Genius Hour Week 3- Elevator Pitch

This past week has been emotionally intense and working on my Genius Hour project has provided a dedicated “me” time. Last week I started some new routines: exercise, journaling, and decluttering at the end of the day. I’m proud to have stuck with them and realize that they are helping when coping with stress. When reflecting on what I wanted my Genius Hour to be I think I have come to the realization that I wanted to find a new purpose, a calmer or more centered me, and to create healthier routines. Last week I wanted to add some new routines: Practice piano more frequently by recording my practices and sharing them with my teacher for virtual feedback. Read Mallika Chopra’s book Living with Intent. Explore the app Insight Timer for guided meditations.

Quick updates; I managed to practice piano a bit more...here is a sample of Greensleeves (still need to practice more to not rush through some of the measures). While it feels really odd not to have immediate feedback and for all I know I’m playing the piece totally wrong I find a sense of calmness in the repetition of practicing a piece over and over. I had installed the Insight Timer app a while back but it always seemed I didn’t have enough time...or I didn't make the time. This week while I walked I listened to some of their guided meditations and listened to their music playlists when doing homework. I found that I like their playlists but wished they would be a bit “faster” for walking. A friend has shared that Headspace, another app has “walking mediations”. However, there are no free options. I didn’t manage to read Living with Intent. Overall I feel that I have identified things that at the beginning of this project I was unsure of and that by sticking to routines I’m able to better be present in the moment.  

Genius Hour Week 2- Routines

This past week I read the first chapters of The Happiness Project because even though the months of April & May were the ones that had caught my attention and got me interested in exploring this whole idea I realized I needed to figure how the author had decided to pursue this project. I need to figure out why I was drawn towards this idea myself. Each chapter (month) gave me some ideas: Identify what is bothering you Break down big issues into smaller items you can work on Take care of your physical body if you want to take care of your emotional body Stop complaining Ask for help Work smarter Create routines… Like most everyone, the global pandemic and the events of last week has taken a toll on my overall sense of well being, energy, and patience. I realized that little things have been “setting me off” but truly it’s not the little things but the larger issues that I have been ignoring. I identified that being short-tempered or aggravated with my children was one of the issues bothering me, feeling disconnected from those I love, feeling tired and unmotivated, and lacking a purpose or goal. So what can I do? Create smaller tasks that can help me avoid feeling like I have no control over what is happening around me. Exercise, eat healthier, get more sleep. Delegate housework...and let it go. Create my own routines… I realized that I liked my routines and schedule prior to the shelter in place orders, even though there were some issues and I’m sure I was short-tempered at moments, I felt there was a sense of control that now seemed lost. So I decided to revisit my days and figure out how I can create “routines” that will allow me to regain “control” at the same time some of these routines will help me feel more energized, calmed, and focused. So here are a few of the routines I have created for myself: Exercise: I love running, but injuries are preventing me from becoming a better runner. Instead of getting frustrated or discouraged, I have decided to incorporate yoga into my routine- 2 days a week- to help with flexibility which will help my injuries.

Walking is another option that I can do with a friend (maintaining social distancing) this will help both physically and give me a sense of connection. I can also walk with my son and our dog and it will give us time without distractions.

Journaling: I have started writing for 5 minutes every day. It is a kind of “freewriting” to just empty my mind and practice gratitude.

Clutter bothers me and makes me feel I don’t have a sense of control. One of Gretchen Rubin’s suggestions was to take 5 minutes every night before going to bed to do a quick “clean up” and pick up things so in the morning there is a clean start to the day. These are 3 of the routines I have started following and while it is too soon to really know if they are making a difference I do feel that I have a better sense of control over my days and I feel more energized. This week I want to explore three additional resources: Practice piano more frequently by recording my practices and sharing them with my teacher for virtual feedback. Read Mallika Chopra’s book Living with Intent. Explore the app Insight Timer for guided meditations.

Genius Project-Week 1

This project came into my life at the right time.  I have been feeling very unmotivated to learn anything new or to pursue any new or old passions. A few things I have been passionate about over the last year have been 1) learning to play piano, 2) learning Italian, 3) running a marathon.

A few years ago I inherited a piano and decided to step out of my comfort zone and take lessons as an adult. I have been taking lessons for almost a year and can play a few songs.  Since March I haven’t been able to meet with my teacher and my practice time has gone down significantly.  Last week I decided to record myself and send it to my teacher. She was delighted and has started sending me her own recordings so I keep practicing. However, I have decided that while I will keep practicing I’m not going to focus on this passion for my genius hour project.

