7/18/2017 0 Comments gamingGame based learning or gamification is the use of games in learning. We live in a technological world and both children and adults are drawn into online games. To use these kinds of games to teach and learn is a great way to engage students and to give them an opportunity to practice skills to the point of mastery.
As a college baseball coach we spend most of our time out on the baseball field. We do meet daily in the locker room or they check in with me in my office but while I can integrate things like twitter and google docs into my curriculum, gaming doesn’t fit into the program. I do find the concept of gaming or gamification fascinating and would like to use it with my children. When they arrive home from school they are supposed to read daily for 20-25 minutes, do homework, and spend extra time practicing math facts or concepts they are learning in the current units of study. When the kids get home from school however they are exhausted! It’s hard to find the time to get in the practice in that they are required to do and will benefit them now as student and in the future. As we have learned this year about how to best learn, engagement as well as practice are important factors in learning. If I can find the right math program, spelling games and reading games, my children can get in the time they need, and have fun doing it!
0 Comments
7/18/2017 1 Comment technology in the classroomTechnology in the classroom has been a leap for me. I wasn’t familiar with all of the amazing tools that exist for teachers. At first I was reluctant to brainstorm how to use them in college baseball coaching but after practicing myself using these tools as well as seeing what my classmates have done with them, I have taken a total different stance on this issue.
Google docs, you tube, twitter, ed puzzle, we video and twitter are tools that directly apply to how I teach. I am constantly sharing information with them but with the use of these tools I can do it so much easier and efficiently. With you tube and ed puzzle I can show players real life examples of good baseball technique, with we video I can make recruiting videos to get my players to the next level. Twitter allows me to give game updates to the players as well as the community and parents. As a coach I am a facilitator and mentor to my players. We provide things like study hall, review their grades weekly and offer them support in their academics. Now that I have had the opportunity to be a student in the 21st century, I can help guide them. I will be a better mentor and can give them more guidance than I ever would have been able to. I am very grateful for that opportunity! 7/11/2017 0 Comments ToolsEdpuzzle was much easier than I had anticipated. I had learned about how it is used, that you find videos and can trim, add audio, music and questions. Many of the technology tools that are out there for education don’t fit my needs as a college baseball coach. When I learned about this tool however I was excited to play with it and explore how it works and how to use it with my players. Once I logged on it was simple. I don’t consider myself tech savvy and that is one of the reasons I was a little hesitant at first about using it. With the pop ups, and the videos explaining how to do things, I was able to create a lesson easily. There is a lot of video available that is really useful but often it is too long or we would have to watch on a projector. This tool allowed me to work with technology on the field giving my lessons much more flexibility. The one barrier with this tool is if there is no internet access on campus when we are working outside of the classroom.
I also explored screencast-o-matic. This was a great way to easily capture voice, screen or have a webcam. I created an account and played with the different tools. I could use this to do live at home instruction. I will play with this more to see how I can use it in other ways. The challenge that I see, that is a challenge always with technology there can be issues with internet. 7/4/2017 0 Comments Google FormsMy daily routine typically goes as such:
I arrive at the office and PRINT out all my lessons plans for each class, fitness and baseball. My fitness classes start early morning around 5:30 am or 6:30 am depending on the day. Students arrive with a lesson plan posted on the board, and promptly get to work after a quick “Housekeeping”. Further instruction is provided per student if needed. The same typically goes for baseball. As players enter the field, a practice plan is posted, players quickly study it and get ready to work following a quick “housekeeping”. Again, further instruction is given per player when needed. Here is my new lesson plan to start me towards a paperless baseball field: Each evening when my lessons plan are written, I will post them on a google doc and send them out. Not only will this create less waste in paper, but get the students information earlier. Giving students opportunity to respond with questions prior to class which will lead to better preparation. I also think I could have some fun with this as Team Building for my athletes is a huge aspect in my coach philosophy. Each day of the week usually has a theme. For example, Wednesdays are our free dress days and music during our all hitting under the lights. Although there is a ton of laughter do to awful apparel, players don’t speak to each other, it’s all business. My thought is how cool would it be, not only to get the practice plan, but to also get an inspiring video with music opinions for the practice. Just giving us another way to inspire players to fulfill their talent. 6/26/2017 0 Comments SocIal medIaHow can/should social media be used to help you develop/collaborate/communicate as a professional?
What are the critical issues to consider?
What would you do if you were to come across an inappropriate post made by one of your students outside of the school. Do you address the post and, if so, how?
Whom do you involve in the conversations?
What considerations must you make in determining your course of action?
