Update: My Genius Hour

I have begun to research my Genius Hour question. I found a great resource that provided me with 40 ideas about how to integrate yoga into my everyday classroom routine.

Kids Yoga Stories. August 23, 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.kidsyogastories.com/classroom-yoga/

I liked their idea about introducing new yoga poses by creating a theme. For example, alphabet yoga or jungle animal yoga. This addresses one of my concerns which was, how do I switch up the poses I use in my class and what poses do I choose? By choosing a theme, I can pick certain yoga poses that fit into the theme.

We can also practice breathing techniques which are a huge part of yoga. Having this as a separate strategy can help students practice their breathing as a strategy to reduce their stress or calm them down when they are angry or upset. I think I will introduce breathing in one of my first lessons on yoga so that students can integrate it into the rest of the yoga activities we do throughout the year.

There are also a lot of ways to write and reflect about yoga. Some examples were, write affirmation sentences, write about the yoga adventure of the day, write in their Gratitude Journal. These are valuable ways to teach students how to reflect on their feelings, experiences and progress through yoga or using yoga as a way to create positive feelings and feelings of happiness or gratitude.

This resource has been so helpful to me so far and its the first one I've found! I cannot wait to continue to build up my knowledge and resource bank on this topic. Stay tunes for more updates.

My Inspiration For My Genius Hour

Goals: The goal for my Genius Hour project is to find practical ways to incorporate yoga into my daily classroom routine. I don't want to use yoga just because I enjoy it, I want to learn how to make it enjoyable and beneficial for my students. I have never taught yoga and I don't have a lot of experience seeing children's yoga. These are things that I want to research so that I can find the best ways to incorporate them into my classroom.

Motivation: The motivation that I have to complete this Genius Hour comes from my passion for yoga and teaching! These are two things that I am very interested in so it doesn't seem like a project to me, more of an expansion of my learning. This is something that I will use in my future classroom so why not prepare for it now?!

Measuring Progress: I think it will be hard to measure progress because I will never know everything about children's yoga. However, I think I will be able to tell when I'm done when I have answered the questions that I have. This is a topic that I can continuously learn about throughout my career as a teacher and a participant in yoga class.

Creating A Genius Hour Project

Tonight in our tech class we were asked to research Genius Hour. After looking at YouTube videos and different websites I became inspired to think of a question for my own Genius Hour project. It can be very overwhelming trying to think of one thing you are passionate about or one thing that you want to explore deeper. I was bombarded with many ideas having to do with my personal interests as well as things I am interested in relation to education. Then I thought why not explore something that I am personally interested in and that relates to education!?

So, for my Genius Hour I will be looking into answering the question: How can I incorporate yoga into my everyday classroom routine?

In the last few years I have fallen in love with yoga. I practiced Moksha Hot Yoga and really enjoyed the different types of classes that were offered (flow, stretch and unwind or with music) and how relaxed and refreshed I felt after each class. Not only is yoga physically demanding, requiring balance, breathing and coordination, it is also mentally demanding. I found the teachers challenging me to forget about my life outside of the studio and focus on the moment I was experiencing in the class. Allowing myself to let go of the stress or worries I had about my day really helped me to enjoy my yoga practice even more. When I was done my class I found myself ready to conquer the rest of my day with a positive attitude.

Caitlin Boyle. September 23, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/yoga-for-kids#3

I think the benefits of yoga and meditation are so great that I want to incorporate it into my classroom routine. Yoga is a part of the new Physical Education and Health curriculum but I don't think yoga and meditation only have to be used in Physical Education class. I want to incorporate even small amounts of yoga into my classroom everyday. I believe that this will help my students learn how to regulate themselves and give them a chance to relax and refresh during the day to help them keep going.

I hope that through my Genius Hour exploration I will be able to find practical ways to use yoga in my own classroom.