No "I" in TEAM

TEAMWORK!!! When playing a team sport such as baseball or football students have to work together as a team to be successful. Sure, its great to have all star players that can do everything better than others but is that all star going to face the opposing team by themselves, I really doubt it. One of the best examples of this is a great quarterback that is an overall great athlete but his team hasn't won a game because he has no offensive linemen to block for him or any wide receivers to throw that wonderful pass to. A good saying that I was taught when I was growing up is," Your only as strong as your weakest link." Teaching good teamwork and cooperating with each other is good because it also prepares students to be successful in their future workplace.

Sports and Fundamentals

I believe that fundamentals are really important in sports. Before a student can play a sport they have to be taught how to play that specific sport. Someone can be a great athlete but if that person has no technique, a problem will arise. Teaching students the fundamentals of not sports but also exercise should always be the first part of the lesson plan.

Podcasts

A podcast is a software that allows the automatic downloading of audio and video files for listening and viewing. Programs such as Itunes will automaticaly subscribe to new material that you have selected and have it waiting for you to veiw when you get back on. Teachers can use podcasting in the following ways: curriculum, professional development, presenting material, and communicating with parents and the community.One of the main uses for podcasting is downloading material to be put on MP3 players such as Ipods. The only podcasting that I have really done is putting music on my Ipod from itunes, but it can be a great tool for students and teachers to get information to each other via the internet.

The Alabama Learning Exchange

The Alabama Learning Exchange or "ALEX" is a free database of information and lesson plans that can be viewed by teachers, students, and administrators. This is really neat because all the lesson plans are put on the site by other teachers. ALEX offers many different tools that an individual can choose from to get the information that they are looking for. ALEX offers many courses of study, from English and Math to Physical Education and Drivers Ed. Someone can do a search in ALEX and narrow their information down because if that information is on ALEX, its going to be good info. Another tool that is available, which is very interesting , is distant learning. Distant learning is very useful for a student that needs to take a class to receive advanced diploma or advanced placement credits and that specific class is actually not offered at that individuals school. That students can go through ACCESS and take a course through the multimedia technology at a different school that offers that course.I really think that ALEX is a very useful tool for teachers because it gives them successful lesson plans that are put on the net by other teachers. I think that in the future I could definitely use ALEX to help better my teaching methods.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a real easy tool to use. There are 4 tools that are also offered through Microsoft but with a price. When using Google Docs its free. The following are the important tools that you can use through Google:

• Word
• Spreadsheet
• Powerpoint
• Form