Skype Post

I have had Skype for a while now and have really enjoyed how it works. I have a couple friends who are currently living in Europe and other places across the country and when I get the chance to talk to them we usually talk through Skype. There was an evening where one of my wife's friends who lives in Montana wanted to "hang out" with us so I hooked up Skype and turned on the webcam and she turned hers on and it was just like she was sitting in the room with us. That was the first time we've done something like that and it was an amazing expirience.  I can see how that could be a great expirience in a classroom. The idea of guest speakers could be done daily instead of once a term. You could also do classroom projects with other classes anywhere in the world. I think it could make those commercials a reality instead of a fantasy. 

This week

• 19-0 with one more to go. We had two good games this week vs Lebanon and vs. Silverton.
  
• We looked sluggish in both games because our health isn't what it should be but we were able to pull both games out. 
• We play at Woodburn tomorrow to go undefeated on the season. We have the potential to do it but we need to make sure we're ready to go.  More to come.

Here is a nice little OSU Beavers Video

• Lets see how this works
  

• I'm an avid OSU fan and I like this little translation of a clip from a movie. 

Web2.0 Rethinking Our Schools

• When watching those video's i feel like the task of teaching students in this day and age can be a daunting task. 
• I want to be able to give the students i work with every advantage but it seems to be an impossible thing to do. 
  
• Being one of the first generations to have grown up with a computer i am able to relate with the students of today and tomorrow because i have had the experiences that they've had when it comes to using a computer within the school setting. 
• The part that really stands out to me and should stand out to all teachers is the piece about not knowing what we are preparing our students for in the future.
• For me, teaching physical education, I have some idea about what the future holds because my field isn't changing as radically as others.
• The challenge for me in my field is to incorporate technology into what we are doing in areas such as body fat testing, V02 max measuring and other things where technology plays a huge role. 
• As the cost of technology goes down the availability to use it in a class will go up so I look forward to seeing what will happen in the future. 

My Favorite Web2.0 tools

• So far Skype is one of the web2.0 tools that i like. I'm working with Catchvideo.net and playing with how that will work for me. 
• I'm trying to work with it to save a youtube video so that i can embed it into a blog for this class. It's currently processing the video so we'll see how long it's going to take to save the video on my computer. Thats' where i'm at in my web2.0 serfing. 
  
• The impact of web 2.0 to my classes can be extensive. The ability to use web tools and not have to save anything to one specific site (ie computer) will be very handy.
• I will be able to be mobile with my class and go to different sites around town all the while having the ability to keep updated with things such as grades, calendars, and activities.
• This will also be nice with people who don't have a computer because they will be able to go down to the library and use these tools without having to download anything to that computer.

This week

This week is going to be a big week for our basketball team. We have two big games against West Albany and Woodburn. If we win both we'll be in good shape to finish second in our league. If we lose either one or both, we might be out of the playoff race. This is the varsity team i'm talking about though. The team that i'm coaching which is the Freshman team is currently sitting at 17-0 and we have 3 games left to get to a perfect season. We'll see what's going to happen, i'll let you know as soon as i know.

here is a link to my pictures

Blogger Pictures

Blogging Apps

When thinking about what i can use blogs for when i'm teaching PE I came up with a few ideas. First off i would be able to keep an updated commentary on what is happening in class. That will help with my parent contact and keeping everyone up to date that way. Another thing i can do with my blog is give daily inspirational quotes for people who need a little pick me up with their day. I also like the idea of having possible exercises that people can do daily to improve their fitness. With coaching I like the idea of keeping the calendar on a blog and make changes to it as times are needed. I'll continue to update this with ideas as I think of them.