Power To Learn Grant Update

http://coachingsfms.pbworks.com/ coaching wiki
http://outdooredwais.pbworks.com/ Outdoor Ed wiki
http://cardioaerobics.pbworks.com/ cardio/aerobics wiki
http://waishf.pbworks.com/FrontPage general health fitness wiki

The above wiki sites are still a work in progress, but are used in my classes at WAIS and Spring Forest.
I am unable to post many of the videos that students have made as I do not have copyrights to the music in the background. These videos and movies are used for: (1) instruction in the classroom (2)will be shown during lunch time in the dining hall once the TVs are repaired there (3) are highlights of activities that students burn to take home.
The technology grant as allowed me to create a different type of teaching style at WAIS and I am so pleased with the students enthusiasm in class. My high school classes are 1 semester so I will have many new students in the courses after the holidays.
I also coach 4 sports at Spring Forest; volleyball, cross-country, track and soccer. Using the technology tools in my coaching has benefited my athletes as well as parents and the entire school as we post pictures and videos during the season on the wiki as well as capture athletes in skill practice and correction. I use the flip cameras and mini laptops to record an athlete performing a particular skill and then play it back for them on the mini laptop so they can see exactly what they are doing for correction purposes. I have found that this has helped my athletes more than verbal correction. Athletes also demonstrate a skill properly and other athletes are able to watch it to see how a particular skill should look. We have posted several instructional videos in volleyball and we are working on several for cross-country, the sport I am coaching currently. The majority of these recordings are not posted as I use it for instant correction and instruction. Athletes parents have spoken to me about how much it is helping their child and appreciate our efforts to bring out the best in all of our athletes with specific individual instruction. SBISD Athletic Director has also commented to me about the positive results of my technology use. I am also working with several coaches in our district and showing them how they can implement this into their programs.
Another opportunity that I have is speaking to other HF instructors in SBISD at our Department Chair and in-service meetings about my use of technology and show them how they can replicate what I am doing.

