Character

To me, the most important tool a person can have is good character. Character is described by dictionary.com as being " the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing". I realized the importance of good character throughout my high school years, and my experience with high school and college basketball has increased my strong feelings of how integral it is. John Wooden, arguably the greatest coach in sports history, has said " Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are". I first read that in one of his books about a year ago and it has stuck with me since. I believe students and student-athletes need to realize that it really doesn't matter what others think about you, as long as you know for yourself that you are doing the right thing. Examples of students in character challenging circumstances could be: whether a student does his homework all by himself even though its tough material; not cheating on a test when a teacher is not looking; returning the $5 bill you saw a classmate drop at recess; or working on your jump shot all by yourself in the gym on a Friday night. If adolescents learn to do these types of gestures without feeling the need to brag about it, they have learned what character is all about. In learning good character, they have learned to lead a better life...

Headfake

The "head fake" is definitely a tool I will use as not only a physical education teacher but also a basketball coach. I first heard the expression "head fake" by Robert Pausch. Mr. Pausch was a Carnegie Mellon University professor and inspirational speaker. In his "last speech", he talked about the "head fake". The "head fake" is basically teaching a life lesson indirectly through a separate activity. Prior to listening to Mr. Pausch, I knew of the concept of "head fake" but did not know that's what it is called. The whole "head fake" theory has been exactly why I have had the desire since high school to go into teaching and coaching as a profession. I personally learned a lot about life and my personal character through basketball and I want to teach that to teenagers. I feel like I can get positive messages across to adolescents through indirect concepts in basketball.

Podcasts

Podcasts is a teaching tool I learned through EDM310. We were assigned into groups after selecting topics from a list. My group chose the topic "How technology is used in our classrooms at South Alabama". Through preparing and performing the podcast, I learned how useful they can be to students and teachers. First off, podcasts are created by students or teachers conversing and speaking into a microphone. The conversations are recorded and are put on the internet on sites such as itunes. They could be listened to by anyone who has internet access. Although I think it will be tough to use podcasts in my physical education class, I think it is possible. Similar to blogs, students will be able to voice their opinions about their favorite parts of class as well as suggestions on how to improve certain activities. I think it is important for students to have a variety of ways to share their thoughts on their classes, and podcasting allows them too. Also, podcasts will help my students develop communication skills. Overall, podcasts is a great teaching tool for students.

igoogle

I first learned about igoogle in our EDM310 class. We learned to create a practice igoogle homepage to educationally serve our students. I was able to select specific tools and gadgets to attach to the homepage. Most of my material on my page is associated with physical education, health, and fitness. Some of the gadgets and tools on my page include: fitness tip of the day, daily nutritional checklist, health tip of the day, and the world's healthiest foods. The weather, date, time, a few sport games and three different sport websites are displayed. Students access igoogle through a password given to them by their teacher. Overall, I think igoogle is a neat way for students to advance their learning in and out of the classroom. Teachers can make their websites appealing and interesting to their students, which in turn will make them want to visit the page and learn more about physical education, health, and fitness.

Blogs

I believe blogging is an important tool to use in the classroom as a teacher, especially for middle school students. I feel this way because technology is such an integral role in most jobs and careers these days so students should learn to use the computer and its resources as early as possible. I am a physical education major, therefore in order to use blogs as a teaching tool I will have to be creative in my assignments for my students. I would use blogs as a communication partnership between students, parents, and myself. Through the blog, students will be able to share their opinions about my physical education class as well as share new ideas with one another on how class projects, games, and exercises can improve and be more fun. Students will learn how blogs can be beneficial by keeping their blogs positive and clean. Also, parents will be able to receive a better understanding of what their children are doing in their physical education classes.