Learning Italian is something that I started almost 5 years ago, kind of just for fun and because it is very similar to Spanish.  I have been using Duolingo however when life got busy with work and graduate school I kind of abandoned it. I considered going back to it for my genius hour project but after going through Duolingo, browsing through some of the books I purchased, and watching some YouTube videos I didn’t feel like I was fully committed to investing the time and energy to make this my project.

Running has been a way to manage stress and anxiety in my life. It allows me to have “me time” and afterward I always feel better.  Last year I went out of my comfort zone and joined a local running group, trained over the summer, and ran my first half marathon.  My goal was to run a marathon later this fall, however, that might not be an option with limited races available and a recurring injury. 

Like many of you, I have been remote teaching for the last few months, while at the same time managing my kids' e-learning and daily life. While I have tried to be patient now and then I have found myself stressed out. My son pointed out that I was working too much and not enjoying the moment. I have forgotten how to have fun and “lighten up”.  As I was reflecting on what I would like to pursue, what I would like to learn more about for my project I was browsing my bookshelves and saw a book I bought a while back The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

In her book, Gretchen tackles a subject or topic every month with the goal of creating her “own happiness”. As I was browsing through the different chapters I came across April: Lighten Up- Parenthood, May: Be Serious About Play- Leisure and thought this has the potential to be a great genius hour project.  So I’m going to pursue the idea of creating my “own happiness project” using her book and other books I have available as well as online resources.  Let's ignite some fun learning!

EEND676 Reflection

The timing for this class couldn't have been better and what a plethora of resources to take advantage of.  My first two classes on this program have focused on multimedia and collaborative tools. While I will be able to utilize some of these tools with the different classes I work with I have learned as much from reading how my classmates implement these tools with their classes. 

As we are planning a return to our students and schools leveraging tools that enable collaboration remotely and offer different learning methods & options for each learner I know I'll go back to the ideas and tools I have learned about during this class.

Reflection

This is the first course I completed within this program and I really liked having a chance to explore different multimedia tools as it can feel overwhelming to have many options. The structure of the course allowed me to dive in and explore tools in depth. 

The fact that we had a range of grade levels and experiences also helped me envision how I could utilize different tools with different subjects and students.

 

677-Multimedia Tools

Hello

As this course comes to an end I am reflecting on all l I have learned about "creative tools" that can help me engage with my students, pre-assess their knowledge, conduct quick formative assessments, and share information with not just my students, but with staff and parents.

I shared four tools I have used over the last 8 weeks. Adobe Spark has become one of my favorite tools to create graphic flyers, short videos for book talks and trailers, and webpages.  WeVideo is another tool I use frequently to create book trailers and/or digital stories.  Flipgrid was new to me but I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to use and how much fun students had using it. It allowed me to pre-assess their knowledge and even put a face to their names since it was my first time meeting this class.  A second Flipgrid allowed me to check on their understanding of the content away in a quick and fun way.

I shared Scrible a software we started using last year to annotate webpages and PDFs, create bibliographies, annotated citations, outline papers and much more.  It is relatively new software and while there are some aspects we would like to see improved the developers are super responsive to our feedback and continue to make the product better and better.

Check my "Creative Tools" page to see samples of these different tools.

Inma

Graphic Design- Discussion

We live in a visual world and learning to communicate and to learn by using images & visuals is a skill we all need.  Our students consume visual media daily, they communicate with each other via images (Snapchat, Insta, TikTok) and when given a chance to draw or doodle students tend to remember more information.  

I have collaborated with several teachers to create projects that combine research + visual literacy, for example, with social studies students selected a pre-colonial civilization and had to create a flyer with 3 unique elements from that culture. See a bad sample and a good sample.  With this activity students not only needed to complete research on 3 unique elements they had to figure out how to be selective with the information they were sharing since they had limited space. They had to find images that were appropriate and connected with their topics.  They had to use visual literacy and make sure they used fonts/colors that complemented each other. I have also used a combination of images & text to create book reviews. See Sample.  We have also done a quick lesson on using mindmaps to take notes. See How to Mindmap. See sample. 

Lately, I have been using Adobe Spark to create flyers using their templates because I’m normally not that creative but having something to react to is a great way to help me get started.