I did it! Well sort of… Week #2 of my Yoga Journey.

This week was fantastic! I am so proud of myself and my body with how it has responded to yoga so far. With only being one week in, I am already beginning to feel some of the physical and mental benefits that yoga has to offer. Safe to say I felt the physical benefits the most… I’ll elaborate more on the story below.

For my first video, I chose one of the beginner videos from the online youtube channel I decided to begin with from Yoga With Adriene. I used her video titled: Yoga For Beginners – The Basics. It was amazing! Before starting EDTC300, I had watched a few yoga videos and did the flows, thinking nothing about my posture or form. Adriene’s beginner video taught me so much, in what felt like a short 40 minutes. She began with proper breathing techniques and showed adequate form with each movement she did. I have found that starting with a basic video has built a strong foundation for my journey, now that I am aware of how to move my body safely with the different positions that yoga has to offer.

Now for story time… After I had watched Adriene’s video for beginners, I felt quite comfortable in going on and trying another vinyasa sequence for beginners. I found another video of hers titled Yoga for Strength- 40 Minute Vinyasa Sequence. I was comfortable at the beginning of the video and thought, “wow, this isn’t so bad!” Then I reached the other half of the video, and my mind thought the total opposite. The moves felt as though they were becoming more and more challenging, and I was starting to feel discouraged. I didn’t think much of it and challenged myself to finish the sequence. So I did, and after doing some research, I found that the video is actually one of Adriene’s flows that are listed as being intermediate. I am definitely not at the intermediate level yet. So safe to say, I missed something when I was doing my research. I am very proud of myself for finishing the sequence, but boy was I sore for a good 2 days after. I found during the video that I was using muscles I never even knew I had or had used before, which was an eye-opening experience.

Now I know that I can challenge my body, maybe I should look into stepping things up a notch (safely of course)! I am going to stick with Adriene’s videos for a while, and can’t wait to do more sequences from her videos.

I hope you have enjoyed my challenging yet entertaining experience so far!

-Jaelyn

I’m on Feedly!

In my EDTC300 class this week, we were required to get an RSS reader account, so I chose to get a Feedly account. After creating the account, I then went in and followed several blogs, education-related sources, and even pages that pertained to my learning project too. I typed popular hashtags into the search bar, such as #edtech, #educationalresources, #yoga, #motivation, and I was surprised with how much came up! Once I felt as though I had made a reasonable effort on getting started, I categorized the sources that I followed into four sections: 

• Yoga- Allows me to make use of a wide variety of resources to help better my journey of learning yoga for my learning project.
• Inspiration- Having inspirational quotes and resources is good for the soul and self-motivation!
• Resources- Created so I can have a section that I can use to save different teaching/learning resources that I can continue to review while I am in University, and even begin to save for when I have my own classroom. 
• News- Allows me to quickly read the latest news in Canada and Saskatchewan, without having to use several websites.

Although I may only have four feed sections so far, I am sure that it will continue to grow as I become more comfortable with Feedly, and use it more frequently. 

As I stated in a previous blog post, I am not a tech-savvy human being, so I am thankful to have a Really Simple Syndication reader that allows me to easily type in keywords and hashtags, and quickly gain knowledge. Rather than having to dig and read through dozens of websites to find what I am looking for. I can already tell that Feedly is something I will continue to use in the future as a resource to help me quickly find anything that pertains to me and my interests.

One of the sources that I enjoy in particular on my Feedly for my yoga Learning Project is a blog called Yoga by Candace. It is beneficial and relevant because I love how she touches on other subjects rather than just yoga itself. She provides valuable information on yoga, and much much more on the idea of overall well-being. Not only is Candace’s blog shaped around yoga, but she offers other topics on it too, such as strengthening, recipes, posture tips, and self-love ideas. All which are topics that I will be sure to find relevant to my new journey of practicing yoga.

I am excited to continue using Feedly, and can’t wait to learn from it!

Here is a screenshot of my Feedly account.

 

January 20, 2020- Blog #2 “Home”

Where I feel the most at home is at my family’s cabin at Christopher Lake. The title of one of the readings from this week was “The Land Is the Best Teacher I Have Ever Had.” The title of the text deeply resonates with me because I believe that being up at the lake has taught me things that I would not have been able to learn anywhere else. I have been able to learn the history of the land before our cabin was placed, the kinds of animals which lived in our area, and those which continue to today. I cannot say that I will ever finish my learning journey of the land, but I will always continue to inquire, so I can keep feeling as one with the ground, its past, and the life within it. Although I do also live in the city, being up at the lake provides me with feelings of peace, relaxation, quiet, and calmness, which are feelings that I find very hard to find within the busy life of living in the city. Those feelings have helped shape who I am because they have allowed me to gain realization of myself and the emotions I can find through my escape in nature.

When I think of home, I think of being at the cabin and… boat rides on calm sunny days, drinking soda on the deck, having sun-kissed skin, bringing my dogs for a swim around the dock, jumping off of the boat in the middle of the lake, tracking my sandy feet through the cabin, going for long walks in the dewy morning air, and sitting around the firepit laughing until all hours of the night. It is easy for me to say that I could tell many stories about how much I spending time at the lake. If I had to choose my favourite story, it would be one of the ones of my family and I sitting around the firepit. I recall a time in the summer with my family when we were sitting around the fire. We were talking about what the land was like before our cabin was placed on the lot. It was almost like a dumping site with all of the diapers, garbage bags, and other unnecessary clutter that people decided to leave on the land. Yet through all of it, my parents saw potential and decided to move the old farmhouse onto the lot, and make it our own. We continued talking about how we replenished the land with new trees, dirt, grass, and plants and discussed ways on how we can allow the property to bring itself back to its original state before the chaos and neglect occurred. Ideas like continuing to plant more seeds, and allowing the wild plants to grow naturally, will eliminate the visibility and feeling of trauma which the land once faced. With the many moments I have spent around the fire, I have been able to learn stories about my family, the landscape our cabin sits on, its knowledge, along with its past and future.

