Regarding Fitness and Technology, there is a LOT out there! Unfortunately most of it is $$$$$!! While technology can be a great benefit or booster to fitness depending on what it is, tech can't do the workout itself or force you to eat healthy! I've seen teachers do an amazing job with technology and teachers do an amazing job without it!
If I end up in a school district that can afford a Fitbit for every student, great! But if not, I'll make the best with what I can do without spending my salary on all the latest fitness apps, wearables, software, etc.
One thing I do know I'll probably use is a free app that randomly selects teams for a class! That way no one gets picked last and in the app I can make sure certain students are either always on a different team or the same team! For example if I have two students who are athletically gifted and would sway the score of a team, they probably should be on separate teams. On the flip side, if I have a student who is really great at helping another student (possibly a student with disabilities or behavior concerns) then they would benefit from being on the same team. The app makes this process seem random and doesn't point anybody out like with what can happen when students choose teams.
Ben
I love that last paragraph of the kids thinking that it was random, but it actually wasn't. Educators have to be sneaky in those ways! That's a really great way to think of technology in PE. It is more challenging for you, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI want to teach k-2, and for my kids brain breaks or when they're just getting out of hand, I will turn on some of the dancing videos, etc. from the resources we've been given. Not exactly PE/Gym class, but a great tool in the younger classrooms.
I know many of schools that bought class sets of Fitbits and then rotate them through the classes to help students see the data of their own bodies. Another thing you can do is if most...if not all your students have phones...depending on their age, you can have them use something like Google Fit or Apple Fitness to have them track their data. I know of a PE teacher who has the students set up a Google Spreadsheet and then track their calories for a week to analyze food intake, etc.
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