MyFitnessPal App for the Iphone

 

As a future Physical Education teacher I plan to use the MyFitnessPal app in my class to help my student’s record and manage their exercise and eating habits in order to reach their fitness goals.  MyFitnessPal app will first ask a series of questions such as age, weight, height, gender, and activity level to find out what your fitness level is currently. The second part of the process is to create your fitness goals, basically what desired weight you would like to reach, and by what date, and at what rate (1lb/week, .5lb/week).  It would be difficult for an app to assess other goals such as inches lost or increased muscular endurance. However, this app is great for becoming more conscious of calorie intake, calorie expenditure, and how it affects weight. Recording what you eat, how much you workout, and being able to share that information with classmates or a support group can help you be more accountable to stick to a routine that will help you reach your goals.

 

In the diary aspect of the app you can add an entry for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, cardiovascular exercise, strength, water intake, and make food or exercise notes.  Within the meal entries there are the tabs recent, frequent, my foods, meals and recipes that can aid as time savers for data entry.  The search bar allows you to search the apps database for several food items or you can use the built in bar code scanner.  There are tutorial videos for how to use the app or what is new that I found very helpful. You can set reminders for yourself to add your food entries or any entry if you have forgotten that day. Overall this app can be very helpful to any person looking to finally hold themselves accountable with an easy, efficient tracking system.

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Power Point Tips

1. Structurally linear and sequential. Students expect the next slide, which is good for sequential learners. However, for those who get easily bored Powerpoint can be monotonous. Keep it interesting.
2. Several exit and entrance animation features can be applied to texts, images, and slides. Overused can be distracting instead of engaging.
3. Sound animation can be useful to cue answers or catch students attention.
4. Pictures, graphs, and videos can be added easily and made into back grounds or used as links.
5. The order of slides can be easily manipulated or switched around.
6. The Notes feature is good for those who like to print out their slides and notes under each slide.
7. Various layouts can help to balance your texts and pictures. Prezi is less guided, which frees up for creativity but may lack spatial balance.
8. You can insert and adapt text boxes, clipart, and shapes. 
9. Bullet features keep information clear and organized.
10. There are several different themes and color schemes you can apply to your slides. It is suggested that you stick with one theme throughout your powerpoint presentation.

Additional info because I did it twice.


1. Easy to make a video presentation in class quickly
2. Fun, colorful, pleasing templates and themes
3. Different layouts for presenting information in different ways.
3. Exit and entrance effects are great
4. Effects or animations can be applied to texts and slides
5. Color schemes can be changed
6. Can embed YouTube videos onto Powerpoint
7. Can insert images into PowerPoint
8. They should be 7-10 minutes long.
9. You can narrate your powerpoint so you don't have to be there to present it.
10. You can make them interactive, if they click a link they can go to a website or to another slide. Good for virtual lessons like click yes or no for this question and it takes you to other slides and then you can go next or back to answer correctly.

Prezi Tips

1. Prezi is more hands on than Powerpoint
2. With Prezi you can zoom out to view the big picture of your whole presentation or zoom in to get as close and personal as you'd like.
3. With the 360 degree rotation app you can really create a twisting experience for your viewers.
4. You can create animation effects on your texts, pictures, and frames just like PowerPoint.
5. Students can do group or individual presentations for assignments.
6. Prezi can teach students that flow, direction, and simplicity are essential in presentations.
7. Prezi accounts are Free and can easily be shared with others.
8. You can use Prezi's to give an overview of your goals for the semester or just for the day in class.
9. You can edit Prezi online and therefore don't need to save it onto a disk or hard drive.
10. Prezi is a fun and interactive way to present information.

Chris Hoffman--Awesome Tech Dude!

Chris Hoffman's Site...Teaching to Learning

This man blew my mind today showing me what I can do with Penapto (not sure on the spelling); an awesome video making program. The program itself isn't free but if you are a future teacher, you may want to check this out because it is useful for doing lectures that students can watch the night before class. That way your class time can be used more efficiently for activities and discussion.

I posted a link to Chris Hoffman's blog so that you can learn more about other awesome technology programs.


Cheers :)

My first PREZI

http://prezi.com/m1gb3w7vgfc5/the-game-of-life-golf/

Education Question

How can I teach The Scarlet Letter to any one of the following types of learners: visual, intuitive, active, sensitive, visual, sequential, reflective, and global? Pick one and please give me a brief idea for a lesson plan or approach.