BLOG PROMPT #1- JANUARY 13, 2020

Thomas King says “the truth about stories is that’s all we are.” He tells a number of different kinds of stories and explores ways that they shape identity and the way we see the world. What stories have influenced the way you see yourself and the world. Tell one or two of these stories and explain their importance.

I began teaching swimming lessons and lifeguarding several years ago. Having a job in aquatics played a significant role in my decision to move away from home to pursue an education degree through the University of Regina. Throughout my many years of being a Swim Instructor, I have established genuine connections and relationships with several of my students. Teaching lessons has helped me learn about different cultures, identities, learning abilities and the diversity that makes up today’s society. I recall one day when I was at the store getting groceries and I saw one of the children I had taught swimming lessons to in the past. She saw me down the aisle and said to her mom: “Look, mom! It’s my teacher from swimming lessons.” I will never forget the look of joy on her face when she ran down the aisle in my direction and hugged me. There is no better feeling in the world than when your students remember you. This story has greatly influenced the way I see myself and the world because it helps me to know that I had a positive impact on that particular swimmer since they remembered their swimming lessons as being both a positive and relationship-building experience. It is not only important for lessons to be a positive experience for the students, but for the parents/guardians, too. Most recently, when I was teaching one of my private lessons, a parent approached me after lessons and spoke highly of how he appreciated my teaching style. He explained how my instructions are both informational and simple at the same time, which is important because it gives one the opportunity for a learning experience without it being overwhelming. This story also influenced the way I see myself and the world because I learned that I am easily able to view and learn the different learning abilities of each person, which in turn plays a role in the influence and interaction I have with many of my swimmers. As a result of building strong bonds and relationships with my swimmers and their parents and guardians, I believe that I am able to provide the same qualities and experience when I become a teacher.

Hello There!

Hi! My name is Jaelyn, and I am in my first year of the Elementary Education Program, with hopes of completing my Certificate of Extended Studies in Inclusive Education once I receive my degree. When I am not at the university, I can most likely be found at a pool somewhere because I am also a Lifeguard and Swim Instructor! I also have a huge love for plants and my dogs too.

 

I can say I am not the most technology-oriented person out there, but I am seeing it become more and more of a necessity of many in today’s society. Sure throughout my elementary and high school years, I used technology in terms of typing an essay out on the computer or my teacher using a projector to put an assignment up on the screen. Still, my experience doesn’t go any farther than that! Which is why I am hoping that taking EDTC300 will give me a deeper understanding of the importance of technology in the classroom and how it can be utilized for students and teachers alike. 

 

Before I began this course, blogging honestly never crossed my mind. Sure I have seen several online blogs and have read some from those who I follow on Instagram, but I never thought of myself in the situation of being a blogger. I am excited to begin my blogging journey and can’t wait to see all the benefits that come with it. I came across an article from teachstarter.com, which helped me start brainstorming ways on how blogging will be beneficial to me when I am in my own classroom. I believe that blogging will allow me to make a professional portfolio of myself while enhancing my personal learning network. It will also help to voice my thoughts, views and opinions to the world through a technological format while allowing me to view the thoughts, beliefs, and ideas of other educators and hopefully building positive and professional relationships with them too.

 

 As our world continues to become more technology-oriented, I have high hopes that my educational journey will provide me with opportunities to learn how to properly use technology in terms of safety and productivity for myself as an educator, and for my students in the years to come. Feel free to follow me on Twitter where I will share my continuous journey with technology, while also using it as a tool to allow me to create connections with other educators.

You’re Doing What?!

For my Learning Project throughout the semester, I have chosen to learn yoga! I am so excited. Anyone that knows me would know that I am the most inflexible person with not the strongest muscles in my body either. I thought… yoga is good for flexibility and strengthening, so why not give it a try? Yoga is not only known for its physical benefits, but it also comes with emotional, spiritual, and mental benefits too! I am in my second semester of university and have already realized and experienced the stress that can come with being a full-time student. I’m hoping that my decision to learn yoga will help improve my strength, flexibility, and overall well-being.

To begin my yoga journey, I have decided to start with the best-known type of yoga for beginners, which is called Vinyasa. It offers benefits of strength, concentration, and focus on breath, which is what I am leaning towards. Many websites refer to it as being an excellent point for beginners to start at since it is a duration of continuous movement while going and moving from one pose to the next, with the assistance of proper breathing. Although I am starting with Vinyasa, it isn’t the only type of yoga I hope to try. Once I feel as though I have felt the benefits of Vinyasa, and have a good start on my journey, I will move on towards other levels of yoga such as Yin, Anusara, and maybe even Hot Yoga if I’m feeling adventurous enough!

While looking for resources to assist me, I remembered a girl that I follow on Instagram, always posting about online yoga videos from a YouTube channel called Yoga with Adriene . After exploring her channel, not only did I learn that she has 100s of videos on yoga, but she has them on many different types and levels of experience too. It’s amazing! To start my journey, I will use her channel but will continue exploring to look for additional pages to help me also. I plan to use different kinds of resources such as videos, websites, books, and images to help me learn more about yoga, safety, and how to do it properly, but maybe even dig deeper into the history of yoga too.

I am so excited to begin to learn yoga and hope that you will follow me along my new journey!

If you know of any pages, videos, or other additional resources to assist me in my practice, feel free to link them below.

“Yoga Moves” by Hreinn Ingólfsson is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0