I have to admit that I was getting pretty bored with teaching. I felt like I had hit a plateau and was just going through the motions. I am pushing on my 15th year teaching. The excitement of being a new teacher has worn off and it seemed like I was staring down the barrel of 15 more years of boredom. I definitely needed a boost and a change...enter St. Francis tech courses. As much as I didn't want to start taking classes, I knew that I needed to. Not just for the lane change but also for a teaching change. I had to start making my classes fun and engaging again. I have enjoyed all the courses so far in this program, however, I felt like I learned the most and got the most out of Engaging e-Learning.
Using technology comes easy to me. My dad is a huge tech guy and I have been on a computer since I was 4 when the old school Atari's were out. My dad coded a vocabulary game for me to learn my letters and when I would press a letter, a picture would pop up related to that letter. I know there are many, many, many programs out there like that now, but back in 1984, it was quite the game. Even though I really enjoy technology, I struggle with incooperating it into PE. I always get stuck on wanting my students to move as much as possible and using all of the cool tech tools. During EEND 713, I felt like I learned about tools that I would actually use in my classes and created assignments that my students would benefit from. Before this class, I had never heard of a hyperdoc. Our instructor used one to organize all of our assignments that we needed to complete. We had to create one for our e-unit project and I was terrified. I had no idea what I was doing and even after Googling "hyperdoc" I was still confused. It wasn't until one of my classmates explained that it is like a virtual checklist. Students don't necessarily have to go in order, but they can work at their own pace to complete all of the tasks. Here is the first hyperdoc I tried to create. I'm almost embarrassed to post it, but I think it's good to see where I started to what it evolved into. After some extensive research and about a million questions, my hyperdoc evolved into this road map which I eventually turned in as my final product.
Once I figured out the purpose of a hyperdoc and started to create it, I really enjoyed putting it all together. I am planning on developing more hyperdocs for my units next year. I think hyperdocs will even be able to engage the students who do not like PE or struggle with being physically active. I am looking forward to using them next year!
Once I figured out the purpose of a hyperdoc and started to create it, I really enjoyed putting it all together. I am planning on developing more hyperdocs for my units next year. I think hyperdocs will even be able to engage the students who do not like PE or struggle with being physically active. I am looking forward to using them next year!
Valerie,
ReplyDeleteDon't be embarrassed about your hyperdoc! I think it looks great and we are all learning about these together. The most important thing is that you tried! I like the idea of hyperdocs because they are very user friendly and allow for students to work at their own pace. Your hyperdoc does a great job at highlighting the purpose for the activities you have featured on your doc. Nice job!
I'd also agree with Stephanie's comments. Teaching is a process of evolution and metamorphosis. Being able to collaborate on new things like a hyperdoc allows for transformative learning on the teacher's part. This in turn translates to engaged learning for your students. I really liked your hyperdoc. Like any discipline, skills are as important as content. Your balance of skill check and basketball facts was great and I'm sure your students will enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteValerie,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing the "before" and "after" versions of your hyperdoc experience...I can totally relate! I've created a class blog for my students to express themselves and to respond to posts but I've never really thought about stepping out of my comfort zone and blogging about MY experiences like you did in this post (You have a very pleasant and readable style of writing FYI)...I just might have to put some thought into how I might be able to make this happen!
I love the conversational style of your response. I found this to be something I wanted to keep reading about. I think that is the way a blog should read. I find it difficult to blog at times because of that conversational style and fitting in the artifacts. So well done. I thought your hyperdoc was well done and I like that you found a way to open and expand your mind in finding ways to incorporate tech into PE. I would find that challenging to do. I bet the kids will love it and you will more than likely find yourself adding this to your weekly lessons!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the support! It was a process, but I enjoyed every minute of it! Throughout this course, I have learned how important it is to have innovative lessons for my students and in-cooperate technology whenever possible. I have a lot of ideas brewing for next year. I know not everything is going to go as planned, but at least I am trying...something's gotta stick!
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