Friday, December 28, 2007

Travel



create your own personalized map of the USA

I came across this website for the second time this year, and thought I would add it to my blog. I know it is not Health and PE related, but I think a great part of learning occurs when you are able to travel. I believe when you travel you see so many things including people, nature, and cultures. You learn by listening to different people, dialects, stories, and the history in the area. The experience gained by traveling is something that is difficult to match in a classroom, and therefore, I wanted to recognize this aspect. Above are the states that I have visited, I hope to get to them all someday, and revisit so many that I have already been to. I have been fortunate enough to travel to 34 out of the 50 states and I believe being able to travel has helped me expand my knowledge and education in so many different ways. Traveling reminds me that we are all connected in some way.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Smoking PSA

I just wanted to follow up on my last blog regarding Public Service Announcements or PSA's. I just completed my first project last night, and wanted to put it up on my blog. It is longer than I would have liked (1:34 seconds), but would love to hear any input on the video.
My plan is to have my students' create their own PSA's during their Health marking period, and have them post them to my wiki page. I will keep all posted as to how this goes.
The following PSA is on Smoking:

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Public Service Announcements


I have been taking a Professional Development Class with David Gorecki, called Digital Storytelling. David, our school districts' Elementary Technology Teacher, has helped me design a project in the class that I am going to have my students also do in their upcoming third marking period Health classes. The students are going to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA). Each student will select a provided topic, such as, drugs, alcohol, high blood pressure, or cardiovascular disease, to name a few. They will then use a program called Photostory 3 to create their one-minute PSA. The process to create this project has been really fun to do, and can drive a point home using visual media. Each of the students will then present their PSA to the class once completed.
The class has taught me a great way to bring a different type of technology into my classroom, and I am very excited to see how my students' projects turn out.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Keep it Beating

I just wanted to add to the topic that Angela Delucia-Davis had talked about in her blog from last week. Angela, welcomed my idea of putting heart-rate monitors on students during a stressful situation i.e. a test. We put this offer to task last Thursday.

Ten of her students showed up in my office at 7 am to put on their heart-rate monitors. They were excited to start their day, and their heart-rates' demonstrated this. I gave the students a sheet to record their heart-rates during their English test and to record throughout the day. I had them record two times during each period. Jim Jarrell, Angela and I are going to compile the data, and Jim's AP calculus class is going to analyze the data and give us some feedback on the the heart-rate information collected.

The really cool part about this experiment is throughout the day other students' got "wind" of what we were doing and wanted to be a part of it. So, Miss. April Wisniewski's, third period Intermediate Algebra class gladly volunteered to wear the monitors for their test they were taking on Friday. After their test they wanted to then wear them the rest of the day also. The students were equally as excited to be a part of the experiment. As the students turned in their monitors at the end of the day, they each told me how it made their day more interesting and they were really into monitoring their heart-rates. Some of the students' recorded their beats per minute many more times than I had requested, and really liked to see the recovery of their heart-rate after walking from class to class, or how it dropped or raised during an exciting moment in class.

For me as a Health and PE teacher, it was really fun to do a cross-curriculum lesson with Angela, and April. It added a really exciting part to my day and to our students' days. It was very motivating to watch the students throughout the day as they wore their monitors, and see their interest level perk-up when it came to the beats of their heart.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Educating and Tryptophan


As the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving has come and gone, I could not help but think about how some of the "traditions" of this holiday related to my teaching world.

Thanksgiving is a holiday where families and friends get together, share laughs, and eat way to much food! I feel as if my classroom shares some similarities with this scenario, especially when I am using lecture format. My students get together in my classroom, share ideas, and often listen to me use lecture format to overfill them with information (food) they will need. I believe that lecturing is still an awesome way to teach students, but I also think that mixing it up once in a while is an even better way to reach them. Some of the methods I am going to utilize this year, along with lecture are as follows: Photostory 3, Digital Storytelling, Skyping in other educators (like Ryan Lollgen and Steven Schels just did this past week), blogging, and using a wiki page. I am hoping using some of these tools will add more to a students "learning plate". It gives them many different ways to learn the curricula I am trying to relay, and it can really help multi-intelligence learners. It also keeps me on my toes, which makes my material more interesting.

After eating all day on Thanksgiving, I laid on my couch in a "tryptophan food coma". It made me think that if I were to lecture in class the majority of time it would create the same "coma affect" for my students. That head-bobbing, drowsy, day-dreaming look that I feel after eating to much turkey is the same look I see on many of my students faces as I teach them via lecture. This year my goal as an educator is to bring in some alternative teaching options, and try to get my students more involved in the learning process.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Sink, swim, or tread?


Does the word "technology", create anxiety or fear for you? Do you feel as if you can't compete in this world, so why bother? Is this ever changing world too overwhelming for you?

I was in a Professional Development Class this week, and one of my co-workers reminded me of how challenging it can be to try to implement all this technology. She also helped me remember that being willing to take the risk is half the battle.

I remember feeling this way when I first started. In fact, I still feel this way many days because there is so much to learn, and relearn. I realized that if I wanted to learn about The Web 2.0, that I just needed to jump into it! I mean, how much could it really hurt? So, I decided to just jump in, and I have not looked back ever since.

