I was recommended to use Adobe Spark for my research presentation by a colleague at work. I was so impressed how user friendly it was. It had many options for background theme, uploading your own music, pictures selection, and more. I think students will be entertain and more likely be engage using Adobe Spark because of the story telling, and the animated videos. Some of the weakness that I found was each slide is very limited to add content. A short sentence will be presentable. If added more writing, it will not show up on the slide. I think Adobe Spark will be very helpful to students on their PBL presentations because it is so easy to use.
The next tool I will use in my classes will be Fit Radio. I find students are more motivated and having fun with activities and fitness exercises while listening to music. The app is free and it's pretty easy to set up. Fit Radio is an uptempo music app without any commercial interruptions. Once a song ends, the next song starts to incorporate in, so there are no pauses throughout the playlist. There are different stations and genres that can be choose from that can inspire students to expenditure more energy in the activities. I really like how I don't have to start and stop the music therefore I can be more hands-on and spend time evaluating and assisting students.
1 Comment
How will I teach digital literacy?As I plan out my next PBL lesson "Creating a Unique Crossfit WOD" for my students, I will start by teaching them the ethical use of digital resources. I believe students need to know the proper way to reference the information that they are researching. Copying text from a website to create their crossfit program is plagiarism. Some of the Crossfit WOD are named after fallen American veteran and police officers heroes. I want students to research these popular Crossfit WODs and understand the background of these fallen warriors. Students will have an opportunity to name to their own crossfit workout. However, teaching students about being professional during the use of their technology devices is also important. Students' awareness and the professionalism of the globally connected arena will help them become better digital citizens in their higher education and careers. Since many students are visual learners, I will post signs of the proper usage of researching and referencing information.
Next, I will use a formative assessment such as Kahoot or Quizizz to evaluate my students. Kahoot has been a great digital learning tool for them. Student are engaged and motivated when interacting in the activity. They have demonstrated a high level of competition a few times. I am looking forward to use Quizizz. After using it in class and researching the app, I have saw it is useful for teachers to look at students progression. In physical education, it is require to present Second Step Program to all 6th graders. Second Step is a program to promote life skills to teach students to become better citizens (www.secondstep.org). The program also provides examples of how students interact with peers to increase their social and school success, and how to prevent violence, bullying, and substance abuse. Digital Citizenship can be useful tools as it relates to the Second Step program. However, it can be a challenge to incorporate laptops, and iPads in physical education classrooms since our teaching area will lack the resources such as energy outlets, tables, and high speed internet.
Most students are familiar with social media but some may not know about internet safety. Digital Compass could be very beneficial in P.E. This gamification can help students make the correct decision by rewarding points to the correct answer. More points are given with consecutive correct answers. One theme of second step is bullying prevention. Cyberbullying: Being Upstanding can be a useful lesson. Students will learn the difference about be a passive bystander and a active upstander. Examples and scenarios can students reflect and prepare them for the issue. Along with Second Step, Project-based learning (PBL) is a requirement in the district. One of project in P.E. is creating a unique Crossfit WOD (workout of the day) Program. Strategic Searching in Digital Citizenship can be a helpful resource in preparing students to find exercises to build strength and decrease body fat percentage. After reading the article by Katie Varatta, it reminded me of my recent research study. My 8th graders developed the skills of proper running form. Once they acquired the skill of running properly from evaluating their own video and working together with peers and teacher to receive feedback, students used the skills to reach their fitness goals. Throughout the study, I noticed students worked well in small groups to think deeply and critically to develop the proper running form that best suit them. I was very happy with some students who detest any type of cardiovascular activity and took on the unique challenge to meet their needs to reach their fitness goals.
Competency-based learning is similar to project-based learning. Students use collaborative work groups to increase their understanding and knowledge. This is very helpful to students who gets stuck on a problem and they are able to find a way or a strategy to overcome the issue. Students are acquiring the knowledge and skills to aid them in success in school, higher education, careers, and adult life. I am interested in using more personalized learning in physical education. I used scaffolding and other techniques to help improve students learning outcomes. Setting different goals can hopefully boost students confidence and accountability. By having more confidence, students may increase rates of retention of the skills. I would like to know what kind of personalized learning other teachers used in their classroom. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2018
Categories |