Let's Move in Schools
Please make sure to register your school for the Let's Move in School initiative.
Go to: http://letsmoveschools.org
- Click the red button that says sign up now or look to the right where it says sign up or log in.
- Fill out the information and click submit (once this is done,you will receive a confirmation email).
- When your account is confirmed, you will need to add your school
- then add yourself as a school leader.
- Click on the link in your confirmation email and sign back in.
- Complete the inventory, decide on some action steps, make sure you save and continue to dashboard, then submit it.
If your school is healthy schools
program school, use the same username and password and import the data over.
If you have any questions
related to registering and associating with your school, please feel free to
contact the help desk or contact Penny Edwards penny.edwards@healthiergeneration.org or 205 434 4302.
Technology in Physical Education
I asked Dr. Wendy Cowan at Athens State University to be a guest blogger on technology this week. Dr. Cowan is my go-to-person when I need advice on using technology in physical education and a great presenter on the 21st Century Classroom.
Have you ever heard a grandparent, or
someone older, talk about school back in the "good ol' days"? And
heard the tall tale about walking 5 miles to school, barefooted, through the
snow, rain, wind and hail, to a one-room school house in the middle of Nowhereville?
Whether your grandparent has told you this same story or not, I'm sure you've
heard of it being told to children. And while we like to assume that never
happened, for some people, it is probably a fairly accurate account of going to
school many, many years ago. Fortunately, in the United States, that's not
typically the case today.
Schools are no longer isolated one-room
buildings in the middle of "Nowhereville". Most schools consist of
multi-structure facilities with administrators, counselors, teachers and
support staff. And while the students are still traveling to schools, to sit
inside classrooms designed for teaching and learning, neither the teaching nor
the learning should be confined to the four walls of the classroom! With the
abundance of technology today, a teacher's classroom is only limited by the
limits he/she places upon it.
We have come a long way since the long,
cold walk to school. Today, a "21st century" classroom has the
potential to reach students, parents, friends, relatives, peers, etc. for
collaboration, teaching and learning 24/7.This is all possible when the Internet is used to expand your classroom
and advocate your program. We will use the umbrella term "eMarketing"
as a descriptor of this process.
What is eMarketing?
Very simply put, eMarketing or
electronic marketing refers to the application of marketing principles and
techniques via electronic media and more specifically the Internet.
eMarketing is the process of marketing
a brand using the Internet. It includes both direct response marketing and
indirect marketing elements and uses a range of technologies to help connect
businesses to their customers.
By such a definition, eMarketing
encompasses all the activities a business conducts via the worldwide Web with
the aim of attracting new business, retaining current business and developing
its brand identity.
What does this have to do with education?
Who says we can't or shouldn't apply
successful business strategies to the classroom situation? I'm going to take
the same text from above and change a few words... see if it makes sense to
you.
eMarketing is the
process of marketing a brand using the Internet. It includes both direct
response marketing and indirect marketing elements and uses a range of
technologies to help connect schools and teachers to their students
and parents.
By such a definition,
eMarketing encompasses all the activities a school or teacher conducts via the
worldwide Web with the aim of communicating with students and parents,
expanding classroom teaching and learning and advocating for the school and
classroom programs.
Now, doesn't that sound like something
you should be doing, as a 21st century classroom teacher?
Why is eMarketing important?
When implemented correctly, the return
on investment from eMarketing can far exceed that of traditional marketing
strategies.
Whether you're a "bricks and
mortar" business (school/classroom) or a concern operating purely online,
the Internet is a force that cannot be ignored. It can be a means to reach
literally millions of people every year. It's at the forefront of a
redefinition of the way businesses (schools/teachers) interact with their
customers (parents/students).
What
is a good e-marketing plan?
A good eMarketing plan for your
classroom may begin with the following:
- Social media in and out of the classroom
- Advocacy for your program through
e-newsletters
- Program evaluation through online surveys and
polls
- Collaborative tools for organizing and
managing
Social Media
You may be wondering, how social media can be used in your
classroom – Here are just a few suggestions and best practices that will get
you started:
- Use social media for teaching and learning -
today's Web-savvy students will appreciate your efforts! Check out this
list of 100 inspiring ways to use social media in the classroom
- Keep your teaching and your personal social
media sites SEPARATE
- Learn about privacy settings and set yours
appropriately
- Investigate resources such as HootSuite, Seesmic and Tweetdeck to
help you manage your social media sites.
- Keep parents informed about field days,
parent-teacher conferences and other events
Advocacy for Your Program
As I'm sure you are well aware, the
more supportive the parents are of your program, classroom instruction, etc.,
the greater the chances are that you will receive tenure AND CLASSROOM
DONATIONS! And even in the best of times, there is never enough money to do all
of the great things that you will want to do.
With that being said, using the
Internet to generate advocacy for your program is a step in the right
direction. This can be done with NO expense and maximum benefits.
eNewsletters can be used to communicate
with parents anything from homework notices to school program dates, to
fundraising notices. And this can all be done expense free and sent via email
in the blink of an eye and/or posted to your teacher web site.
Great resources for creating
eNewletters include:
1.
MailChimp
2.
GroupMail
3.
Mad Mimi
4.
Send Emails
Program Evaluation
Program evaluation is a systematic
method for collecting, analyzing, and using information to answer questions
about classroom curricula, projects, policies and programs, - particularly
about their effectiveness and efficiency.
With the wealth of technological
advancements, program evaluation is a very easy process that can be completed
expense free! There are a variety of surveys and polls available to you
absolutely free that will make this process very manageable.
Great resources for program evaluation:
Collaborative Tools for
Organizing and Managing
Using collaborative tools to organize and manage the daily
tasks associated with being a teacher will greatly simplify your life. There
are tools available for everything from organizing meetings to collaborating
with other physical education instructors to sign-up lists for field day.
Great resources for organizing and managing:
Long
story short – whether you decide to implement one or all of these strategies in
your classroom, you are a step closer to creating a 21st century
classroom in which you are making class activities, communication and access
open and available to all 24/7.
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