Daily Burn

What do your impressions of using Daily Burn? Do you currently use another form of online exercise and nutrition tracker? If so what is it and which features do you like better? If not, why not and will you consider staying apart of our Rockstar Group? Be sure to include your screen shots (at least 3) that you took and cropped.

I think daily burn is a great way for people trying to get on track with their healthy lifestyles to watch their progress and become more fit. The only downfall to this website is that it’s very confusing. I’m usually very good with technology and programs, but I still feel lost after using this for a week. I believe that this site can be most beneficial to someone who is looking to do the “pro” version because you can get very detailed with what you eat, how much you work out, etc. A few months ago I signed up with a website called mycaloriecounter.com, which is part of everydayhealth.com. My healthy eating habits started to decrease and I needed something where I could track the food I ate as well as the calories I was putting out easily and efficiently. I find the website I used to be a lot easier because there’s not as many options to choose from.

How would you use this website to accomplish our Recommended Regent’s Level for LS #1B? What modifications would you use to establish a group or individual’s goals?


This website would be a great thing to use at the high school level to allow students to track their workouts and progress in a way that’s fun for them. This is also great for the nutrition aspect of the site because many kids aren’t eating what they should be to grow and fulfill their nutritional requirements. I think that if students had to log what they ate, it would be an eye-opener to the amount of calories they’re consuming and what they need more of in their diets. This site will be able to accomplish our Recommended Regent’s Level for LS #1B because it allows students to plan their own fitness work out and to keep track of the goals that they have in mind. In order to modify this for a group’s goal, it would be good to have a “class goal” set up for the year because it’s something that would unite the students together. Through out the year you could set up meetings with students to assess their progress and help them reach their goals.

What electronic tool could you see as being useful for capturing data and reporting for the Recommended Regent’s Level for LS #1A? Describe how this tool might work in a High School Setting. If you plan to use Excel, or Google Forms, be sure to include a sample that can be tried out online.


I think that having the students take screen shots of their progress would be great proof to report data. By printing out a screen shot of their nutrition, exercise and goals they are showing that they are performing and working towards their goals.

Video Answers

Where is the web-site from? Where in the world? Which country? What city and state/province is the story from?


This website is Canadian and the story is from Saskatoon, which is a City in the province of Saskatchewan.


What do you think about this news piece....interesting...why or why not?


I thought this news piece was very interesting because it’s studies like these that really motivate me and make me love what I’m doing. Not only were the results out of this program very successful, but it’s great to see a teacher that is willing to go above and beyond what is asked of them to help out her students. She went out of her way to find equipment they could put in the classroom and organized her lessons around this fitness-based learning style. That shows great commitment to your profession and it really motivates me a lot.


Why don’t we hear anything about the PE teacher being involved with City Park Collegiate experiment? How will ensure that your PE program will be a benefit to the students and faculty of your school


The physical education instructor was not mentioned at all through this experiment, except for in relation to his physical education classes not being up to standards. They mentioned in the video that a lot of the students in physical education don’t participate and there is a lot of wait time. As a physical education teacher candidate this is painful to hear because wait time is something that every good instructor tries to eliminate. When I get a physical education position, I will ensure that all of my students are active participants and are enjoying the activities that are presented. A way to make this possible is to be knowledgeable of every students’ fitness and skill level so that each student is challenged in their own way.


What are were the main outcomes/benefits of the program? Were you surprised from their findings? Are these outcomes similar to our New York State PE Standards? Explain your answer by giving details and examples, while comparing and contrasting.


There are many benefits to this program and the way it positively impacted these students lives. Just by doing some regular exercise, test scores were improved tremendously along with impacted behavior. When students feel better at school, they are able to take that positive energy home to their families and have a positive impact on them also. I’m not very surprised at these findings, I just wish people had come across this discovery sooner because it’s a great program. The outcomes relate very well to the NYS standards, especially when dealing with standards one and two. Although the students weren’t participating in all types of physical activity, they were very active in the cardiovascular aspect, which is an extremely important part of fitness. It also applies directly to standard two because in relation to their schoolwork, the students started to understand that understand that physical activity provides the opportunity for enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and communication. This program can also relate to standard three because once the students started to become more physically active in school, they were able to bring this activity outside of the classroom and to their own homes. This could very easily lead to resource management in their community and for them to have the knowledge they need to work out somewhere in their community.


