Final Post

 I have learned to use technology in a variety of ways. I was completely oblivious with how to use or post on a blog, and now I am able to navigate around and have my very own classroom blog. This will be very beneficial for me as the teacher because it always me to stay in close contact with my students and parents. I feel like a successful teacher provides numerous methods for her students in order to guarantee their success, and I feel a blog would do just that. I also learned there are many websites I can use to learn from other teachers. Especially starting out in my own classroom I think it will be beneficial to learn from other teachers who have been in education for longer than I have.

I have enjoyed looking at those individuals within our own classroom to get ideas and insight on different teaching methods. I would have liked it if there were more education majors in our class to look on and collaborate with, but for the most part just being able to look at each others blogs was a helpful tool.

I think the RSS feeds have been really helpful within my content area because not only did I get to choose the ones I would like to follow, but they are constantly being updated so I can stay up to date with the content. I cannot imagine what I would do without technology these days. We use it every day and it has dramatically changed the way we learn and teach forever.

I learned how technologically un-savvy I am. I need to branch out and find new methods that will not only enhance my learning, but the learning of my students as well. Understanding technology is like trying to speak another language. The more you practice, the better you get. Being able to navigate through the world wide web, and using the website we used in this class will help me stay connected and it is a great networking tool. 

I will definitely use blogs for my classroom. I think it is a great way to stay connected with parents and students. I want all my students to feel they have the full support of their teachers because I think students learn best when they feel their teacher is willing to do whatever it takes to help them succeed.

Project #1

Here is the link to my website. I definitely will use this in my future classes. https://sites.google.com/site/mrsbonhamsclass2010/

Skype

Okay so I know this is not a picture of the person  I skyped, HOWEVER; I just bought a new touch phone and there is a really neat feature called Tango. Tango allows you to skype with any friend that has that feature over the phone. So instead of charging minutes to your phone (which my husband and I so preciously watch), we can skype over our phones for free. It is just like making a phone call, but it is considered a skype feature. I cannot believe what technology we have today. This is so cool!

Project #3

The word "health" can mean a variety of things. In health education this could mean mental, physical, or even emotional health. So I was trying to think of what society (mostly our youth) struggle with today, and one of the most reoccurring problem that came up was childhood obesity.

I found a new application on my phone called, MyFitnessPal, which I'm sure there are free applications similar to this if not all students have access to something like this on their own phone. I feel this new piece of technology can better help our youth by calculating how much we really consume, and direct their focus on how to eat more healthy. One thing I do like about this is if you choose to go out to a fast food place or restaurant, you can look up all the nutritional information wherever you choose to go.

It is important for our youth to learn how to control their eating habits, so their eating habits do not control them. This app is not meant to take away their agency when it comes to food, rather it is a tool to enhance their knowledge of how much and what they are eating so they can make better decisions in the future.

Health Problem

Thinking back to high school I reflect on all my health classes we were required to take. I was taught that we should eat healthy, and have "x" number of carbs and "y" amount of protein each and everyday, but what they did not teach us was how to apply that to our lives. Childhood obesity growing at an exponential rate because we are not teaching the future generation not only the proper things to eat, but the amount we should be eating. I play basketball and because we travel and are around each other so much, we have noticed each others eating habits. I have noticed our group is one of three things... 1. They always eat junk food and they rarely have fruits or veggies in their diet. 2. They are health freaks and they rarely touch a piece of candy. and 3. They eat when they are hungry and have a good balance of eating sweets with fruits and veggies. Unfortunately, most fall within the first two categories. Where do we learn these habits? We learn them as we grow up, which then carry into adulthood. If we educate our youth now with proper eating habits, it will not only save them from health and psychological problems, it benefit generations after generations.

Internet Safety

When you have kids around, whether at school or at home, some type of internet filter should be used. Today it is so easy to access inappropriate websites, pictures, videos, etc... even if you may not have been looking for them through pop ups and other links. Even now I am constantly reminded to not give out personal information on any social networks and to not chat with people you do not know, so I think it is so important for children to be educated on the proper way to use the computer. Although you want to trust all your kids while using the internet, it is important for your students to know what the consequences are if they do choose to try and look up those things.

Download Video

I decided to download a recent family favorite on Youtube called, Hide Your Wife. I knew about this video for quite some time, but just recently showed it to the rest of my family and THEY LOVED IT. So I downloaded it for the rest of my non-tech savvy family members so they could get in on the fun. The only problem I encountered was how to add the one-click option, but once it was installed the downloading part was a breeze. I could not see a copyright option for my video, so I think just for staying of the safe side I will only download other videos if I need to just for my classroom. I believe that is what Fair Use is saying is you can use those videos you download for educational purposes.

Copyright

I was surprised by the extent to which copyrights cover. I did not know that companies can put a copyright on something for 100 years. I have seen the "cc" in places and I did not realize it stood for creative commons, but I can see why there would be a lot of legal issues if things are not done properly when it comes to siting and giving the author, company, etc... credit for what they have done.