Whistle Talk

PE gets a bad wrap at at times because of how it "used to be". I have heard horror stories of how PE teachers "roll out the ball" and sit with a newspaper or just focus on the super star athletes. If you had this type of PE experience, I sincerely apologize. Not all of us are like this. As a matter of fact, more and more PE teachers are trying to be innovative and create quality PE programs. Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, PE is one of the first subjects to be cut or downsized. Schools have one or two PE teachers with class sizes upwards to 40-50 with minimal equipment, non-existent budgets and hardly any support. Thankfully, the digital world does not disappoint. I can't tell you how many times Twitter has saved my lessons or saved a rain day for me. It's so easy to find new ideas on Twitter or bounce ideas off of other PE teachers to get a fresh point of view. In module 6 of my Foundations of Technology class, we learned all about Professional ...

It's been a hot second since I had to write a research paper. From the beginning, I was less than thrilled to have to go back to high school/college and remember everything that goes into a research paper. I got a bit overwhelmed just thinking about writing it even though writing is kind of my thing. I really enjoy creative writing and I leave the research to the professionals. I did procrastinate a little bit on it because it was not on the top of my "To-Do" list. However, once I got started it turned out to be one of the more interesting assignments that we were asked to complete. Our assignment "Trends in Technology Research Paper" asked us to dive into the world of the 21st century learner and the importance of preparing our students for the global society. I chose tackle this more from the student side rather than the teacher. I wanted to research how educators are preparing their students to be future ready. In my research, I put together a timeline of e...

I've mentioned a few times throughout this journey into the tech world that I struggle with using technology in PE. My first priority has always been to get the kids moving as much as possible. Throughout this course, I felt like I was able to dig deeper into many of the tech tools that were introduced. I was familiar with many of the tools, but I was able to enhance my learning and figure out ways to adapt the tools into my PE classes. The tools presented in this course allowed me to not only work through some of my struggles, but problem solve my reservations. The assignments/modules that I found most beneficial were: Module 6-Growing Professionally in the Digital World Module 7-Managing Devices in the Classroom Assignment-Trends in Technology Research Paper I have always been pretty active on social media, but it was more for entertainment and keeping up with friends. Once I started taking classes through USF, I found a whole professional world full of information and id...

When it was time to dive into Module 6, I was very excited to learn the module was all about online portfolios and goal setting. In this particular assignment, we were asked to create a three part plan for our students to self-assess, set a goal and then reflect. I created this Google Sheet  for my students to plan out their goals for their fitness tests.  Each quarter, my students participate in the FitnessGram fitness tests.  Before taking this class, I didn't really do much with them. I sent a copy to the district, but after that, I have no idea where they go or what is done with them.  In creating this assignment, I am going to change the way I am do fitness testing. In order to truly allow my students to grow and progress I need to complete the fitness test at least twice a quarter so students can see their growth. Starting in 2nd quarter, I am going to try to implement this goal sheet to one of my classes to see how it goes. My concern is time.  These fitn...

In module 2, we learned about formative assessments and some tech tools that support different types of formative assessments. For our assignment, we were asked to create an infographic comparing two different tech tool used for formative assessments. An infographic is a comparison tool which helps summarize lots of information in an organized and interesting manner. For my infographic, I used the online platform, Vengage and compared Plickers and Kahoot. I like the concept on an infographic and I would like to try to somehow incorporate it into my PE classes.  I thought about having my students compare sports, fitness concepts, athletes, etc. It may be something they do at home or if we have a rain day and we don't have space to have PE. It's still just and idea, but I'm pretty sure I can get it off the ground by next quarter. Both Plickers and Kahoot! have wonderful features that can be used for a variety of assessments. In PE, it can be difficult to organize a tech ass...

