Special Notices
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Upcoming Seminars
Take the time to learn! Sign up now - the seminars fill up quickly - especially in California! Walk-ons will be allowed at the Wichita and Little Rock seminars.
Using Technology in Physical Education Seminars (click on a seminar to get the details):
February 8 - Wichita, KS
February 9 - Little Rock, AR
April 23 - San Jose, CA - Just Added
May 1 - Burbank, CA
May 2 - Buena Park, CA
May 14 - Kauai, HI
Using Technology in Physical Education Two Day Seminar - attend one or both days - click on one of the dates below for more information:
April 24, Sacramento, CA - Just Added
April 25 - Sacramento, CA - Just Added
Here is what participants are saying about the seminars:
"This course has given us a lot of tools and resources we need to bring our current class offerings up to a “distinction” level."
"Thank you for your direction and inspiration."
Can't attend - you can still purchase the presentation on CD to watch at your leisure.
College credit is available for all the above seminars plus our online courses listed below.
Spring 2007 Online Courses
February 1, 2007 - May 1, 2007
Click on the title for more information; click on sign up to register.
Each course is $100 plus an additional $50 for college credit if needed. You may register through March 15, 2007.
Californians: Are you looking for professional development, but don't have the time to attend? Then online courses are for you. Great opportunity to get trained and have it paid for by your district with the state money for physical education.
You can also visit with Bonnie at the following upcoming conferences and events:
CAHPERD State Conference - Sacramento, CA
AAHPERD National Convention - Baltimore, MD
Los Angeles County Office of Education - Vendors Day
International Symposium on Computer Science in Sport - Alberta, Canada (student discounted registration fees available - check it out!)
Featured Articles
Monitors: Which Size? Which One?
 As the price of flat-panel LCDs come down and the quality goes up, more and more schools are purchasing them for use with their PlayStations, XBoxes, and Wiis. Models in the 17-19 inch range weigh 15 pounds and mid-size models are around 30 pounds. All model are only a few inches think and can be wall mounted. These monitors can also double as computer screens and monitors for DVD players. Some LCD sets come with a memory card slot for viewing stills or videos from a digital camera.
I have seen fitness labs in middle and high schools where 10 or 12 stations are put in a circuit. Each station is a fitness gaming station (e.g., GamePad, GameBike, EyeToy) with a flat-panel monitor attached to the ceiling or on a specialty cart.
The idea size for use with the game machines seems to be 20-24". Be sure that the monitor comes the connections you need for the devices you plan to attach.
Polaroid FLM-1911 HDTV with a component input is one good choice!
Tip Of The Month
Installing Fitware Software
You can download any of the software developed by Bonnie's Fitware Inc to test it out before purchasing. Simply click here to go to the web site where the demos are listed. You will notice that the programs are zipped when you download them. Mac users double click on the file; Windows users should right click to select the option for unzipping/extracting.
Device Of The Month
Canon Elura 100
This inexpensive camcorder is getting rave reviews. It delivers a very good image with well-saturated colors and without noticeable noise. To create a 16:9 picture, the Elura 100 has a true widescreen sensor - that means the videos don't lose quality when switching between widescreen and the standard 4:3 ratio. It includes a 2.7" widescreen LCD, built-in lens shield, long-lasting battery, and an external microphone jack. Click here for more information.
Software Of The Month
High School Physical Education Portfolio
 Designed specifically for high school physical education. Addresses all six national standards. Provides over 100 assignments designed around the national standards with 6-point rubrics (which may be edited by you!).
Works as a stand-alone electronic portfolio, plus it has the ability to export to Record Book 8 so that your grades on the assignments transfer directly to the record book program.
Click here for more info.
Office Tips
Excel Tips: LOOKUP Function
The LOOKUP function returns a value from a one-row or one-column range. The LOOKUP function looks in a one-row or one-column range for a value, and then returns a value from the same position in a second one-row or one-column range.
The format for the LOOKUP function is:
LOOKUP(lookup_value,lookup_
column,result_column)
• Lookup_value is a value that LOOKUP searches for in lookup column or row. The Lookup_value can be a number or text.
• Lookup_column is a range that contains only one column. The values in Lookup_column can be text or numbers. The values in the lookup_column must be placed in ascending order. If LOOKUP cannot find the lookup_value, it matches the largest value in lookup_vector that is less than or equal to lookup_value. If lookup_value is smaller than the smallest value in lookup_vector, LOOKUP gives the #N/A error value.
• Result_column is a range that contains only one column. It must be the same size as lookup_column.
Notice in the following example, the lookup formula gets b2 - the age of the student (figure 1a) and looks up that age in column A from a22 through a25 (figure 2), then it returns the fitness scores the corresponding column B from b22 through b25. The result is placed in the cell that contains the function - D2 (figure 1b).
 (1a)
 (1b)
 (2)
Funding! Funding! Funding!
California Block Grants for Arts and Physical Education
The Physical Education and Arts $500 million dollar Block Grant will be distributed directly to public school sites in California based on Average Daily Attendance (ADA) figures. Schools can expect to get an estimate on the amount of money they will receive in December with money to follow in February. This money may be used for Physical Education and Arts supplies, equipment, and professional development. You not need to apply for this money!
Nickelodeon Let's Just Play Give-away
Nickelodeon is accepting applications for its Let's Just Play Giveaway program. The purpose of this program is to support school or after-school community-based organizations that promote play and physical activity. Programs must be nominated by youth ages 6 to 15 years old.
http://www.healthinschools.org
The NEA Foundation’s Learning & Leadership Grants
These grants provide opportunities for teachers, education support professionals and higher education faculty and staff to engage in high-quality professional development and lead their colleagues in professional growth. Grants of $2,000 will be made for individuals; $5,000 for groups engaged in collegial study. U.S. practicing K–12 public school teachers, education support professionals and higher education faculty and staff at public colleges and universities are eligible. Applications may be submitted any time. Review occurs three times a year: February 1, June 1 and October 15 in 2007.
Deadline: Ongoing
Click here for more information
U.S. Department of Education Announces No New PEP Grant Applications to be Accepted in 2007
"There will not be a Carol M. White Physical Education Program competition this year. We received enough high quality applications last year that we decided to use the existing slate to make new awards in FY 2007 for this program. We will begin to develop the FY 2007 slate for potential new awards and review budget requests in the next few weeks. We hope to announce FY 2007 new grant awards for this program late in the spring or early summer."
Additional details are posted at the U.S. Department of Education's website.
New Technology
Quick Items from the Consumer Electronics Show
-Digital cameras hit 10 megapixels
-Digital camcorders hit 7.1 megapixels for still images
-Hitachi introduces first terabyte hard drive
-Sony's new e-Reader is about the size of a slim paperback, but can store a library's worth of books.
-Toshiba showcases first notebook computer with HD DVD-R drive
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omotor/ nonlocomotor skills Each card includes name and picture (line drawing) of the skill along with a list of critical features. Can be used for station teaching and/or peer feedback. Grades K-6. Click