What is BDNF and what does it have to do with PE and learning? How do you get BDNF or other associated goodies? What are the names of two of the “key” books and their authors that currently outline the benefits of exercise and learning/academics? At least one is mentioned in the news piece.


This is a nerve growth factor that acts as a fertilizer on the hippocampus that is a central station for learning and memory. This is stimulated by sustained and vigorous exercise. The book “Spark” was written by Harvard university professor, John Ratey.

Letter to Superintendent

Dear Superintendent,

I am writing this letter to request funds for the expansion of the new dance program I wish to incorporate at our school district. Physical Education is heading in a new direction, especially when it comes to technology and fitness. The amount of physical activity that children are getting has been decreasing dramatically over the years due to the amount of technology our country is now exposed to.
According to the YMC Longitudinal Survey, 61.5% of children from ages 9-13 do not participate in any physical activity outside of school. Dancing is a great lifelong activity that is fun and can also bring people together in a positive, social way. One very popular form of dance during this era is hip-hop. Hip hop dance is an upbeat sort of dance comprised of many basic foot maneuvers, To get kids introduced to hip-hop dance there is a great program that will make the coordinated in basic dance steps while also getting massive amounts of physical activity! Exercising while playing video games (exergaming) is a great way to incorporate today’s technology with the physical activity that children should be getting inside and outside of school. Not only does exergaming improve physical health, but it also improves mental health along with social interaction that will be beneficial for a lifetime. One of the up and coming exergames that is very popular is called iDance. Idance, part of the Positive Gaming series, is similar to the program Dance Dance Revolution, but is more in tune with fitness by recording heart rates, step counts, gives instantaneous feedback, and can accommodate up to 32 students at a time! As well as being able to incorporate this positive gaming sysytem into our curriculum, it would be very beneficial to set up an after school program for students to get an extra opportunity to participate in this great activity.
With this said, the iDance program coordinators can be set up to visit our school at any time to show the program in detail. I have been in contact with the physical educators of our neighboring districts and they are also interested in purchasing this game, which can be a benefit due to it’s cost. I am in the process of setting up a fundraising committee while brainstorming ideas to get this great system into our district. Along with this program, I am a Certified iDance Exergame Trainer, which allows me to help train other employees as well as run the program. Thank you for your time and if you have any questions you can contact me at needphysed@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Lauren Tinger

Hip-Hop Intro Presentation of Idance

Idance

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255 Practicum Experience

This semester for 255, everyone was required to fulfill at least ten hours of community service or practicum throughout the semester. Before realizing I had to do this, I had already volunteered to be a Teacher's Assistant for Ms. Cahill's Self Defense course that I took last semester. I volunteered for this because I really believe in self-defense and that children should be educated about easy maneuvers that could possibly save their life.

Being exposed to self defense for a second semester has had a great impact on me as a learner. I feel so much more knowledgeable after this semester because I was able to apply the information I learned as a student and reinforce it by helping other students learn being in a teacher's position.

All of the students in the class were great to work with. Everyone was very respectful and you could tell they all wanted to be there to learn. As the semester progressed, I was able to have the opportunity to see all of them grow as learners, but also as people. It was easy to notice that a lot of them matured through out the semester. I also got to know some of the students on a more personal level because I was in other classes with some of them. I was able to participate a lot in the classroom by doing things such as taking attendance, helping test skills and even lead warm ups. As the semester went on I also become more comfortable with the class. The first time I led a warm-up I was very anxious about how I would be perceived by the class, because everyone is basically the same age, or older than me. The entire class was always supportive of my participation in the classroom and by the middle of the semester I was confident and comfortable with the class. Overall, being able to take part in this experience was very rewarding because I love knowing that I can help someone learn and grow.

201&&255- The good, the better and the best.