Assessment was always a scary word for me. I always thought they required pencil, paper, and a time limit. As I have been working though the course work for this endorsement, I have learned that assessments can be anything to help you realize if your students are learning what you have intended. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this particular course. I felt that all of the assignments we were asked to create were things that I could use in my PE classes. Module 3 dove into the development of summative and formative assessments.  One of the articles written by the faculty of the NIU Development and Instructional Design Center broke down the components of each type of assessment and explained what each one entails. You can read the full article here . This article can be used as a starting point for many teachers, myself included. However, the more I dove into this article and the others in this module, I realized that I was doing most of the examples in my class...

The art of bread making. I'm not sure which I liked more, making the bread or eating the bread.  There is something to say about homemade bread.  It definitely took me back to my grandma's kitchen when she would make her bread and the house would forever smell like fresh bread. My sister Ellen brought the bread baking back to the family a few months ago when she found herself with too much extra time during the work day.  I know how that sounds but you have to understand a little piece of information about Ellen...she is a very impatient person.  She gets stuff done in an efficient manner which can lead to having a lot of down time, especially since she works from home.  Ellen can and will sit in her home office and just hammer out her work until it's done.  She was finding that she would be done with work in the early afternoon and would have nothing to do.  She found small tasks to occupy her time, but even those she'd get done quickly and still ha...

This was a very interesting class for me.  I learned many practical tools and designs that I intend to implement into my PE classes.  This class gave me the opportunity to rethink how I design my units and my lessons.  Before this class, I had not thought about using a PBL unit in my classes.  From some of my previous posts, you have heard how I struggle with balancing movement and projects.  However, after going through the USF coursework, I am becoming more and more ready to take a leap of faith and just go for it.  I think it is a great way to get every students involved with my lessons and it targets a different part of the brain when working through a problem.  PBL also gives the student who struggle physically, an opportunity to shine.  I am intrigued at how PBL connects my lessons to real life situations.  I feel that there cold be more ownership taken on the project when students can see how and when they will use the information in t...

Money, money, money....it makes the world go round and there is just not enough.  The constant struggle with education in the U.S. is always going to be money.  Unfortunately, education isn't valued as much as it should be and teachers are stuck trying to stretch a nickel into a dollar.  On the bright side, there are some people out there who do want to see teachers succeed and are willing to give us their money in the form of a grant.  There are numerous opportunities for teachers to write grants for innovated ideas for their classrooms.  I my district, we have a foundations called the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation or the IPEF.  Each year, the IPEF funds hundreds of grants from across the district to help teachers bring their ideas and innovations to life.  My grant proposal was created for my department to receive a classroom set of heart rate monitors.  Heart rate monitors are a great way for teachers to see actual results on how their...

Before taking this course, I had never thought about using a PBL in my PE classes.  I thought a PBL unit could never work in PE.  However, I was pretty surprised that there are many PE teachers who use a PBL unit for multiple aspects of their curriculum.  I was more surprised at how the students were engaged in the units even though it was through PE. For my  PBL Outline , I chose to focus on student lesson design.  In middle school, things tend to get lost...literally and figuratively.  I created an essential question:  What does it mean to be physically fit? Students are able to use any prior knowledge, resources, etc to create a lesson to be taught to their classmates.  Students are able to choose how they want to relay the information to their peers.  They are also able to design assessments for their lessons and use various technology.   I do fully intend to implement this PBL into my classes this year.  My forever chal...

Here is a link to my online portfolio of Multimedia Tools in Education.  Enjoy! EEND677

Here is a link to my online portfolio of artifacts and reflection of Evaluation of Collaborative Tech Tools.  Enjoy! EEND676

Here is a link to my online portfolio with artifacts from 21st Century Leadership...Enjoy! EEND680

Hello Ed Tech Blog World!  My name is Valerie Wood and I am a middle school PE teacher at Still Middle School in Aurora, IL.  This is my 15th (YIKES) year teaching but it sure doesn't feel that way!  I graduated from Ohio University (Go Bobcats!)  with my bachelors in K-12 physical education and then graduated from Concordia University with my Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.  I coach 7th grade girls volleyball and am the head varsity softball coach at Waubonsie Valley High School.  I grew up in the Naperville area and am a product of district 204.  I went to Brookdale Elementary, Hill Middle School, and Waubonsie Valley.  I am the oldest of three girls, The Wood Girls, as we are often called.  My sisters are Alice and Ellen and my parents are Ray and Marilyn.  In 2006, my parents moved out of the cold and into the heat of Dallas, Texas.  My middle sister, Alice, went with them and met and her husband Nicolas.  They have ...

