Places I have been...

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Library books...

My books

Here is the link which I hope works, I am going to try to link it so it will always be on my blog, but I am having a hard time because everything says this link is invalid. If anyone who is reading this can help, I would appreciate some tips.

Just when you think we have learned all the new web 2.0 tools, we are again surprised. However, I really like website because I am always looking for new books to read or suggestions from other people. Can I see my class using this at all? Saying I teach third graders, not so much. I will tell the classroom teachers about this service because I can see them using this with their students a lot more than I will.

It was very easy to find books, and make comments and rating them too. I am very interested to see classmates books. I believe I saw something like this on some of my friends Facebook profile. The funny thing about this is, who has time to read right now with all of our homework?? Its a big tease :)

Fun flickr toys!!!!

Wow, I bookmarked this page so fast. Talk about another way to spend your time. I had no idea I just spend two hours playing with all of this stuff. I love it! I can see myself using this in the future and I need to start uploading more of my picture to flickr. I hope this slide show works...

Fit for life podcast

Assuming I did this right, you should be able to click on the link on the right side of this page, which will let you download this podcast to your reader. After looking at many fitness related podcasts, I thought this one was the most interesting. It has some great workout tips, nutrition facts, and just real life advice. As a woman, we are always looking for advice on these subjects.

I think it is easier and more convenient to have these podcasts on our google reader because it is so much faster than opening up itunes. Again, it is all about organization and keeping things all in one place. Amazing. This was pretty easy to do and I will now search around the last of the three podcasting websites given to us. I am curious to see what other will choose. I could absolutely see myself using this in the classroom, or just to gain more knowledge on the subject. I am sure they have some wedding podcasts too....oh no, more time spent on my computer!!!

Ouch

Sorry, this is funny in a bad way. I had to post it..

Jump rope tricks

How could I not post this clip?? Everyone loves to jump rope, no matter what shape or size you are. I have a fantastic jump rope unit, and I always like to show the kids different routines. In the past I would have a hard time finding videos, but you tube makes it so much easier now.

At first I was very nervous about using youtube because we had a huge "episode" at our school. Our students were filming us teachers without us knowing about it, and posting them. That is just the brink of it really. So, just like other social networking, you need to be very careful what you are posting.

I do not have that much experience using youtube, but since I bought my flip (see blog below) I will be using this much more. I can see myself flipping class time and posting it here. It is also awesome for dance units. I would have my students film there dance routine and post it for all the other students to see.

On my personal teacher/school website, I believe this would be a fantastic addition. I can do demos, instructions, etc. When used correctly, this could be another useful tool for the classroom.

I love how easy the site is to use, and how other videos you might like always pop up on the side. I have not found anything I dislike yet..but I will keep you posted!

New and Improved Library

Does anyone else have the feeling we will have a assignment using library 2.0?? I would actually like to see it in use, and it makes me wonder what our library has. Does anyone in this class know about their own library? Not to stereotype, but I do not see many PE teachers using the library. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Techno-nerd

This site is pretty amazing. A little overwhelming to find out how much is actually out there, but still, amazing. Once I finally figured out how to claim my blog, I was up and going in no time. I found many interesting pics, blogs, and videos when I searched for Kinesiology. I found the videos to be the best of use, some were pretty bad, while some where very interesting. I especially liked all videos from what seemed to be class assignments. There was also one of a trainer teaching the correct way to tape an ankle.

It is also like google, when you type in a search word, several adds pop on the side. So in this sense, it is a tag for paid advertisements. Will I use this website a lot? I am not sure yet, I can see myself using it for my research or just to maybe get a laugh in here and there. However, I still am happy I know about it know. As my brother told me today, I am getting to be kind of a nerd with all this tech stuff. Love it.

Here comes Technorat

Technorati Profile

This is a test to start things off...wish me luck

Yummy yummy, delicious

I watched both of the videos with ease, thinking I could figure this site out pretty quickly. I believe I am getting a little overconfident with this web 2.0. I have to admit, I had a hard time with this website. It did come at great timing because I have to give my computer back to my school, and I was bummed out that I would be losing all my bookmarks. Once I created my account, I did manage to export all my current bookmarks on to the site. However, I still cannot figure out how to get the tags showing, or how to feed it to this blog. Delicious is seeming to be harder than I thought.