Patrick Higgins
has helped me feel confident in entering this world. He has helped me extend my walls, and it has become a powerful tool for me. I am a teacher that wants to learn more and do more for my students and colleagues. I truly feel that understanding the tools that are available to us can be a great ally to our teaching strategies. I work in a field where activity prevails and writing and reading are not the main focus, but that does not mean I can't embrace the tools out there to try to make my field more educational and inviting.

So, some days I swim, some days sink, and some days I tread in the water waiting for something or someone to help me swim again.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Matters of the Heart

So, in my field one of the best and really cool technical assessment tools is a heart rate monitor. This tool is used to let you know if you are working within your training heart rate zone when during exercise. When you train in this zone you are working your heart at the optimal level to burn calories, and train at the proper beats per minute. We have a few of these monitors in our department, that are implemented during our classes.

The heart is obviously the most important muscle in the body. It is always operating, and in so many different ways. Everything we do affects this organ, especially stress. So I thought it would be interesting to utilize the heart rate monitors during classes other than Physical Education. I am interested in using the HR monitors during academic classes where students are taking a test, or when a student has to do a presentation in front of the class. I think it would be really interesting to see how the beats of the heart rise and fall during stressful times of a students' day. I would like to gather statistical information on this topic. So, if anyone is interested in trying this experiment out with me and your class please let me know.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Team Building


Two of my classes have just finished up our Team Building and Adventure Games unit. It has been really fun to watch them progress through this unit. The units' purpose is to help students build relationships with their classmates on a "team" level, but it does not involve sports.

This form of PE is "non-traditional" to say the least, and is one that mature students enjoy the most. I always get extremely positive feedback from this unit. This type of PE does not involve athleticism. It involves problem-solving, trust building, and reaching a team-oriented goal. It helps define leaders and teaches students how to hear other people's thoughts on meeting problem-solving challenges that are presented.

This unit is taken and modified from Karl Rohnke, who is one of the creators of Project Adventure. It is one of the lifestyle units that we have incorporated into our curriculum, and it is one of the most applicable to life. Students move from Adventure Games to a Low Ropes unit, and then proceed to the High Elements Course. All of these units help develop the mind, body, and socialization process of our students, which is an extremely important part of development for students. Especially because much of our focus is on technology, which can tend to leave these important developmental stages behind.

PE Today?

What kind of technology do you think of when you think of Physical Education? Do you picture wiki's and blogs being a part of it? Do you still imagine PE being about a lifetime of bad memories and demeaning experiences?

Physical Education, today, incorporates different types of technology than most academic classroom settings. I am not saying we can't incorporate blogs, wiki's, and internet searches in PE, but it demands a different type of technology at this point. PE is a performance class. In a PE class students have to physically perform skills, exert physical effort, sweat, and be an active participant during the class period, everyday. Students can not sit and hide behind a desk. Assessment involves movement and if they are not moving, it is very easy for their grade to drop, and drop quickly. We as PE educators need to make classes motivating and challenging in a different way than classroom teachers. If we could bring in some of the latest PE technology, it would help motivate students to incorporate movement and wellness into their daily lives.

So, what kind of technology are we talking about? Well, if you have been to a "gym", YMCA, or fitness center recently you have probably seen or utilized this technology. Items such as treadmills, ellipticals, heart-rate monitors and fitness-testing systems, which measure flexibility, blood pressure, body composition, upper-body strength, and cardiovascular health, to name a few. These items and many others are in the facilities mentioned above. They are also in many of our spare rooms and basements collecting dust or being used as clothing trees. The point I am trying to make is if we can start to build our PE repertoire of technology "toys", teach our students how to utilize these pieces of technology and make them a part of their daily lives, it will enhance their quality of life.

PE classes, today, need to be about developing a healthy lifestyle, and not focus on how to throw a baseball or make a jump shot. By teaching our students how to improve cardiovascular health through the use of the available technology we can help them develop healthy lifestyle habits.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Thinking "Outside the Field"

I was so excited and honored when Patrick Higgins invited me to be an author on Tech Dossier. I have just recently begun to explore the world of Web 2.0, and the reason this has occurred is because Patrick has been so willing to introduce this world to me and our district. Another huge excitement and positive push to become more involved with technology has been the program for the Tablet PC's. Having my own Tablet PC has really given me the freedom to explore new avenues as an educator.

I am a Health and Physical Education teacher at the high school and I have really been trying to move my thoughts and discipline into this fast-moving computer age. My field is extremely health and wellness oriented. Health is something that is changing everyday, and it is difficult to keep up with. Just this past week the "MRSA" virus has taken over the media, and our high school has had to create a plan of action to avoid this virus from entering our school. Wellness is an area that my colleagues and I have to really work at to get students involved. Getting our students, and our nation to understand the importance of keeping our bodies in good physical condition can really be a challenge.

In this day and age, students are more sedentary than ever. It is difficult to motivate the majority of our nations' student population to step away from our electronic world and step into a world that will strengthen their hearts. There is significant empirical evidence that students' sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits are dramatically affecting their quality of life.