The  basketball unit plan  I developed took me back to college!  Not a bad place to be, but it definitely made me itch with anxiety because I had't put together a unit plan in some time. However, all was fine because I just had to remember that I am a veteran teacher (YIKES) now and it was time to put on my big girl pants. I really enjoyed putting together this unit.  I was able to think of activities for my students that I wouldn't have normally put into the unit.  It's real easy to go with what you know, but I liked the challenge and the freedom to create whatever I wanted.  The activities I created helped strengthen the unit and it will help strengthen my teaching. My hope is to allow my students the opportunity to work at their own pace to develop their skills and hopefully make game play more fun and engaging.  The first thing my students ask at the beginning of a new unit is "When are we going to play games?"  If the road to game play is a b...

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 ...

Artifact #1 One of the more exciting assignments that we were asked to do in EEND681 was a professional development plan from the I.T. perspective.  The assignment entailed coming up with a way to train a staff of teachers to use the website, Actively Learn.  I really enjoyed this assignment because we were able to collaborate with others in our class to put this plan together.  I was fortunate enough to have some amazing teachers in my group and we worked very well together.  We were able to set aside a time to meet up in a Google Hangout in order to tweak our plan and to make sure we were all on track to finish our protions of the assignment. The Google Hangout was a godsend because we didn't have to meet awkwardly at a Starbucks or a random school.  One of group members was even able to log in though her phone and listen in to the conversation until she was at her computer.  We were truly able to collaborate and it was a bonus that we were in comfort o...

This course was challenging.  There...I said it out loud.  I have so many mixed feelings about this course.  I almost felt I was back in undergrad when I didn't understand anything I was doing.  This course pushed us beyond our comfort zone into the world of IT.  When we, as teachers, are constantly bombarded with new initiatives, programs, software, hardware.  As soon as something new is presented, we have about a month to figure if we can implement it before it's on to the next new thing.  I swear, they should have infomercials to help us understand what is the limited time offer this month.  As much as we complain about it all, I can only imagine what the IT office sounds like when these come down from admin.  The IT staff has to make sure that all of these new programs and equipment run without issue. This means having a plan in place so that everyone is on the same page and understands the expectations. My Tech Plan is a small sample ...

The hiring process assignment was our first assignment for EEND680.  It wouldn't be an administrative course without an assignment on the hiring process.   We were paired up with another student and created questions for that student to answer.  We then, had to answer their questions in return. As I stated in my previous blog post, I am not a fan of anything administrative but I reluctantly tried to figure out what questions I was going to ask my partner.  I was paired up with Traci and she is brilliant.  I was a little nervous to send her my questions because I had no idea what to ask.  I started looking through the course resources and used Google...oh Google, how you have become my best friend and yet my worst enemy.  There is SO MUCH STUFF ON GOOGLE.  Just weeding through the first page of hits was enough for me to try to figure it out on my own. For example, my 5th interview question is about the 4Cs of education and if there should be a...

About 7 years ago, I started taking classes to get my administrative licence and 2 weeks into the courses, I realized admin was just not for me.  I love being in front of a class, being silly with my students and making connections with them.  Then, when I took EEND 680, I was dreading it a little. It wasn't about taking a class, I love taking classes and learning, I was dreading it because I knew there were going to be activities where I was going to have to leave the comfort of my gym and explore the "other side".  Enter our "Learning Walk" assignment.  For this assignment, we had to create a form that we would use to go into another classroom and observe what we saw and offer feedback to the teacher.  I can't tell you how scared I was!  The first observation was one of my friends that I am on a team with.  Her name is Michele and she is one of the Spanish teachers at my school.  She was so nice and understanding...Thanks Michele!  At first...