With all that being said, I know I just need to spend more time working with it. I do believe this is an amazing tool and I know I will be using it in the future. We should not always depend on using the same computer, especially if something breaks, or god forbid, we loose our lab tops. This is a great backup option. It is also wonderful for networking. As far as teaching goes, I think it would be great for the entire staff at a school to be using this. Remember, each bookmark you have, there is an option for sharing it or not. This way, you can just share the school related websites/bookmarks. I am always sending links to friends, and this is just another shortcut to make our lives easier and create more time. Imagine if I could use the links that other PE teachers use at different schools, it could be great!! But does it create more time? Just like the other web 2.0 tools, you need to be patient in the beginning and it will all pay off in the end.

Wet paint???

No, I am not an artist in any way shape or form. Wetpaint, thankfully, has nothing to do with being an artist. It is an application that allows people to form a interactive, social website. I can see myself using this in all aspects of my career.

For my students, I can set up one for each of my classes, or it can even be a project for them to create. With a wetpaint website, each class can have discussions, pictures, assignments, mile times, and any other posting they would use to communicate with each other.

For my players, I could use wetpaint in the same way. An open communication board, for the entire team, coach and parents. Pictures, game results, tournament info, team stats, carpooling, recruiting info for coaches,questions, workouts, health tips. I really believe the list could go on ,and if monitored correctly, I believe this could be an awesome tool.

The other application which I spend a lot of my time on now, is Facebook. I can see myself using this forever. Is there an age when I should stop?? What a brilliant way to social network. In the past week I have found about 40 high school friends and learned new info at the same time. I even enjoy reading about my new classmates. I believe this is brilliant.

Web 2.0 fun

I have just spent a good portion of my day browsing through all of web 2.0 awards, and I just really do not know where to start. I was very proud of myself for knowing a couple, but really...who does not know what craigslist is? Even my mom has sold a car on craiglist.

There are three programs that stick out in my mind. Meebo, Ma.gnolia, and Omnidrive. As soon as I wrote these three names, it occurred to me they all have something in common. Making our life easier, of course. They also make our life more portable so to say.

Meebo is for instant text messaging without actually signing into your account on that web page.

Magnolia is to for bookmarking; Keeping your bookmarks on a website allows you to access your favorite websites from anywhere. Your bookmarks are available and always backed up no matter which computer you use. Again, think portable...meaning you can use this anywhere, PDA, your students iphone (because lets face it, we all have that one student who has better gadgets than we can afford).

Ominidrive allows you to aggregate not only all your desktop files, but all your files and data from different web applications as well. You can exchange files and data between applications using Omnidrive, and also easily share and publish files with just a single click. How cool does that sound? I have to change computers very soon, and this might be something I will actually use.

This was a very fun assignment and I am excited to read other blog entries about Web 2.0

Organization. I believe the biggest benefit that comes from using Google Docs, is how organized it can make a teacher. It is incredible easy to store and download everything within the documents. I knew I always loved google, but this is taking it to an entire new level. Ways to use it in my career? I can see myself using this quite often in the PE world. I would start with the basics which are: drafting ideas, proposals to people, just basic word documents, and sharing this with others who I subscribe to or blog with. This could also be used with communication to the parents of my students. Descriptions of projects, mile times, student concerns could easily be widely distributed. This way, keeping everything on your google docs, you are allowed to find it on any computer, rather than only keeping it on your very own hard drive. If a teacher is lucky enough to use a PDA, then it could easily be pulled up and used in the classroom (track, or soccer field) as well. I hope to start using this in my classroom soon. I am wondering what could be the downsides to this? Has any one had a bad experience with this program?

RSS-ing

Bloglines, or google reader?? I went with google reader because it is just so much easier because I already use gmail. Rather then going to another site from there, I can just click on the reader option, and it is all right in front of me. I think this is just another way to save me time, and I of course had to show it off to my fiance who thought it was pretty cool too. I wish I had known about this before because I truly think it is amazing, and everyone should be doing this. It was very easy to set up, and even find other subscribers as well. I know this is something I will be using forever, even when grad school is over. I am even tempted to show this to my students, and maybe even have a read to my cell phone...should I be this brave?

"Always on"

Neomillennial User Experience Design Strategies: Utilizing social networking media to support "Always On" Learning Styles. (Baird, Fisher 2005)

Weblogs, ipods, flicker, oh my.