This semester has been challenging as I have been tweaking lessons with the tech equipment, and discovering what the students needs and likes are. As with anything new, it takes awhile to get things running smoothly and efficiently, but I am up for this challenge..so are my students!!! High school students are very comfortable with the tech tools that I have been given in the grant and love working with them. Some of my students have always wanted to play on a Wii, see how an I-touch works, and have never seen a mini laptop before. I have some classes where the majority of my students already know how to work on a Mac computer and I-touches and some classes that might have 1 student who knows how to use the equipment. The good news is that the classes with students proficient with the equipment can work quickly and help out other students and I get private lessons from them. I am amazed at how fast they can manipulate the touches while I am still struggling with my fingers and touching it properly to get it do a task. After working with a class full of proficient users, I am able to learn how to instruct my other classes from a beginning level and yet get the same results. I tell everyone up front that I have no idea how to hook up wires to equipment, nor the ability to understand what I need to do..even with written instructions. Thank goodness for my students !!! When they see me trying to figure out how to attach the wires from the I-touches to the back of the TVs, they already know that I will not be able to do it, run to me and try to tell me how it is done ( for the millionth time), and then I just hand them to wires and walk away. We always laugh at "Who's the teacher around here", I love the ownership the students have taken in class and the direction we are heading. I plan a lesson and then teach it to the students and it is not uncommon for a teaching moment to arise or we spin off in another direction. I constantly ask my students what they like and don't like about our classes and what they would like to see us do. I tell them to come up with a better plan and I will follow their lead. Because I am in the gym and doing something so different than classroom teachers, I am not using the equipment everyday as the TVs, Mac, minis, and Wii can't be used if there are balls in the gym, obvious reason. However, I use the I-touches and speakers everyday for music in the gym..the kids love it as it gives a great background as we do our activities.
As LSU game days approach the week end, I play a variety of fight songs and the kids get a kick out of it. What is so funny is the other teachers in my dept. try to play their schools fight songs, but I can drown them out w/ my loud speakers. Another teacher at WAIS and I are always pulling pranks on each other, the kids love getting involved in the spirit of it, and each year as the annual LSU vs Mississippi State game approaches the pranks get wild. The middle school kids support the other teacher, but I have the power of my high school students. This year, the seniors at WAIS wanted to get involved and we planned for a week what we would do. (Since WAIS does not have pep rallies, and sports, I think it is important to rally the troops and get some spirit going) Dr. Blassingame gave us the green light and no one knew what was about to happen. We took the speaker and strapped it to a cart, uploaded LSU fight songs to an I-touch, got a flip cam to record it all, and kids dressed in LSU colors and Mardi Gras attire as well as a Tiger mascot costume that I just so happen to have on hand-lol. We gathered in the dining hall, went over the plan and as classes changed, the kids were off down the hallways blaring the LSU music and chanting for LSU. Teachers came out of their classrooms and begged us to send the parade around to their classes. And then we stopped outside the door of our victim. Other students gathered around to see what was going on as we held our own pep rally for LSU. All the kids in the hallway were dancing to the music and joining in with the cheers. Of course, the opposing side wanted to get in their cheers, but they couldn't compete with the seniors. To end the pep rally, seniors began to toss out gold coins to the crowd. "Another creative use of technology", the kids and I said as we went back to class.
Here is how I have used the tech equipment this semester:
I-touches: upload music for playing in gym, research and recording data for classes, read articles on fitness, use for calorie and exercise counter, looking up recipes as we compare healthier ways to eat.
Speaker/projector: playing music in gym, playing audio for exercise videos on TVs, use with laptop for sound when playing video lessons from wiki or downloaded video lessons in class that are projected on screen.
Flip Cams: athletic videos, student videos, recording activities in class, making clips into movies or full videos, recording student responses, upload recordings to podcasts, record guest speakers and use as reference in other classes, record students creating a lesson in fitness and used for other classes and stored in our video library.
Mini laptops/Mac: a favorite of all of us. Internet for research and various activities, create audio lessons to be uploaded to students personal listening devices, or shuffles that I have purchased for my classes. Create movies, edit, and sound, and effects to work Used with projector to show on full screen in gym- videos either created by students, from wiki sites, or used in instruction lesson on "How to" do a particular task.
Wii: played by all.
Currently doing in class:
After a semester of class instruction and practice, students are creating personal fitness programs by mapping out their 20-30 min workout, writing dialogue, and planning the timing of how to space instruction voice commands. This is by far the coolest thing ever!!!! Using the garage band: students choose the music they like to listen to while exercising. They can choose from iTunes selection that I have created on the Mac or bring in music to upload. Once their music is selected for the time period, they use a different track for voice instruction. The voice instruction is more of a command or que of what to do. For instance, if they are power walking, a que would be to begin to walk for warm up......3 min. later another que of what pace to walk........4 min later a que of power burst for 30 sec...30 sec later, que to return to moderate walk....etc Students can chose any type of activity such as walking, stretches, weight lifting, spin bicycling, stair master, or any fitness activity they enjoy. Kids already listen to music while they exercise and now they have a personal program they will use. Students are working in groups of like activity or may work alone. Once completed, students will bring their memory stick and download to it, then upload to the computer where they sync their iPods. I have been awarded other monies through different contests to purchase shuffles for my classes. If students don't have a personal iPod, they can upload their program to one of my shuffles and use it in class.
Students are making final edits to videos for instruction, making podcasts of various activities, and making movies from clips they have collected over the semester.
As a school Health Fitness marketing project, students are surveyed about thier 10 favorite things they enjoy in Health Fitness classes and why they continue to take Health Fitness after required credits are made. Students take pictures of their favoirte activites and add quotes. We are compling the information to take the top 10 answers to the responses to make pamphlet type card that will be used on Prospective Parent night at our school as well as handouts to their friends and family. My goal is to highlight the courses offered at WAIS and I plan to use them as I speak to other groups about WAIS's Health Fintess program. I have arranged a graphic art designer to volunteer time to teach us how to do the layout and organize the project. I am networking to find a company to print it for us and hope to do so in the next few weeks.

