Weebly in Health Class

I have only used Weebly one time in my health class last semester.  I used Weebly as an assessment tool in the Mental and Emotional Health unit.  In this unit students discuss different mental disorders, their symptoms, treatment, and warning signs.  In order to demonstrate knowledge of mental disorders using Weebly, students may use their class notes, prior knowledge, and research skills and apply them to the web page they create.  I allowed my students to work in pairs and choose a mental disorder that they wanted to demonstrate their knowledge of. 

This assessment fulfilled the following health education standard and outcomes:

Standard:  Students will demonstrate the ability to use mental and emotional health knowledge, skills, and strategies to enhance wellness.

Outcomes:  Students will develop positive strategies to effectively express different emotions.
                   Students will relate mental and emotional health to disease and disorders.
                   Students will investigate the warning signs of mental disorders.
                   Students will apply strategies and skills to intervene when signs of mental disorders
                   occur.

The following link is an example of one of my student's web pages created on weebly on social phobias:
http://socialphobiabrianaandbritlyn.weebly.com

Weebly

Weebly claims to be the "easiest way to create a website"  It is a free web page builder tool that offers 100's of professional themes, drag and drop builder, multi-media features and easy blogging.  In 2007, Time Magazine named Weebly one of the 50 best websites of the year. 

I have to agree that Weebly is very easy to use.  It can be used by students of all ages, levels, and in any content.  Assessments and assignments are easy to relate to curriculum and technology standards.  Using Weebly allows student to use their creativity and imagination to create a web page or website, copy the link, and send it to their teacher to turn in.  I love these types of assignments because it is more interesting and interactive for the student, it also cuts down on paper use, and it allows the teacher to be a facilitator while students learn technology as well as demonstrate content knowledge. 

Weebly can be used to fulfill both ISTE technology standards 1 and 2.
Standard 1:  Ccreativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Standard 2:  Research and Information Fluency:  Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.

Weebly websites can be linked to other website to serve as resources for information being presented.  Information that is added into weebly websites are researched by students and should be sited either on the web pages or however the teacher sees fit. 

The following video shows how to set up a weebly site:

The following video shows a review of weebly and how it compares to other web site builder sites:

There is a Weebly app for the iphone.  Click the link to see the iTunes description:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weebly/id511158309?mt=8

The following link is the Weebly help/support page:
http://support.weebly.com/support/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=1

Glogster in My Classroom

I have used Glogster as an introduction to using technology in health education.  My classes are a mixture of all different grade and achievement levels therefore, I use Glogster in the first unit.  It is easy to use for beginners and advanced students.  The first unit in health is personal and consumer health. 

Standard:  Students will demonstrate the ability to use knowledge, skills, and strategies to develop sound personal and consumer health practices involving the use of health products, services, and community resources.

Outcome:  Students will define and give examples of the components of health, identified as spiritual, physical, emotional/mental, social, and environmental. 

The assessment that I use Glogster for also fulfills the following ISTE technology standard:

1.  Creattivity and Innovation:  Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and  processes using technology.


The following are examples of my students using Glogster to create posters or webpages describing what they do to fulfill each of the components of health.

       http://slbell2.edu.glogster.com/burnett-componets/


     http://slbell2.edu.glogster.com/powell-componets/


    http://slbell2.edu.glogster.com/paris-components/


    http://slbell2.edu.glogster.com/leftwood-components/


   http://slbell2.edu.glogster.com/morgan-components/


    http://slbell2.edu.glogster.com/robinson-components/

Glogster EDU

Glogster is an interactive tool that allows teachers and students to create online posters or webpages.  Multimedia including text, audio, video, images, graphics, drawings, and data, is used to create a Glog.  A Glog is created using a drag and drop interface that is easy to use for students of all ages.

Here is a link to my very first Glog I made just playing around:
 http://slbell2.edu.glogster.com/bellpresidents/ 


Glogster can be used in any content area for any age group.
I personally have used Glogster in my high school health class and it worked out great. I was tired of doing the same old arts and craft poster as an assessment and wanted to try something different. I had a positive experience and response from my students. Set up was easy, and the students caught on very quickly. I'd say directions for my students took roughly 10 minutes and I let them get started exploring and creating. I circulated the room while they were working and had very few questions.


It is very easy to figure out on your own but if you want to check out a very informative, step-by-step video here is a link.  http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/glogster/index.html.  This video is too big to fit into the blog because it has 20 sections and shows the user how to sign up, add text, video, music, and much more.