I really enjoyed reading this article, as it focused more on the philosophy and theory of all these new crazy technology learning tools we have now. Apparently anyone born after 1982 has new ways of understanding, learning, and processing new information. (Baird) What does this mean now? It means us teachers have a lot of catching up to do. There will be new courses and new social networking (which is now so addicting thanks to my new facebook account).

What I am afraid of is a lot of teachers refusing to change and learn all this new technology. In this sense, it is both the student and teacher who will be at loss. I have had many different reactions from my fellow teachers when I tell them I am getting my Master's degree all online. Some of them think I am crazy, but I really believe this is the new wave of the future, and we as students are always on, checking our new assignments, learning from others with sometimes the blind leading the blind, gaining a new perspective on educating. I am excited to try flickr with Blinklist as I can see myself using it as part of some lessons for my students.

Just as the article states, "we are creating an online community that is able to draw from multiple social resources to meet the learner's intrinsic needs, while still providing opportunities to participate with their peers in a collaborative, social exchange of information."(Baird 2005) So now I am beginning to understand why we just signed up for six different programs in the past two weeks. It is starting to come together.

Emerging Technologies

Emerging Technologies Changing Public Library Service Delivery Models. Kajewski, Mary Ann. September 2006

In my second article I am reviewing, I find it fascinating to learn about all these different models libraries are using now. I finally learned what RSS means!! I see this all the time at the bottom of some websites, and never knew what it meant. Really Simple Syndication. How genius. I think it is great that RSS is being Incorporated into library catalogs and journal databases. This way it will inform students of new purchases and publications. I believe this is a wonderful idea.

What about wiki's? Ok, so the word comes from the Hawaiian language. I obviously love that, but I am sometimes a little skeptical about my students using wikipedia for example. I do not think most students know that anyone can write and update anything on the website. It took me months to even figure this out. However, I do think LISWiki is a great tool for the librarians themselves. It opens there resources and can link to other libraries too.

Finally, the end of the article states how important it is to have the staff buy in. It is not expensive and they all need to adapt to these new services.

Gaming in a Library??

You know you are old when you read about how libraries are incorporating gaming as a part of regular services. What??? Are there sound proof rooms? My image of gaming has a lot of noise going on. The library is still a quiet place isn't it? Has this changed as well? I guess I can see some positives; it is a safe place for kids to hang out, it is fun, it could be a social activity. Is it though, a bribe to get kids back into the library?? Are we really that desperate?

I do agree that the libraries need serious make overs. I would love to see librarians more active, i.e. not just sitting behind the never-ending-stacks-of-books-desk. I like reading about producing podcasts and having them available on the libraries website. I think that is a fantastic way of connecting the community. And, it is a way to get kids out of the house, and moving away from their own computer. This way, they actually have to physically talk to other people. Is there a way we can get them to run to the library now for a workout?

Kin 710

Kin 710
Originally uploaded by peteacha

Here is a 4 man canoe, and these people are paddling for exercise. This is very common sport and just a great way to get moving in sunny Hawaii. Just don't lean too much to the right or you might flip! But not to worry, you just flip the canoe over, bail out the water, and start again! I grew up paddling and in the summers there are races every Sunday. Has anyone ever tried this sport? It is also a high school sport as well.

The flip!!!

Please tell me you guys know what the flip is?? Is is the best invention, and I recently purchased one from amazon before I went on a trip to Italy. Here is the link to check it out...flip



Like the website notes....its the camcorder, uncomplicated. It is a very light camcorder that digitally stores your video, and then you just simply stick the usb port into your computer. There are no plugs involved. It can hold up to about an hour and a half of video time, then you would erase them once downloaded on your computer. It also can upload right to Youtube as well!!

I figured out a way to use it in my classroom!!! I just had a sport dance unit with my sophomores (so awesome!!!) and I flipped their performances which later I uploaded to our school's website. This is a fascinating and easy way to bring tech into your PE classroom. It is very easy once the videos are downloaded to your computer, to send them by email, or post them on a blog :) And they are not that pricey either, I would highly suggest one because I am sure we will need to record our students or players in the future for a project!!

Any words of wisdom???

As one of the few students who did not major in physical education, what are going to be my biggest challenges?? I am a little worried with this, although I do have three solid years of teaching and much more of coaching and I know this is the profession I will do for the rest of my life!

Grad school work

I believe we all hope our own students will not be able to find our own blogs, but this might be impossible.

I am very excited to get things going, this has all been very fun so far!!