Areas to be improved upon:
I have been very frustrated with the restrictions on the equipment when trying to use the internet sites. I have spent hours in prep before presenting to class and only using sites that are appropriate. One day last week, I got to school an hour early to set up the gym w/ the TVs and I-touches. The objective was for students to choose a specific type of video for exercise according to their goals for improvement. (We have worked all year on personal fitness and used a variety of styles to reach their goals.) One site was sparkpeople which is a health fitness site. Spark is endorsed by the National Health Fitness Assoc, Texas Health Fitness Assoc. and SBISD. We have used the spark curriculum in SBISD and are encouraged by our director to use it frequently. I have my students already registered on this site and we have used it to record data. However, we are restricted on this site when choosing the exercise videos. After 45 minutes of kids working to get the sites open, and going to other fitness sites to find other videos, only to be blocked, they became frustrated and said forget it. I looked as though I had no idea what I was doing even though I spent hours in prep.
I am frustrated with the ability to log in my students on the Mac. The mini laptops allow students to enter their id information and log on, but not the mac. I use the Mac when demonstrating to students on some internet sites, but have never allowed them to use it under my log in. Unable to get the kids logged in, I called several people who use macs to see how I could get the kids logged in. Their instructions were clear to me, but the restrictions of the districts use did not allow my students to log in. Needless to say, again, I looked as though I did not know what I was doing and wasted instruction time. I am working on a solution for my students ability to log in, but I am not sure it will happen before the semester ends. We use the Mac for movie making and soundtrack.
I am extremely frustrated by the district restrictions on the Macs for my learning purposes. After months of being told aseveral different ways to log in at home, I am still unable to do so. Since I coach all year and give up my conference time to coach, I work at home when preparing a lesson or researching. I have not used a Mac laptop before and need to get familiar with it. I have been told that it is Apples problem with the restrictions, but the 2 Apple instructors teaching an in-service for us stated otherwise. I know that this has to be the case as my children have Macs and are able to do things that I am restricted to do on the grant Mac. My students who also use Macs comment on the restrictions and explain to me this is why we can't do some of the research and tasks.
The I-touches also have restrictions on them when using the internet and it has blocked us from doing activities such as using videos for exercise that target specific needs of students. I really had hopes for this as I networked to get TVs and purchased the cables to hook up the touches to the TVs. My goal is to have my gym look like a video arcade where students can freely move around doing a variety of activities.
HIghlights with this grant:
Hook, line, and sinker. I have the students signing up for my classes and waiting lists to get in to them. I teach activites that are not traditional in Health Fitness classes, have been allowed to create pilot classes according the the students requests and needs, and the use of technology has brought in more kids. It is only the tip of the iceburg and the students and I are thinking ahead of where we want to go.
Most importantly, the students are physically active. In a state that has cut the requirments for Health Fitness, WAIS classes are filled past the normal class count. Students are learning the importance of health and fitness and the consequences of not being fit. They are able to try new types of activites that they enjoy and can have imput about choices. By creating videos of fitness activities, students are using their creative thinking skills to come up with ways to exercise. They love making instruction videos, audio lessons, and playing Wii. To me, it is not important what they are doing to stay active, but that they are active.
I have to opprotunity to network with others and share creative ideas about fitness. Being awarded this grant gives me that ability to also approach companies to support our program through donations. Companies want to donate to schools, but they want to see that a school program is established and teaching in an effective way that reaches all students. I am constantly writing grants and participating in contests to continue to add to the HF program with equipment. Because I have been awarded this grant, I have been able to get companies to donate equipment and other items to our school. My students can't wait to get the bicycles in January so we can go to the Bayou and ride and make more spin class videos- virtual bike trail videos. The technology equipment allows me to reach these savy high school students and engage them in activity and I want to spread the word to eveyone how it can be done!!

Frustrations w/ mac

After weeks of trying to work on the mac, I am still unable to access Internet at home. I do not have the time at school to work and research downloads, sites, etc as I teach physical education class all day and use my conference period to coach, attend dc meeting, or meet / my team. I have always worked at home after hours to get work done, and am unable to do so on the mac. I am not sure why the district has had the difficulty in allowing us to get access at home, but I am at full frustration level.
I need to download apps for the i touches to use for class and unable to do this as well. I have gone outside the district to ask friends and professionals who use the mac and they have been unable to help me as the district has placed too many restrictions on the macs to allow the Internet access at home. I have tried logging on at school, coming home logged in, and still unable to do so. Until I can get this access, I am unable to accomplish many of the goals that I had for my classes and uses for technology.
I really hope that things are resolved soon.

