fairuseeconomy.pdf

http://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/

Do Students Learn in Different Styles?

This belief is based off the topic of differentiated instruction.  Although this question is a very broad and bold educational belief that can be answered in a multitude of ways, there is much evidence behind the fact that every student does not learn the same way, as well as researches, studies, and tests done to answer this question over a span many years dating back to when education started.  It doesn't take researching, testing, or studying to answer this question; however, it does help, but I think the best way to answer this is through a teacher’s personal experiences with his/her students.  I will reflect on my own personal experience with students I've had, and also be conducting some research on this topic.  

I may not be a "certified teacher" yet, but I have had more than enough experience to understand that differentiation is relevant in education.  In short, differentiated instruction is the idea that different students are provided with different avenues of learning in terms of acquiring knowledge.  Through my few years of experience in Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS), vastly made up of a diverse population of students, coming from different socio-economic status', backgrounds, and ethnicity.  If I have 23 students in my class, then I more than likely have 23 different ways I will connect with each student to effectively deliver the content across the student's mind.  Every student has their own special needs when it comes to learning.  Some students need more attention (one-on-one) than others, some student's require feedback every time an activity or assignment is done correctly.  I've discovered that this information can be acquired through the students CA 60 file (every student has one).  It can even go as easy to say that students learn better from lectures, readings, videos, or even audios.  (McCarthy, 2014) It’s impossible to teach a lesson to every student the same way.  Yes, you might do a lesson for the whole class, but within that lesson you learn to modify certain parts of the lesson based on the situation at hand.

"During the 1900s, educators talked about individualizing instruction. In the 21st century, the politically correct term is "differentiated instruction." Differentiated instruction should be implemented in a way that does not change what is taught but rather changes how it is taught." (Aldridge, 2010) I like the way Aldridge explains differentiated instruction.  He goes in great depth about developing instruction within this article and addresses the considerations of the students cultural, familial, and personal characteristics.  Another article I found talked about learning styles, explaining that there is no such thing as "learning styles." (Paul, B. A., 2013) Within that article by Paul, B. A., Reiner and Willingham argue, "There is no credible evidence that learning styles exist." (Reiner, Willingham, 2010.) They agree with the fact that students learn differently and acquire content in a multitude of ways, but not through learning styles.  Many educators and parents believe that students have a preferred mode to learn.  Reiner and Willingham continue with their argument, "While students do have preferences about how they learn, the evidence shows they absorb information just as well whether or not they encounter it in their preferred mode."  At first I thought this article by Paul, B. A. was disagreeing with the fact that differentiated instruction exists.  In the article "Do Students Really Have Different Learning Styles," she explains, although there are no learning styles teachers shouldn't present/teach information to students in one fashion.  "The “learning style” that teachers and parents should focus on is the universal learning style of the human mind." (Paul, B. A., 2013) This speaks a lot truth about the concept of differentiated instruction because every students mind works differently.

I'm sure based on everything I have said above clearly shows that I agree with the fact that students learn in different ways.  I've found some information to be more clear now that I've done research on differentiated instruction and learning styles, but I don't think anyone will ever be able to change my mind on this subject.  Furthermore, I don't know that I will ever come across a Professional Educator that doesn't support this belief.  If I were to come across a colleague that believes students learn the same way, I would simply ask him/her to analyze and assess their students individually after teaching a topic.  I would bring up my own experiences, as well as share my research with them.  I believe this topic is important and every teacher should know how to effectively teach a diverse group of students.  Any school you teach in will be diverse in some way, which is what I love about education.

Aldridge, Jerry. "Differentiated instruction." Childhood Education 86.3 (2010): 193+. Academic OneFile. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.

McCarthy, J. (2014). 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners: What Teachers Do. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-ways-to-plan-john-mccarthy

Paul, B. A. (2013, April 13). Do Students Really Have Different Learning Styles? Retrieved September 28, 2016, from https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/04/13/do-students-have-different-learning-styles/

Reiner, C., & Wellingham, D. (2010). The Myth of Learning Styles. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://www.changemag.org/Archives/Back Issues/September-October 2010/the-myth-of-learning-full.html

Post #3 - Blogs in a classroom

I enjoy writing and currently I've found out that I enjoy blogging as well.  This is the first class I've ever had to blog for assignments.  I believe blogging is a great idea for us as teachers to have incorporated into our lessons.

As a physical educator, literacy is not used as much as it would be in other classrooms, but that doesn't mean it can't be used.  If anything, this would be great for a physical education classroom.  Since PE is filled with learning loco motor skills, developing skills required in sports and other everyday activity, as well as learning about healthy lifestyles, I think a blog would be a great way for students to go home and reflect on what they have been learning in their PE class.

Everyday is a different day in the gym and I think that is the beauty of PE.  I could use this blog to upload motivation videos/links, other sites about health and wellness, and any other information pertaining physical education/activity as whole.  Yes, I could incorporate a weekly personal blog by the students to cover the literacy aspect of PE, and to get the point across that PE is not all about the games we play.  Furthermore, I could really take advantage of this and get my students in touch with all the physical and healthy aspects of life.  I could really open their eyes to the importance of physical activity and sports in child, teen, or young adults life.  

A blog has a lot of character and personality embedded into the posts and I think that is the part I like best about it.  The biggest constraints would be getting all the students on board with using it correctly as well as remembering to do their posts since it would be out of a PE class.  Doing writing assignments is not the typical idea of a PE class, but I would be making these blogs interesting, connected to the students, current trends, sports, etc.