Month: February 2024

Yoga on the ‘Tube

- Megan Howatt 7 Comments

At the beginning of this journey I created a goal to workout 2-3 times per week. This is a goal I have been able to obtain so far (even if some of my yoga sessions are cut short with my baby’s short naps), and I am proud of myself for sticking to this goal. With goal setting I think it is important to chose something that is realistic to your lifestyle and to make adjustments as needed. Setting aside some time for my mental and physical health has felt really good. I am looking forward to continuing down this path throughout the rest of the semester, and maybe even beyond!

This week I explored YouTube to find a channel that I could connect to with my yoga journey. While exploring, I stumbled upon Yoga with Adriene. She creates playlists of different yoga genres that are great for finding what works best for you and your body. Some examples being yoga for beginners, yoga for a sore back, yoga for bedtime, yoga for teachers, yoga monthly challenges, etc. I find that Adriene uses really positive language. Her videos are inviting and make you want to participate in her workouts.

I decided to share her Yoga For Teachers video with you all, given this is an education course. I hope to dive into some yoga tools to use in the classroom as I discover new yoga resources. If you have some time, you should try giving back to yourself and follow along to her yoga video.

Getting “Down” with TikTok

- Megan Howatt 4 Comments

This week I continued to use the app Yoga Down Dog, which I have been loving! I have a free trial until March so I will keep using it throughout the month while trying out other yoga resources. You select the type of workout you want to complete (body focus and time) and within seconds the app curates a yoga workout for you. Every workout begins with the Easy Seat. While you are seated you get mentally prepped and focused on your breathing before you begin changing poses. I have been finding that the flow of the workout is fantastic. The instructor talks you through every step, sharing what muscle groups to focus on and reminds you to inhale and exhale… all while in a calm state. The yoga pose Down Dog is often used in between a range of yoga poses like lunges and planks. I love this stretch in the backs of my legs when I work through this pose. The most difficult poses I find are the ones that really work my core, especially my lower abs because I am finding I am quite weak in this area, especially now that I am postpartum. Overall, I am finding this yoga journey very wholesome. It works on my strength and my flexibility which is what I have found that I am missing in between my workouts with weights and cardio. I look forward to continuing this journey throughout the coming weeks!

screenshot of my TikTok video

To share about my yoga journey I created a video for you to view. Here are the tools I used to create it:

  1. Time Lapse
    I used the time lapse video recording option on my iPhone in the camera app. This was SO easy to use. I particularly loved it because I filmed myself doing a 15 minute yoga workout and it compressed it to about 30 seconds.
  2. TikTok
    I am a TikTok viewer and not a creator, so I thought I would finally give creating a video on TikTok a try. I wanted to share about my journey by showing pictures from the app with a voice over of my thoughts about my experience and I knew this was a possibility with TikTok. Creating my first TikTok was NOT easy! There are so many different things you can do with the app. There are filters, video editing tools, music, audio editing tools, different effects, and more to choose from. I was overwhelmed with the options but I am sure with more practice it would get easier.

TikTok would be a neat way for students to share their learning about a given topic as an assignment. There are so many creative ways students could make videos to share their learning such as creating a song and dance, story telling, acting, photos, and more. I would consider using TikTok to share learning as Modification in terms of the SAMR model. I think it alters the learning task because students are given creative freedom to share about what they learned. There would likely be no assignment that is the same because of the endless options of how to create a TikTok video.

https://youtu.be/4GWIDn-A9lM

Downward (or Upward?) Dog

- Megan Howatt 4 Comments

After last week’s disappointment of app Yoga; Stretch Bend Sweat. I went through the Apple App Store and found an app called Yoga Down Dog. What I particularly like about this app is when you are beginning to set up your profile it asks you many questions about your goals, what areas you wish to focus on, what yoga level you’re at, and what pace you want your yoga workout to be. Everything is very customizable from the voice of the instructor, the music, the sound levels, the length of the workout. The app logs your yoga journey on a calendar and you’re able to look in your history to see what workouts you completed so you can reference them in

the future and repeat what you liked or avoid what you didn’t enjoy.

The workouts themselves have calming music, an instructor who guides you through the movement, and a video demonstration of each pose and how to move from pose to pose with FLOW (which we lacked last week!). The instructor is detailed with what muscles you should be feeling in each moment, she focuses on your breathing, and keeps you engaged all while allowing time to focus in silence.

This video is an example of the yoga workouts you can find on the app.

 

Since starting this app I have been more excited to do my yoga workouts knowing that I was going to get something out of the movement. I enjoy the flow of the positions all while working on my core balance and breathing (these were both things I chose to focus on when setting up my profile). I am beginning to get some momentum with my yoga journey, I can feel it!

 

Technology is the FUTURE and so are Our Students

- Megan Howatt 1 Comment

Technology is ever changing. Michael Wesch shared how the internet has become a phenomenon in society. This lecture was given in 2008. Today we could spend days discussing all that the internet has to offer our society and how we have evolved into a digital world.

Today, teachers are implementing technology into their classrooms because it is an important thing for students to learn how to conduct themselves on the internet safely. Technology in our schools has offered students endless opportunities for learning. Teachers can implement technology in many ways whether it’s a teacher led lesson from a projected laptop, learning apps on tablets, online independent research, completing assignments using Word documents, PowerPoints, etc. Students can present their learning using many different outlets and share what they have learned with their families all online.

Throughout the pandemic we had to learn how to provide “online learning” in a short amount of time. I had to learn how to get grade one students engaged with a screen and to follow along with lessons in a simple way using Zoom and Seesaw. Not all of these programs are user friendly for six year olds with limited reading skills.

Digital tablet, school and students in classroom doing research for work, test or exam. Technology, education and boy children friends working on project or assignment together with mobile on campus.
students sharing a tablet to complete an assignment in the classroom

The reality of teaching in a digital world is that we need to be able to afford technology for our students in public education. Teachers are doing what they can to share limited amounts of technology amongst students and other classrooms for students to learn how to use technology as a tool in their learning as it is recognized as important skills to have.

Technology is the future and so are our students. It will be amazing to see what our current students will do with the digital world as they become our leaders in their adolescence.