6/19/2017 0 Comments online useful resourcesUSA Amateur Resource Center tools can be found at http://web.usabaseball.com/arc/coaches/. This tool is a great resource as a head coach and to share with the assistant coaches as well as players. It provides online education, an app that includes tools like drills, practice plans, a pitch counter, a stopwatch and more, as well as resources for every position. As an administrator beside drills and practice plans, there are also printable resources that include a team handbook, maintenance, team contact info, as well as much more.
This tool is a website so it takes time to explore what is useful and relevant to the person exploring. It doesn’t take much time to get to know the layout and find things quickly. Using this tool for the first time I didn’t think it would be as beneficial as it was. Often I am exploring all sorts of sites to find documents that I can use that match my needs, even things as simple as a playing roster. This site doesn’t have many options for each tool, but there are a lot of tools. Field maintenance for example is important as it keeps players from getting hurt and represents our school and our team. Often when looking at sites for coaching, things like this would be overlooked and not included in tools for a coach. This is a great tool that I can use for many parts of the job as a baseball coach. I will refer to it often, and have downloaded the app as well as shared it with the assistant coaches and players. I look forward to getting to know it more. 6/19/2017 2 Comments finding the time-Digital LiteracyWhile we live in a digital time and assume students are digitally prepared, they may not be. Teachers are often teaching curriculum that is mandated and takes up the whole day, leaving little time to focus on other things. Students however who are not digitally literate need time to learn basic tools so that they can be successful. In college baseball we interact digitally mainly through individual texts, group texts and sometimes email. The time I have with the students, similar to teachers in a classroom, I need to dedicate to specific things also leaving little for anything that doesn’t fit in that plan. I can relate to how this would be difficult and also to its importance.
If I were in a traditional classroom I would dedicate the first week of school to basic skills that needed to be taught. As time went on I would have students work in partners with a student who is strong in digital literacy and could act as a mentor as well as work with small groups to guide students who needed more support. Finding out how to make the time and implement the teaching is important as without students are naturally going to be separated by ability and fall behind in an area where no one needs to struggle if they have the guidance and teaching they need. 6/13/2017 0 Comments digital literacyGiven your students grade level and the subject matter you teach, consider how you can teach digital citizenship and specifically digital citizenship as it relates to digital communication.
Most of my players are just graduating from high school. Those who are a little older have been in high school in the last five years. Students have been exposed to digital citizenship in their high schools and now at the junior college in their academic classes. In college baseball however, our focus on digital citizenship is in regards to using computers, smartphones and cell phones in a legal and smart way in their personal life. Sharing information like inappropriate pictures or text can be harmful to a student athlete. Everything they do or share could potentially harm them. Please provide three examples on how you might make learning digital citizenship personal for your students. There are four areas of digital citizenship that apply to my players in baseball, digital communication, digital etiquette, digital law and digital access. To make these important parts of digital citizenship personal to students so that they learn and use the skills they learn, they need to see how it is relevant in their lives. Three of the four are all taught but instead of in separate lessons, they are taught in numerous lessons regarding the same topic. Digital etiquette, digital communication and digital law are all important to teach when it comes to being appropriate online. How players use their technology and what they are sharing has to be appropriate. In the media today we have seen how high profile student athletes and pro athletes have misused technology and suffered the consequences whether it be not being able to play for their team anymore, legal ramifications or financial ramifications as well as a major detriment to their character in the media. In order to hit this idea home we look at schools and players, what they did, how it was wrong, alternatives and consequences. By teaching them this crucial information they will know how to protect themselves, their coaches, their friends, the school and the community. Digital access for our players with smartphones makes it easy. I make sure they have access to their library cards and know how to use them. They are given a library card when they register and if for some reason they need computer access, they can have it there. All my players have access to the internet. Even those who financially have it the hardest, make sure they use their money to have internet on their phone. 6/7/2017 0 Comments bLOG 1Teaching in a Competency-Based Environment
Reading this article makes me wonder how much more I would have enjoyed school without those small desks, stuffy classrooms, and long lectures about the same material of the reading assigned the night before. All of this time school has been presented the same way, and now I am hoping that my kids will have the opprotunity to learn by not only using the teachers brain, but with there own. I look at the way I teach our players to prepare for a Baseball Game. They are given a game plan and video of our opponint to take home, prepare and analyze. Come monday morning we get into our individual routtine working on our greatest weaknesses, whether that's on the offensive side or defensive side, based off of past games and preperation for our new opponint. As coaches, we make adjustments all week to help the players perform their best. By teaching this way, our players not only get prepared and are confident, but are able to make adjustments with confidence during the game. I believe creating this type of atmosphere in the classroom will build friendships and work like relationships between students. Keeping them intreagued, and driving them to greatness. While at the same time, getting teachers out of their comfort zone, forcing improvment in their profession and relationships with students. |
Photos used under Creative Commons from writerbenj, Jinx!, Go-tea 郭天, BeyondAccessInitiative