Assignment #6

I kind of had a difficult time looking online for tools I could use in my teaching. The challenge came in first decided what I was looking for and then finding free or trial versions. Here are some of the ones I found:

Now You are Cooking: This is a program that organizes recipes. You can create shopping lists as well as nutritional analysis. You can also import new recipes. This would be great for class because I will need to teach specific recipes for specific food categories. This program would have it all organized and ready for me to choose from. The nutritional analysis will also be great because it will help insure I choose healthy recipe options for my students. One disadvantage of this software is that it is only a 60 day free trial, so I would have to buy the software if I would want to use it for longer.
Quilt Software Demo Downloads: The other side of my teaching consists of sewing. One thing I would like to teach my students is how to make quilt blocks and eventually quilts. This will be very helpful because it provides me with demos that I can show my students. With a big class, it might be easier or more helpful for students to see and learn from the experience on a video demo rather than trying to crowd around me to see. One disadvantage of this software is that the person doing the demo might not be teaching or explaining things in a way that junior high students or high school students (people that have never sewn before) could understand.
SchoolLogic: This program allows you to enter all kinds of things like grades, attendance and tardies etc. This would be very helpful in class management. It would make me more effective as a teacher. If I can spend less time entering grades I can spend more time planning curriculum.

For my third project I have decided to have my students do an assignment where they keep track of what they eat for a day and then record it in a Diet Tracking system like CRON-O-Meter that I found online. This software allows you to put in the computer all the specifics you ate that day and then get a nutritional breakdown for your daily intake. I am then going to have the students analyze thier intake against what is recommended in MyPyramid. This way students can see what they are really eating (what is good for them and what isn't so good for them). For some this can be a wake up call. It is a great way to teach about the importance of healthy eating habits and good nutrition.

Being safe on the internet is very important. Looking for illegal things online and not being smart about what you click on can cause major problems- viruses, trojans and malware. It is also important to watch who you give personal information to. Information can be transmitted to unsafe hands over the internet. It is important not to give out information like addresses, passwords or social security numbers as it is possible others could get their hands on them and use them. I have had a couple bad viruses on my computer that caused me to loose lots of important information, papers, pictures etc. It is not fun. Being safe on the internet will help to save you the tears and all the trouble. This is something I have definitely learned for myself.