Faith alongside Teaching

Do you question technology?????

2010-05-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

Ask yourself a question; is there one day that you can go without using any sort of technology the whole day? Can you spend one day without checking your voicemails, facebook account, text messaging, or email someone? I know you might be thinking to yourself “yes I can totally do that.” But realistically I and most people cannot go an hour without checking any of those things because they are afraid they might miss something important. Today’s world is a world that is full of multi takers, people that are always on the go, fast food, simple solutions, and people who want short cuts. Teachers have found that one way to engage their students to involve some sort of technology into their lesson plans. But others feel that technology has had a negative effect of making students unable to basic skills such as writing an essay. Although technology can be very helpful to a student some also believe that there is a consent distraction that causes students to write paragraph by paragraph. As a teacher and as a student I can see both sides of the spectrum. I do find myself getting distracted by the different things technology has to offer me, but at the same time I feel that I and other students are feeling overwhelmed with the amount of responsibility and work that is expected out of us. Often time students need to know a lot of information and they will use spark notes or pink monkey so that can know that information and still be able to other homework or other activities. So the question that I find myself asking myself is that are children being pulled by the consent distraction that technology has to offer us and is it affecting our children from learning/grasping new concepts and ideas being taught in the classroom? Or has technology created a way out for a student that helps them conquer new concepts and still be able to live the life of a teenager?

Digital Imiigrants and Digital Natives

2010-04-26T17:57:00.000-07:00

My goals for 2010 and Marc Prensky’s article

Being a physical education teacher and also a science major I was a little nervous going into this class because let’s just say I can have some difficulty with technology. I thought about perusing this masters program because it was going to be a challenge that I wanted to conquer, it would make me look more diverse as a teacher, and also it could help me incorporate some technology into my classroom. Some students do not like physical education for one reason or another and it is hard to come up with new ideas or lesson plans to get every kid excited. My physical education classroom is different compared to most because we do not play kick ball or hand ball, but instead we focus on the strength and conditioning of each student. My students are learning to do Olympic based lifts and learning how to incorporate lifting in their lives to become not only better athletes, but healthier individuals. With lifting comes some difficulty because what most people do not realize is that it is not just about how strong you are, but your brain needs to make neurological connections in your brain to be able to complete an Olympic lift.
Marc Prensky makes a good point when he says, “the brain constantly reorganizes itself all our child and adult lives, a phenomenon technically known as neuroplasticity.” This is very true because our brain can be molded like silly putty and made into a brain full of knowledge or a brain full of confusion. And this is were I come in as a teacher because it is my job to ensure my students have a clear understand on how to do a lift correctly and find ways to help their neurological pathways make a connection with their bodies. Students become frustrated when learning the new lifts because they feel they are not getting it because they are not strong enough, but that is not the case. What needs to happen is that their neurological pathways need to make that connection with their body parts to complete the lift properly. My goal is to use technology to show my students the way their brain is working during a lifting exercise or find information that can help me explain to them why it may take them longer than others to learn an Olympic lift. I think if I was able to visually show my students what their brain is doing during athletic events then they would not become so frustrated with themselves and also learn something about the human brain.
Marc Prensky also makes a great point when he says, “social psychology also provides strong evidence that one’s thinking patterns change depending on one’s experience.” And I completely agree with that statement because I know as a student and athlete I have always learn more when the environment I was learning in was that positive, welcomed exploration, strict, and was encouraging. My goal is to create such an environment, but also an environment where any kind of student can learn.
The children today have become overwhelmed with everything technology weather it is facebook, their iPod, or MySpace. But even though technology seems to being running our lives and the lives of our students I feel that this could be used to our advantage. My goal is to find a balance with technology and physical education. During my undergraduate program I was fortunate to use something called dwarfish and also force plates. I was assisted by my professors when using them and was never able to use them by myself. My goal is with the help of this class become more comfortable with technology so in the future I could get a grant to get a dwarfish or force plates so that my students can also see the biomechanics and exercise physiology portion of working out and not just learn how to do the lift. I want my students to understand what is happening to their bodies when they lift and why it is important to stay in shape. I also want to be able to set bench marks for my students. Both of these technologies will help me show my students what they have improved on since being in the weight room and areas that they still may need to improve on. Overall, my goal for this class is to become more confident in my technology skills and to be able to incorporate this confidence into my classroom.