start of school year

Can I tell you how excited my students are about the Health Fitness classes this year !!!!! I showed them the skins to the i touches and mac and told them any day now....
In my aerobic classes, I have students that are placed in there due to obesity and overweight body composition as well as not passing the states guidelines for fitness. This is a pilot class that I am teaching as I felt committed to my students to educate them about the importance of being physically fit. It is set up so that I can teach a combination of fitness TEKS of nutrition, developing fitness programs and setting goals to reach a fit level that is healthy and show the benefits of maintaining this level through out their lives. I been networking w/ nutritionists to come and speak, will use my culinary background to teach and prepare healthy snacks and meals with students in the teachers lounge, and using my fire pits from Outdoor Ed, use the Internet to research about fitness, use sites that I have found to help students to make individual fit programs, skype w/ LSU fitness class,(several other schools I am also working on as well) skype w/ students in the Houston area, Texas, Us and across the globe to talk about fitness, make fitness exercise programs and then download them onto ipods to use in class. Students will also be able to download programs that they make to their own ipods so they can use it outside of school. I am working on skyping w/ a personal trainer to instruct students and let them have interaction with a professional that they may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience and gain the benefits from. Another goal I have for my students is to offer programs to teachers and others once they have learned to make fitness programs for different levels. I will first invite teachers at WAIS and SFMS to get a download for their ipod and eventually offer this for everyone in SBISD. Dr. Blasingame has put in to be the first to get the download for her ipod. I will also design my aerobics class to include fitness stations where students may choose between a variety of activities. Here students will be spinning to a virtual trail that was recorded by students, exercise to dance videos that I have downloaded and later when students create their dance videos, they will also exercise along with video, set up WII sport, as well as set up several strength stations. Students will also be making videos and/or creating an audio program for the weight room as well as visual and audio videos for exercises of flexibility.
This summer , I began using technology w/ my OE classes where students taught a lesson of a particular skill used and now that is a teaching tool for class. I also created a podcast of the Texas Park and Wildlife instructor who taught lessons in angler fishing and archery. We will continue to build the library of lessons as the year continues. Students will also create programs of cardio conditioning like the ones used in aerobics classes.
In my other HF classes, students will also learn to create videos, make animotos highlighting students activities, and later showcase their work during lunch hour on Fridays.
For my teams that I coach, I will use the flipcams to use as a tool for correction of form as well as video games so we can breakdown the game and discuss the areas we need to work on as well as show the positive areas. I will also use it in practice so I can immediately show the athlete what they need to correct. My athletes are anxious to use this technology and I know that they will benefit from this. They will also make an animoto at the end of season to highlight their season. My principal at SFMS is so excited that we are using technology in athletics and showcasing it on the wiki where parents, teachers, and other students can view the pictures and videos.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to inspire my students and be creative in my teaching.

pick up folder

I finished the bike video for my classes today. WHEW !!!!! I have the video w/o sound that I had to put in my pick up folder (Poland) bc the video is too large for my wiki. I also made the same video w/ music that is so cool, but I can't post it. I have it on my desktop to use for my class. I will use the projector and a large screen in the gym in front of the spin bikes. Then I will hook up the speaker and we will rock out as we go on a bike trail. I am so excited about this that I want school to start tom. so I can use it. I am also practicing on podcast and lessons to download on i-touch for walking activities. My time is limited as I teach Outdoor Ed this summer (100 degree temps) and am so wiped out when I get home each day. I wanted to try and get at least 1 lesson to have ready when school begins to demonstrate for the kids what they will be doing.
I have been working on 21 things and have found some great tools to use for my classes.
I can't wait to get the tech equipment !!!!!!!!!

list of wiki

Here are the wikis that I am currently using. The Outdoor Ed has videos of instruction located in navigator and I linked each session (1-3) to the home wiki. This way I can keep photos and animots for each session as the files are too big to load on to 1 wiki. I started the coaching wiki this past spring and will add more during the year. The other wiki spaces have limited information but I will add as the year starts.
http://outdooredwais.pbworks.com/
http://coachingsfms.pbworks.com/
http://waishf.pbworks.com/FrontPage
http://cardioaerobics.pbworks.com/

summer school

Although I have not received my grant tech items yet, I am still borrowing items from Karen Harrell (RCE) to move forward and use tech in my summer school Outdoor Ed. classes.
I am using technology to record and document the kids and our field trips. When we return from a field trip, students download pics to my desktop and then make animotos. We have also made trading cards that they enjoyed doing. What is so cool about trading cards is that they can take a photo and then include information about the skill learned. It's a great way to "test" their knowledge and do so in a creative way.
I have also been editing videos that kids recorded on my Dell, but this takes so long. I want to have a bike video up and ready to go this fall so I am doing the editing now. In the future, the kids will do the editing of this film and add music. I make 2 videos of each lesson-one w/o sound that I can post on wiki and one w/ music the kids chose. Since I don't have copyrights, I can't post on public website, but I can use it in my classes. When kids want to pull up a video from wiki, they can play music of their choice for the background and be able to engage in the activity outside the classroom.