Pinterest in the classroom

Recently one the assignments in my educational technology class was to create a pinterest account and create a board that had to with our subject area that we intend to teach. At first glance you wouldn't think that a site like pinterest would have any use in the class room. But it really does it helps teachers find ideals for them to actually do in a classroom setting. the ideals cover all sorts of subject areas ranging from English language arts to physical education. This is also a good way for teachers to give students ideals or for students to find ideals for projects that would be easy and fun to use. A cool way we had to use pinterest in my educational tech class was use pinterest to find a activity that we could create a lesson out of that aligned to our core curriculum standards for our subject area.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oOBmAEsr7QSWNQTVZFRVFOMVk/edit?usp=sharing
This activity that I did was a fun thing to do because i learned that it doesn't matter what activity you are doing it someway shape form or fashion relates to physical activity.

This was me while I worked to create the poster for the spinner for physical education twister!

 This was the finished product which came out better then I thought it would!!

 Me doing a mock teach with some willing participants (my friends Rachel and Paige) who actually wanted to do the activity!

 My friends actualyl preforming the activity the way its suppose to be done!

Another picture of my friends preforming the activity Rachel is dancing around and singing a silly song while page does jumping jacks!!

Web 2.0 tools for school

1. Masher http://www.masher.com/index.jsp

Masher is a fun cool way for students to create videos for class and other events. It allows you to use pictures or videos to put together to create your own video. It also allows you to use their simple studio to add audio and words to the video. I believe this is a good tool to use in the class room because it would be a simple way for students to create a video to do a presentation. This could also be used by students in a science class so they could record their experiments and then cut them up so that you get just the essential parts.


2. Photopeach  http://photopeach.com/

Photopeach is a cool way for students to create slideshow presentations for class. It allows students upload their on photos from their computer and create videos from these pictures. It also allows for students to customize how the slides move and even lets them add cool effects, backgrounds, and music. This would be a great tool to use in the class room because it helps students make power points that are well designed. This tool also allows for students to be creative when making power points because all to often power points are dull and lacking.


3.CollaborizeClassroom  http://www.collaborizeclassroom.com//

CollaborizeClassroom is a cool way for students to collaborate outside of the classroom on assignments. This is a way for students to work with others outside of the class room on group assignments. This is also a way for them to work on online assignments. This would be good in a classroom because now if you need them to work together then they can using webcams. and it is also a way for students to have online discussions and see how the other students give feedback.


4. Comic Master http://www.comicmaster.org.uk/

Comic Master is a fun way for students to recreate historical moments in history. It allows for the students to be creative and design their own comics and graphic novels.  It would also help them create interesting presentations on how they did an experiment and other activities. It would be great for students in every type of class room because it lets them be creative. It also lets them be creative with historical moments like the battle of waterloo it lets the students bring it to life instead of just trying to imagine it.


5. Questionaut   http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/games/questionaut/

Questionaut is a cool way for students to learn math, English, and science. It is good for students because its a quest based game where the student must answer questions about these subjects. the point of the game is to answer these questions and recover your friends hat. This would be a great way for students who are struggling in those subject areas. This would also be a way for teachers to keep their students interested in the subject matter.


6. Hot Potatoes  http://hotpot.uvic.ca/

Hot Potatoes is a way for teachers to create their own quizzes. This is good in the classroom because it lets the teacher create a lot of different types of exercises not jus the same type of exercise. It makes it easier on the teacher because it lets the teacher be creative. It can also be used as a way for students to create their own worksheets. This is also a way for students to create study guides.


7. eQuizzer   http://www.equizzer.com/

eQuizzer is a way for teacher to make tests and quizzes for their students. eQuizzer lets you create custom quizzes that your students can take online. It also allows the teacher to manage and monitor their students scores. This is good in the classroom because more and more classrooms are becoming technology based. This gives the students a way for them to become familiar with web based learning.