For a shorter, basic tutorial of Glogster EDU check out this youtube video:

It is best to use Glogster EDU in the classroom and it is free to set up an account for teachers and students.  There are upgrades available.  Here is the link to see the different plans and what each offers. http://edu.glogster.com/product-information/



  

My Daily Track Burner

I have set up an account with daily track burner because I wanted to see what type of information I would receive immediately.  The set up is great.  I have a Daily Actions chart set up that tracks my body, nutrition, workouts, and sleep.  A Weight Progress Chart is also set up for me.  This is great because we do a paper copy progress report on students' weight in Aerobics that I keep.  Using Daily Burn Tracker will allow students to keep track of their progress at home and more often. 


Other great things my tracker include:  workout reminders, journals,  types of workouts, goals, challenges, and calorie counts.  Here's the link if you want to see my daily tracker:

http://tracker.dailyburn.com/locker_room?just_completed_steps=true

I just received an email from daily burn tracker, four days after I signed up.  They are really motivating me to keep track of my goals.  Here is a shot of the email:

Have you reached your goals? Hey slbell, Our goal is to make sure you reach your goals! Completing the following tasks will help you stay motivated and on track for meeting your fitness goals. Join a Challenge. (Estimated Time: 3 minutes) Find or Invite your Friends. (Estimated Time: 2 minutes) Setup a Training Plan. (Estimated Time: 5 minutes) Setup your Calorie Goals. (Estimated Time: 2 minutes)

Daily Burn Tracker

Daily Burn Tracker is a free website ( you can upgrade your subscription but it costs money) that allows you to answer fitness and nutrition information about yourself to set up personal goals and a fitness program based on those goals.  This site would be great for my Aerobics class.  A whole unit is dedicated to goal setting and introduction to basic exercise.

Unit:  Goal Setting          

NASPE STANDARD 6:  Values physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self expression, and/or social interaction.

MVSCPE 3.0 Social Psychological Principles:  Students will demonstrate the ability to use skills essential for developing self efficacy, fostering a sense of community, and working effectively with others in physical activity settings.

Since all Aerobic classes are homogeneous, this program will allow students to make goals according to their fitness level and interests.  Check out this link to see a video describing the benefits of daily burn tracker:

http://dailyburn.com/  Video is informative and motivating to get students and teachers excited about working out!

Here is a quick and positive review of daily burn tracker:

http://www.findingoptimism.com/blog/apps/daily-burn-tracker/

Daily Burn Tracker can also be downloaded as an app on your smartphone.  It is a free app and tracks the same information as the online version (nutrition, fitness, goals). Check out this video to see how to download the app to your phone.

How I plan to use Little Bird Tales

The High School Health Education curriculum requires health students to participate in 10 service learning hours during the semester.  I am always looking for new ways to incorporate service learning into the health curriculum.  I feel that Little Bird Tales is a great way for health students to use what they have learned in health to create a story for elementary age students.  My students will create a story on a topic we have discussed in class, record their voice, and share the story with an elementary school.  My hope is that my students will have fun while using the technology to create a story that elementary students and teachers will learn from and enjoy.  Not only will this website fulfill some service learning hours for my students it also meets Standard 2: Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors, from the health curriculum.

I have played around with the website slightly and have created a title page and introduction to the story.  Here's the link if you want to check it out:

http://www.littlebirdtales.com/tales/view/story_id/116111

Little Bird Tales

I was searching for new Web 2.0 tools to share with everyone.  I came across http://www.littlebirdtales.com/ .  Little Bird Tales is an interactive site that allows teachers and students to create a story by drawing the artwork on every page, authoring the story and record their voice telling the story.  It is FREE to use and save your students stories right on your school page.  Parents and relatives can view the stories and buy them if they choose.  This site is easy to use and I think can be used by all age students.  Little bird tales can be used to fulfil ISTE Standard 1:  Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Little Bird Tales also has an app on the iphone.  Here is a related article discussing how easy it is to use little bird tales as an app as well as the iTunes description and plug for the app.

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/05/14/little-bird-tales-announces-a-new-kid-friendly-storytelling-app/


http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/little-bird-tales-easy-digital/id517996494?mt=8

Welcome

Welcome to Web 2.0 Blog by Bell!  I look forward to blogging about Web 2.0 technologies and responding to other blogs about Web 2.0.