TEAMWORK

2010-01-25T21:59:00.001-08:00

Working with a team has always been something I have been around since I was very little. I have learned that I must give some to get some out of my teammates. I have also learned that I must be able to get along with everyone on the court to have a successful ending to a match. I have recently come across in one of my work enviroments a person who does not work well with others and chooses to not be loyal to there teamates. As in teammates, I mean co-workers. I believe that a work enviroment is much like a team such as volleyball and in order to have a successful work enviroment that each co-worker must work together to accomplish the same goal. There is no "I" in team and it takes every single team member to achieve a goal. With this co-worker I have been so disappointed by there actions, lies, and childish talk/behavior that I lose sleep over it and it makes me so frustrated when I get home. I have come to relize that I must act much as I did when I was not getting along with a teammate with this co-worker. I must act like an adult and put aside my differences, be the bigger person, and work with them so our members can achieve the goals that we as coaches have set before them. I truly believe in teamwork and I know that as long as I work together with all my teamates/co-workers we can accomplish a goal no matter what differences we may have at this time.

Class management!!!

2010-01-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

When appoarching the management of my class and my students I try and teach with an approach that my students can feel comfortable coming into my class and asking questions, expressing their true feelings. I also try and have an approach where I my students can build their character in my classroom and also their confidence in their lifting/atheltic abilites grows. I recently came across a situation where one of my fellow teachers called a student a bad name and often does this on a daily bases. Usually the kids just shake it off and get through their lifts, but this student did not like it and told his parents. It bothered me very much to hear this teacher call this student a bad name and I saw the students face as he walked away. How in the world is this student suppose to feel confident in this classroom if there is a teacher who calls his students inapporiate things...UGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!I left work with frustration and anger toward this situation. I went home and talked to my fiance and told me to be the opposite of that teacher, to be a positive reinforcement and actively tell this student and all my students how great their doing and to also properly correct lifts or concepts they need help with. I want to build my students character and not break it down. I feel like this was a diffucult lesson for me to learn, but it has taught me and reinforce the kind of teacher I definetly do NOT want to become!!!

Working Together

2010-01-19T17:48:00.000-08:00

In earlier blogs I have talked about Cooperative learning and today I had my first taste of how my students acted when working together to accomplish a team goal. For my second ISDP I used the teaching strategy "cooperative learning" and it was a very interesting situation for myself as a teacher to observe and have my students do. My students are use to doing workouts as individuals and racing against each other to have the fastest time. I was a little nervous about having my students working together as a team, but to my surprise they all worked very well together. I put each student into groups of four and assigned a team captain. As a group all of the teams work well together, but they were not holding each other up as God holds us up when we are down. They were not actively encouraging their teammates and were not giving them positive feedback. This as a teacher bothered me a lot becuase the workout they did was very hard and I know if there was no one encourging me I would want to give up or my time would not be as fast. As the last team was finishing I got closer to the team and starting cheering that team on, yelling loud "Good job" "Keep working hard and many other positive reinforcement. Some of my students started to laugh and were wondering why I was yelling so loud. When all of the teams were down and were sitting down to listen to final discussion, I began talking to them how teammates hold each other up when they are down or not playing well. And how in class you still need to hold your classmates up as you do on a team. I hope that my students got the connection between sports and clas

Don't judge or condemn others. Forgive those who have offended you. Luke 6:37

2010-01-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

Today was an interesting day for me in the weight room. My eigth grade boys were moved on to their second phase of lifting, which means that are given individual workout sheets that are fitted to their fitness level. After each student has come to class and done their regular warm up routine, they go inot their class periods folder and grab their workout sheet. Now most of our boys have been moved on to the second phase of their lifts, but I have one boy in my class that was not handed a workout sheet or moved onto the next phase of his lift because he came into the class late and for maturity reasons was not moved onto the next phase of his lift. I had a one one one conversation with him and told him he needed to act more mature and do his lifts correctly in order to move onto the next phase of his lifts. A few weeks went by and I saw drastic improvments in not only his liftinf form, but also his maturity level. We were on our last week of his first phase, which was the week before christmas break, and I decided when we came back from break he would get his own workout sheet. During this particular class other students were making in fun of this student and telling him he was not stronge and had to lift with the girls. This student just kept working out and kept a smile on his face. But I got to the point were I was so upset with my other classmates that I made them stop lifting and come into my office. I told them that I had given them the second phase of the lift because I thought that they were mature enough to handle the advance lifts that were taking place. I also told them that everyone moves along at their own pace. I told him that my other student was moving onto the next phase when we came back from break and that his form was much better then some of theirs becuase of his hard work and his mature attitude. I told them to apologize and to go up to him and shake his hand. All of my students did so and to my surprise he forgave all of them and continued his workout. I then made it a point to hand him his new phase and he had the biggest smile one his face. I was so happy that he kept his mature attitude and excepted all of their apologies. This made me think of the bible verse quote,"Don't judge or condemn others. Forgive those who have offended you." Luke 6:37

What is Cooperative Learning????