8. SchoolWax TV  http://schoolwaxtv.com/

SchoolWax TV is a cool resource for students to use in the classroom and outside of the classroom. It is a database for teacher approved videos. The videos are there for when the student needs just a little bit more help on homework. This is a great tool because it lets the student get help from a reliable source. It could also be used as a teaching source for videos on the subject your teaching.


9. Placespotting  http://www.placespotting.com/


placeSpotting is a tool that allows you to use Google earth and find different places on the earth. you can look up different places like historical places. Then you can create a quiz based on what you saw while using placeSpotting. This is great for the classroom because it lets your students get a visual of what the sites look like. Then they can take a quiz about what they saw.


10. Exploratree  http://www.exploratree.org.uk/


Exploratree is an online organizer and library of thinking guides. This is a neat website for students to go and do projects. Its also helps them create custom portfolios that they can customize and print out. This is good for the class room because it helps them create clean and neat projects. It also gives them ways to create study guides and pother ways to learn.

Social Media: Is it Good Or Bad?

I just read two articles about social media and how it is effecting our every day lives. In the first article "How social networks can destroy your social life" The author talks about how a man was having a dinner party and a friend who hadn't been invited texted him and said since you have people over mind if i stop by. come to find out that his dinner guest had posted pictures, twitter post, and checked in at his house all on different social networking sites. It also came out that his dinner party was viewed but at least 20 million viewers that's more then people who watch the late show on CBS. The author of the article talks about how social networks are killing our social life because we no longer have to physically ask someone how they are doing we just have to look at Facebook or Twitter to find this out. In a second article it talks about how social networks are the tipping point for people with anxiety or it can cause anxiety. This is because people have become so dependent on technology that when we are away from it we feel deprived. studies have shown that people are constantly checking their phones and computers and when they are not able to access them they feel left out. i feel like both of these articles are very true because being a college student and a future coach/teacher it is becoming more and more important that we use technology and social networks in our classrooms. I feel like the more we use these social networks in our classrooms the more distant our students will be from the actual learning and it will also change how students socialize in the future.... Heck it has changed how we socialize now. it use to be that we had to actually approach a person and find out their name and where they go to school and other information. Now all we have to know is their name and we immediately go and try to find them on Facebook or twitter and we can find out all that other information. At the bottom of this post are the links to these articles.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/10/social-media-anxiety_n_1662224.html
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/oct/21/john-naughton-foursquare-social-networking

My life

Hi, my name is Craig Burks this is my first attempt at making a blog so if its bad i hope with time it will get better. Currently i am a student at Henderson State University studying Physical education and pursuing a minor in history. I am from Hot Springs, Arkansas where i went to Lake Hamilton High School. While attending Lake Hamilton i Played football for six years where i found that coaching is what i want to do the rest of my life. As of right now i am a student coach for the Henderson state football team and it has been such a blessing to be able to learn more from such a talented coaching staff. Every time i have the chance i go to church because with out God i wouldn't be where i am at. My hobbies include hanging out with friends, doing stuff for the football team, helping with the MBSF which is like family to me here at Henderson, and study hard so that i can become the best coach/teacher i can be for the good of my future students and players.

One of the things that is most important to me is my family. They have always been there for me no matter what and supported me in everything I did. My family includes My Dad Ron, my mom Sandra, My sister Misty, and soon to be Brother-in-law Ricky Roach. An extension of my family includes my dogs. I have always had a dog and I consider them family they are Duke ( a collie), Sadie (a black lab), Jamal (a Miniature long haired dachshund). From my family to my dogs I have a very great home life.

The purpose of this blog is just to voice my opinion on issues on many different topics and also because its for my Educational Technology class. As I said earlier I am currently a student coach for the Henderson Football team. so far my favorite part has been just getting to be around these coaches and learn from them as well as being around the players and see how they react to the different coaching styles. I now at the moment everything I am doing for the team is helping me and preparing me for my future career.