ZohoNotebook

__Week 1 Powerpoint__

This week my health class did powerpoint presentations on stress and the effects of the stress on the body. The classes had two library periods (45 minutes) to use for their project. Each student had thier own computer for their project. I am amazed at how some students go above and beyond with the work they do. They put my project on the speakers to shame with the bells and whistles they add and the different effects they use. They grew up using this and I didn't, I guess they are more comfortable with it then I am at this point.

__Week 2 Wikis__

We used wikis this week in health to discover some sites available to the students. The CFF person here gave me some sites that she checked out before hand that would be good for the students to use and look at. Some of the wikis were blocked on our site for some reason and when I looked at them from home I could not understand why they were blocked. I think working with wikis can be useful for my classroom as long as I can control the content.

__Week 3 Podcasting__

I have not used podcasting for my classes but I think it would be something I would try in the future. I found a site for training methods that would be useful for my PE classes as well as my tennis team. I could also used the podcasting for any homebound students to listen to and then submit a report or do the activity and then submit the answers to my wiki. I found the podcasts on history to be very interesting, especially the first hand accounts of the WW2 veterans. I found it more enjoyable and heartwarming to hear the veterans discuss the battles and become emotional about them.

__Week 4 Digital Teaching__

This week in health we did a quick lesson on nutrition. The restaurants used were McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King. Three or four years ago this would not have been possible to do this lesson in the media center. The students were able to use the internet to look up the nutrional values of the restaurants and pick the worst and best meal each one offered. I enjoy the fact that all this is at my fingertips and the students can use this information also.

__Week 5 RSS Feeds__

I was introduced to RSS feeds this week and I think I would use them in my classroom for the students to keep up with the latest news from sites that I previewed for the class. I joined a RSS feed for a band to keep up with the latest and found it interesting to see the band use it for their previous concerts and song used in the concerts.

__Week 6 Online Safety__

There was a filtering issue with the server at school. There were 12000 emails that were held back because of an issue with the filter. Email from parents were not let through for some reason and the issue was resolved. Someone now has to go through the emails to distribute them to the proper teachers. I often think about this when going on the internet to give a lesson. I check the site out before the lesson to make sure it is school appropriate. The school is pretty good about giving access to us when we supply the website to be used in class. I understand the need for security and am glad the students cannot access the sites that were not school appropriate.

__Week 7 Health Careers__

I am doing a unit on health careers and the students will do a project on a career in the health field. The students will do a powerpoint along with a paper to be presented to the class. The students will be able to do an interview and embed it in the powerpoint if possible. The students seem comfortable with powerpoints and it gets them ready for their senior project when they have to present to the teachers on a topic. We have some recording equipment here the students can use and I will let them use it. The district is looking at more modern recording equipment to purchase for future use. That will be useful for staff and students.

__Week 8 Facebook Power__

This week one of our students in the high school started a facebook page to save the murals on the walls of our high school. Some have been painted on since 1974. It turns out that the murals were never in danger. I was amazed to see how close to 1,000 people became fans to save the murals in over a two or three day period. The school talked to the girl who started it and she closed it down once she saw no threat to the murals. The power of facebook and the information it can spread amazes me. It scares me that it can be used for bad as well as good.

__Week 9 IM__

Some students were caught using IM during a test and given zero's for the test. They were IM or texting their friends in studyhall the questions and then were texed back the answers. There was one situation where the student in studyhall had written the order down for all the answers and was texting them to the student taking the test. I am not sure why the teacher could not see the students doing this all along. They were eventually caught but I doubt it will be the last time this takes place. Ten years from now who knows how they will cheat.

__Week 10 You Tube__

I enjoy watching you tube and have found many useful videos that I would like to use in class but cannot due to the filtering. I agree with the block on you tube because of the content that is not appropriate for the students. I'm sure you have heard of this program from the site

[]. This site allows you to use your you tube file and convert it to a file you can use in class and get around the filter. There are many other benefits of this site for many reasons. It is free for one thing and you can use it for those files some students give you in a strange word or some type of apple format and convert it to something you can read. It was given to us by our CFF team and I have used it and have had no problems with it.