For my final project, the goal is to allow students to fulfill NETS goals while adding interest and excitement to my CPR/First Aid class. Students in this class learn the basics of CPR, the proper use of an AED and how to respond effectively to emergency situations. At the present time, students are “treated” to a Red [...]

Last week was Middle School Camp; the time of year when a select number of teachers have the pleasure of spending a full 5 days with upwards of 170 Middle School students. I headed for Fu Long for a week of adventure camping with the 8th graders. It’s actually a really great time; biking, hiking, climbing, [...]

The question seemed easy enough, “What is technology integration and how does it work?” Hmmmm. Integration: (noun) the act of combining or adding parts to make a unified whole, the act of amalgamating a racial or religious group with an existing community. No argument there, right? I remember having a discussion with a group of educators in 2001 [...]

Technology integration is a buzzword that has been around the educational scene for over two decades now (pretty hard to believe). There continues to be an increased emphasis on essential skills and knowledge necessary for effective learning and productivity in the modern technological world. At the forefront of this discussion is the [Read more]

It’s been a forever since a blog entry. I am sure that the masses that follow my blog have been waiting on the edge of their collective seats for me to post again. Since I last wrote, the following events have taken place:   William married Kate President Obama released his birth certificate Osama was “liquidated” [...]

During one of the final days in my Sex Ed class, students research STD and STI information. The information covered the transmission, symptoms, treatment and prevention of 9 of the most common STI’s (there are 27 and counting). The class presentation was created through a shared ppt on Googledocs.   Obvious Issues: Where do you find information [...]

I logged on to my Wordpress.com account today and was met with the following message;   I actually love seeing these messages. Not that I’m a sadist, but the less trust I have in the privacy of anything on the internet, the better. Wordpress tried to reassure me with words such as “low-level break-in,” “It appears that [...]

In our most recent COETAIL class, we discussed the different visual aspects of websites and how people process information visually.Visual literacy, which according to Wikipedia is, “the ability to make meaning from information presented in the form of an image.” This ties in nicely with some of the information my students are presently studying…[Read more]

I know, it’s been a long time. In fact, I had to look at my own blog to remember what the last entry was (AUP’s) and to note that the format of our AUP had changed and was less user-friendly than the original. So what’s my excuse? Computer broke down? Out of town? Taking a tech-break? [...]

According to Wikipedia, AUP’s (Acceptable Use Policies) are a set of rules that are applied to a network or website by the network owner . In the case of our high school AUP (known as the Digital Citizenship Agreement), it could be described as a “very wordy set of rules…”. One page of explanation followed by 30 points detailing [...]

Just a short post today. For those who don’t read the news, this week WikiLeaks posted a huge trove of until-this-week-secret-documents regarding diplomatic traffic between the U.S. and its friends (and some not-friends). Wikileaks (I can’t link to it because it’s moving as we speak…most of their sites are being closed down within hours of opening) [...]

This came across my desk this week. The Joy of Stats. Health and income stats for 200 Countries over 200 years. In 4 minutes. Fascinating. Less there be any confusion, I am not a statistician. I know that as a “PE Guy” I am under some pressure to keep up with the current NBA, NFL or MBL stats. In [...]

I met him today. He’s even better in person than on Ted Talks. The presentation focused on Self Organizing Learning Environments. The bottom line is that children learn best when we (teachers) get out of the way. I know, it’s not what you wanted to hear. His talk was truly inspirational. It’s going to make for a [...]

Several things from the first meeting of Course 2 …. QR Codes Interesting idea…basically an extended (vertically and horizontally) barcode, but I am not convinced of their value to education. The ideas for application that were given (orienteering, bone labeling) would add an element of interest and motivation for the students. Maybe that’s…[Read more]

Politics. One of my favorite subjects. Especially when people don’t agree with me ….. providing, of course, that they can disagree without losing the plot. I know, of course, that politics and religion are two no-no’s when it comes to polite company. But hey, it’s my blog. A discussion that took place during the final day of COETAIL Course…[Read more]

The goal of my final project lesson plan is to allow students to incorporate the use of technology ( FlipCam video and video editing in this case) while learning important First Aid techniques. As a result of this lesson, students in other classes will also benefit from the mini-lesson that the students in my class produce. These videos will [...]