Barry Bachenheimer is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University. One of his students, who's name was not given, created this video below. I wanted people to see it because I think it demonstrates the empirical data well, and puts our nations' health issues into perspective.





It is important to keep our students' on a healthy track in life, so that they can meet their potential in all the other important aspects of life. We as educators have a captured audience. I would like to try to bring technology into my "field", and get the most out of that captured audience. I am hoping, by getting my thoughts out there, people will see the importance of my discipline, and help contribute to making it more of a priority.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

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Fitness Friday


Our department has come up with the idea of having every Friday be a "Fitness Friday". Each Friday we take all our PE classes to the track, and the students run the half-mile. Their goal is to be consistent or improve their times. Their times are based on the first time they ran it, which was for the Presidential test. They are allowed to be within 30 seconds of this time. It can be 30 seconds slower, or 30 seconds faster, but it must be within this time frame in order for them to maintain their effort and participation grade. Fitness Friday is run during first marking period, and during fourth marking period.

I teach freshman, and I am pleasantly surprised at their level of motivation and effort to try to be consistent or improve their times. It is refreshing to see them work so hard and see their level of excitement when they lower their time!

I record the students' results each time we do complete the event. I have a lot of empirical data that could really be used to mark the level of improvement or decline for each student. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to where or what I can do with all of this data? Should I be entering it into a computer program that generates a graph for each student? Should the information be sent to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for their statistical analysis? If anyone has any information on this matter, I would greatly appreciate some direction or suggestions.



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Saturday, October 20, 2007

Half-Mile in the Fall


Here are my students preparing to run the half-mile. They run the half-mile every Friday. It was particularly beautiful with the fall foliage in the backdrop.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Is PE important?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBfJeO_dGu0



This video gives us a glimpse into the importance of Physical Education and Health. We need to get everyone "on board" and to help people understand the impact that this educational discipline could have on all of our lives.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Sketchcast Message

Patrick Higgins introduced this new website, Sketchcast, during our in-service yesterday, so I thought I would play around with it. Here is what I came up with.



It seems like this can be a way to get a point across with a drawing and you can add voice to it. I did not get as far as adding voice to it yet, but will work on that aspect.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Directions

Earlier this year many faculty members were able to sign up and receive a Tablet PC. It has been a gift to my education process, and in turn, has helped me become a more innovative and creative teacher.

The direction that our PE program would like to head is one that involves all of our students in an activity that they enjoy doing AND are working their cardiovascular endurance. Today, while working with Patrick Higgins, he showed me a link to a video that shows a PE class involved in an activity. It is exactly the direction I would love to see our PE program head in.
Below is the link to the video clip that Patrick sent me. Take a look at it to see where PE programs of the present are:




http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6995365.stm




After viewing this clip, you can see that it involves many students, creates a cardiovascular workout, AND they are enjoying what they are doing. It is wonderful to see this type of activity occurring. Obviously, this system is very expensive.

We have no problem investing needed money into the academic portion of our students, wouldn't it be nice if we were to invest this type of money into our students' physical health.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Physical Education Fitness


I am writing this blog to reach out to all PE teachers. I am looking for input on what your high school curriculum and classes entail in regards to fitness.

At Sparta High School, we put the entire student body through the Presidential Fitness Challenge. We do this twice a year. Once in September and again in May. The events that we use are the mile, half-mile, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-and-reach, and the shuttle run. We also have all of the students run the Pacer test, which is a product of Fitnessgram. It is a good indicator of cardiovascular endurance.

The fitness portion is time consuming, but students seem to work hard at each event, overall. Many students try extremely hard to reach the Presidential and National Standards that are listed.

So, I am curious what other schools do in regards to fitness curricula, lessons, and classes. I am looking for different ideas to incorporate into our program that will make our students more successful and enjoy what they are doing. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

The 'Dreaded' Mile


Today in our PE classes our students are running the 'dreaded' mile. Each student attempts to reach the Presidential times for their age, while they huff and puff through their four laps around the track. As students, give it their all I can't help but think, have I as a teacher helped encourage them to exercise or given them the idea that it is a chore or a punishment? I am hoping it is the former, but I have a feeling it is the later. During the course of the academic year, I teach them about the importance of cardiovascular exercise and how they need to incorporate this into their daily schedules. As the end of the year approaches, I often feel I have been able to "reach" many students. Students tell me how they have incorporated exercise into their lives.

As the school year comes to a close, the 'dreaded' mile has to be run and recorded again. No matter how much all of my students have learned, they still dislike this timed event. Although, as each of them crosses the finish line, I see their sense of accomplishment and relief that they have completed this physical challenge, and this makes me smile.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

HyPE 2.0

The title of this blog comes from the idea of generating "hype" for Health and Physical Education by using the tools the Web 2.0 has to offer.

Goals

I am hoping to find educators that want to take Health and PE into the future. I want to utilize the Web to bring in ideas and help students become a part of the process. I want the students to participate in creating the knowledge and pass it on to each other as well as me the educator.