December 10, 2010
| Digital Literacy Workshop Monday, December 13, Online Safety Resources and Information Information about teaching online safety will be shared. We will share what we need to be on the look out for and how best to help students be safe, but not scared on the web. Upcoming Digital Literacy Workshop: Monday, January 10, Online Primary Source Resources We will share many different resources for finding and using Primary Source documents, photos, videos and other artifacts in your classroom. See a schedule for the year. Open Lab: 2:30 - 5:00 Resource Instruction: 3:15 - 4:00 Monday Afternoons, District Office Tech Lab. Clock Hours are available. Links to Explore National Body Challenge: Discovery provides tools and resources to help with your success in getting and staying healthy. SparkPeople: Join a group and work together on your fitness and nutrition goals. You can sign up your classroom. Energy Balance: A site from Discovery Education with a focus on kids with videos, games, information and resources for teachers, students and parents. BAM: Body and Mind : Lots of great resources for kids about health from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Let’s Move: Michelle Obama’s initiative to improve the health of children. Good resources, activities, and recipes. Fuel Up and Play: Resources from the National Dairy Council on getting active and eating right. LiveStrong.com Tools such as Calorie trackers, recipes, exercise tutorials and more. Smartphone Apps available. LoseIt: App for some smart phones where you can track your fitness goals. DailyBurn: App very similar to LoseIt for smart phones. Google Map Pedometer: There are a few of these out there. You can map your route, put in your weight and time and it will tell you how many calories you are likely to burn. Also shows elevation. | Digital Fitness photo © 2009 Josiah Mackenzie | more info (via: Wylio)As we enter the last weeks of 2010 and people start thinking of New Year’s Resolutions, resolutions for a healthier lifestyle are sure to be high on the list for many. So, I thought that I would use this week’s issue of Digital Literacy News to share some ideas for incorporating technology into your new plan to work on health and fitness. Of course probably the biggest tip would be to step away from your computer and move. But there are many ways technology can be your friend when working on a healthy lifestyle. Many of you know that I have done a lot this year to “get my health on”. As a gadget girl, I have used some technology to help me along. But the real secret for me has been to eat less, move more, and stick to it. To that end, you might find a tech tool that can help you with these goals.  First, a list of the tools that that have worked for me. Roswell: Nothing techie here, just a giant mutt who loves to go on long walks and encourages me to get moving by bringing me his leash and my sneakers. I walk about 12,000 steps or around 6 miles a day. With Roswell as my trainer, we walk in the rain, wind, cold, dark and heat. Once Roswell pushes me out the door, I am always glad that I went for a walk. Great not only for exercise, but for stress relief and time to think. Podcasts and Audiobooks: Walking 6 miles a day takes time. I often listen to audio books and podcasts as I walk. This way, I can learn and grow as I walk. My podcasts and audio books have different focuses. I learn about educational technology, health and nutrition, spirituality, the news and science. Podcasts are free. Audiobooks usually cost about the same as a print version. But you can “check out” audio books from the library as well. WiiFit: I have to say that I get bored with the exercise programs on my Wii Fit pretty quickly, but I have several different programs so I can switch them up when needed. BodyMediaFit: I wear this devise on my upper arm each day. It monitors my calorie burn, my activity, the number of steps I take and how much sleep I get each day. I load this into the computer and log my food each day. This has been a great help for me. (Not much of a fashion statement but a help none the less.) The main thing that it does for me is it reminds me to move. I now do laps around our house while talking on the phone or brushing my teeth. :) This tool is a bit pricey and probably isn’t the best for everyone. But it has worked well for me. Online Communities: There are several support groups available on the internet. Some are free and others have a fee. I use the free ones on occasion to log exercise etc. But I am pretty private with my exercise and eating. Many people find this to be a great way of holding themselves accountable. You can share your goals and get support from others as you move forward. There are even apps that announce on FaceBook and Twitter just how many steps you have taken or calories you have burned. SparkPeople is a free online community with great support and resources including calculators and recipes, exercise plans and more. You can set up groups and share with each other for support. WeightWatchers has a similar site for a fee. Many people use apps on the SmartPhones to help them keep track of exercise and calories. Check out the links to resources on the left for more suggestions for how to not only work on your own health and fitness goals, but to encourage our students to live healthy lifestyles as well. Video of the Week Watch more free documentaries Tech Triumphs Our Digital Literacy Coaches are such a valuable resource in each of our buildings. They have great ideas for integrating technology into your lessons. If you’ve got an idea, or need an idea, chat with your coach and you will be amazed. They are a wealth of knowledge and resources and if they don’t know, they probably know of someone else who does know. Digital Citizenship Join us a Digtital Literacy Workshop where we will explore many different resources to share with students and parents. Here is just one of the resources we will look at. Netsmartz |
No comments:
Post a Comment