2009-12-15T11:13:00.000-08:00

Cooperation is definied as working together to accomplish shared goals . This means that a teacher will work with his or her students to create an environment that will ensure students will have a positive, educational, and encouraging learning environment. This cooperative learning can include the use of small groups so that students or other group activities. The students will be put into small groups after the teacher has given instruction.

2009-12-15T10:48:00.000-08:00

1. COL 2:7 “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

This quote really spoke to me when it comes to being a teacher because I not only need to be strong in what I have learned in my teaching credential classes but also my faith in Jesus Christ because sometimes your faith and knowledge can question one another and for me to continue to make each aspect strong will not only help me, but in the long run will help my students.

2. MAT 21:21 “Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.”

I feel that this verse guides me back into God’s light and helps me to believe not only in myself on the days I am doubting myself as a teacher and also stresses the fact that I must show belief in my students in order for them to believe in themselves. I have always believed that I can do anything I put my heart into and also feel that I must believe in myself to accomplish my goals. I feel a teacher must show either by words or actions that they believe in their students so that they feel that can accomplish anything. A strong belief not only in myself, but also in God has helped me through some very difficult times and I want my students to believe that they can accomplish anything.

3. 1 Peter 3:14 “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed."Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."

I know that as a current teacher I will come across many situations that question my morals and beliefs. This verse has helped to enforce that I might come across situations that might ask me to go against what I think is right and wrong. I have come across this situation already with a student and I had to turn the other cheek and pretend that I did not see anything because of his parents being booster club members. I lost sleep over this situation and asked God for guidance. I found this quote when reading the bible and I knew that I could not go directly to his parents or coach and tell them what I thought was going on, but instead I went up to the student and told him that if he ever needed anyone to talk to I would lend a listening ear.

4. Ezekiel 22:14 “Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I the LORD have spoken and I will do it. The Effects Your Courage Will Have On Others.”

This quote reminds me that what I do as a teacher affects my students. My students are looking to me as a guide and as a person of authority. I must realize this when teaching my students the skill they need to know to participate in my class. This verse also reminds me that there might be days where I feel like giving up, but I cannot because my students need me in order to succeed. I must have courage to face the impossible and pass this courage onto my students.

5. Psalm 18:32-36 "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great. You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn."

A teacher is someone who gives his or her students the knowledge in a certain subject, but should also give their students the knowledge to know that they can accomplish anything they want to accomplish. I realize that as a teacher I could potentially be the one person in a student’s life that believes in them not only as students, but as an individual. As a current teacher I try and stay positive with my students and show them I believe in them. I know what it is like to have a teacher whole heartily believe in me and that made me want to work hard and push myself to be the best I could be. I hope that my students know I have faith in them and can help them in a time of need, just as God does for me on a daily bases.

6. 1 Chronicles 22:13: “Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the LORD gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

I kept referring back to this quote when I read it. I did not understand why it kept standing out to me, but then it came to me. I must be willing to observe my students and understand what is needed to ensure that each of my students has success in my class. This quote also called to me because God teaches us to treat others as we would want to be treated, and I completely agree and run my life by this statement. I believe my students deserve the same amount of respect from me, that I expect to get from them in return. I also liked this quote because there is going to be days were I am going to become discourage because of different reason, but I must state strong and believe everything happens for a reason and myself and my students will succeed.

7. Proverbs 16:3: "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

My faith has been a big part of my life since I was born and weither it be in sports, school, life, or in a time of need I also find myself asking God for help and guidance. I know that in my teaching I can ask God for help and he will be there for me and will show me the right thing to do. God has a plan for me and it might not always make sense to me and sometimes I do not understand certain things that happen in my life, but when I sit down and reflect on my life I know God planned events in my life at a certain time for me to become the strong women I am today. I know God has a plan for me as a teacher and sometimes I will not understand the events he has planned for me, but in the end I know I will succeed with God right by my side.

8. 1 Timothy 6:12: "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called."

I know that my faith will be tested many times not only throughout my life, but also it might be tested in my teaching career. I know I must stay strong no matter what the situation is I must stay strong and believe my faith in God will get me through the hard times.