Month: January 2024

Scroll Here!

- Megan Howatt 1 Comment

This week I decided to dive into my phone and look at my average screen time and what apps I use the most. My daily average screen time this past week was 4 hours and 28 minutes. I spent almost 21 hours on social media apps with a total of 31 hours and 17 minutes of screen time. Oh my gosh…. I am sure there are many people who blow me out of the water but this is more than one full day!

daily average screen time on iPhone

My most used apps in my phone are…

list off top apps used and the time spent on each app
  1. Messages
  2. Instagram
  3. Facebook
  4. Safari
  5. Snapchat
  6. Tinybeans (a family photo sharing app)
  7. Camera
  8. Photos
  9. Messenger
  10. Reminders
  11. TikTok

Does this list surprise me? Not at all. I know what apps catch my interests and which ones I scroll on the most. With my life having changed so much in the past year, I know that this would look much different if I was back in the classroom working and not on maternity leave. If I was working in the classroom I would definitely add Edsby to the list. Also my daily hours on my phone would be much less, however I would have to add in time spent on my work computer with emails, Edsby, Youtube, learning websites, etc.

I do like to try to limit my screen time with doing things such as walking my dog, cooking, and simply just being present around friends and family. I have found that I wind down at the end of the day better if I put my phone away for bed. I like the option of having my notifications silenced between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. so I am not bombarded with texts from my friends as I am trying to sleep. I think this helps with a healthy relationship between my well-being and screen time.

I noticed that there is an option on the iPhone to limit your screen time usage by scheduling “downtime” and limiting what apps you can use at certain times of the day, as well as setting limits for how much time you can spend on a given app. I would have liked this option back when I was studying for finals during my undergrad as I am a HUGE procrastinator. It would have helped with my productivity of studying and finishing papers in a big way.

After reading a few articles online I learned that the average American has around 7 hours of screen time per day and Canadians close with 6.5 hours per day. The article on Screen Time Statistics shared that countries like South Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Philippines have the highest average screen time per day all over 9 hours. I was happy to learn that my average screen time is below the average Canadian. I am sure as our technological world progresses that these statistics will only go up in daily hours.

Where’s the flow?

- Megan Howatt 1 Comment

I know last week I discussed an app called FitOn, however I chose another app to get started with called Yoga; Stretch Bend Sweat. I will be using this app for a week while I have a free trial.

To begin, the app asks questions to get to know you in order for it to create workouts that are suitable to your needs and abilities. I put in that I was a beginner with yoga (because I am) despite my dance background and barre workout history. I told the app that I wanted to focus on strength, mindfulness and relaxation with a couple workouts a week for about 20-30 each session.

screen shot of the Yoga app

The app showcases all of the yoga poses in the Pose Library. It has images, a description of each pose and a video of a person demonstrating the poses. This is a useful tool for me to familiarize myself with some poses and practice before I begin my workouts.

description and image of warrior pose
pose library on the app

My first couple of workouts I found were semi-relaxing. It felt good to take the time in my busy day for just myself without distractions. I found the transitions from pose to pose shaky. Maybe this was just me not used to some of these poses but I didn’t feel coached into how to move from pose to pose with flow. As a retired dancer, I like flow in my body movement. Throughout the workout, there is someone talking with relaxing and motivating music. It shows images of each pose instead of video. With my background of dance I find it easy to look at an image and copy what is being done, however I know that this would be challenging for other people to imitate what is being shown without a video on how to get there. In order to have steady flow from pose to pose, I think I would benefit from video instruction so I can learn how to move from pose to pose instead of just getting there. Maybe I don’t understand what yoga is supposed to be like but I think there needs to be more flow than what I am practicing.

Anyways… I am looking forward to exploring this app further before I move on to some others, including the FitOn app. I would like to see if I can find some video instruction too to compare to what I have been practicing this week.

Thanks for tuning in!

It’s just the beginning…

- Megan Howatt 3 Comments

Today is the day that I am beginning my journey with yoga!

Before we begin I will give you some background about myself. I danced for 18 years of my life, I enjoy fitness classes of barre and spin, I am a new mom and am looking to get started with my postnatal fitness journey. I have always thought about how I would enjoy yoga. Not only is it proven to reduce stress and be good for mindfulness, but it it is good for gaining core strength and flexibility. It is time I do a little something for me at home as my baby naps throughout the day.

I want to create a realistic goal for myself of how often I wish to practice yoga and what I am hoping to gain from this experience. It is my goal to practice yoga 2-3 times per week. Throughout this time I hope to gain flexibility and spend these yoga sessions with mindfulness (not thinking about life, baby, and not getting distracted with my device). I would like theses yoga sessions to bring me a healthy way of giving back to myself through exercise and reducing stress.

So now I begin my first steps… I am not jumping into a yoga session right away. I am spending some time researching yoga apps/websites that I think will suit my needs as a beginner in yoga with sessions of about 30 minutes. I was told by another classmate that the FitOn app is really great, free to students and has lots of great workout videos (including yoga). I have created an account with FitOn and am excited to give it a try. This is the only site I have created an account with so far. I look forward to updating you all next week as I begin my journey with yoga.

Hello!

- Megan Howatt Leave a comment

My name is Megan and I have been an educator in Regina for six years. I teach a grade 1/2 split and love this age of learners. My favourite part of teaching my students is seeing their journey in learning to read. Teaching literacy is what I like best. As a learner, I am currently completing my Inclusive Ed. Certificate with the University of Regina and will be done after this semester.

In terms of educational technology, I would say that I am more of a beginner than someone who is highly comfortable. I can play around and try to problem solve on a computer but I would not consider myself a “techy” person. In the classroom technology I use is my computer, a data projector, document camera, and iPads. It can be difficult to integrate technology into my classroom when there is one teacher, 28+ students and only 6 iPads. I am sure if I had more PD on the apps and things we can do with the iPads I would have a clearer idea of how to use them with my grade one and two students. As of now, my classroom uses a few reading apps such as RazKids and Epic! that I am comfortable using and have taught my students how to use properly. In the past we have used Seesaw to create student learning portfolios and add assignments during online learning time throughout the pandemic. We no longer use this site.

As for blogging, I don’t think I have blogged since I was in Katia’s class in 2015ish. So forgive me as I am new to this and will be figuring out how to use this program to update you on my journey with technology as well as my learning project throughout the semester.

students greeting their teacher on the playground