As the academic term in the Concurrent Program has become increasingly more demanding, Week 2 of my Genius Hour project has profoundly challenged me to improve my stress levels and wellbeing through fitness! If you are interested in unlocking the key strategies to achieving socio-emotional/ physical well-being, and everything fitness related, this post will be most enticing for you!
Buzz words that would best describe this most busy academic week: school practicum placement, pedagogy, weekly assignments, daily course tasks, stress, goal setting, motivation, resilience, and trying to maintain an effective equilibrium between my academics and social life. Completing my Genius Hour task this week was extremely rewarding, despite the heavy course work load, as I felt that I improved my mental health by implementing physical fitness in my daily routine.
Given the many fitness apps and resources available on the web, I initially found it overwhelming and quite challenging to hone in on one specific fitness resource to ensure consistency in my routine. Reflective practice shortly ensued thereafter, as I wondered which type of fitness regime would be most meaningful? Would I succeed in achieving this week's Genius Hour task?
After consulting some tips and suggestions from my peers, I was strongly encouraged to explore Tone It Up fitness. To my surprise, Tone It Up not only offers fitness regimes but other essential tools such as recipes, nutrition plans, apparel, accessories and everything lifestyle! For the purpose of my Genius Hour project, I referenced the Tone It Up Youtube channel to complete my series of workouts for Week 2.
When reflecting on my initial performance on this week's Genius Hour Task, I did not feel a sense of ease or confidence in implementing several of the workouts in my daily routine because of my constant preoccupation with school work. This preoccupation is an ongoing challenge and, as a result, I noticed that within the first few minutes of exercising, my mind began to wander and create a running record of my daily tasks and upcoming assignments that needed to be completed. In order to confront this impediment when exercising, I found that I needed to critically shift my mindset on an ongoing basis and encourage myself to succeed in completing the workouts to the best of my ability. My mindset was the most important lesson I acquired in my Genius Hour task this week because I did simply succumb to my initial hesitance and insecurities I felt earlier this week. Rather, I developed a growth mindset (Drake et al., 2014) by using self-direction to refocus and guide myself towards achieving my Genius Hour project goals.
One of the Tone It Up workouts that I very much enjoyed and will continue to implement in my practice is the Quick Metabolism-Boosting Workout because of the energetic hosts, upbeat music, and diverse exercises that targeted multiple muscle areas. In fact, I enjoyed this workout from the Tone It Up series so much so that I completed this workout three times this week. I strongly encourage you to attempt the routine and challenge yourself to maximize your workout regime, as desired!
Tone It Up. (2018). The Best Quick Metabolism-Boosting Workout- Pure Power! [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSQQ_PvR0Fw&feature=youtu.be
In preparation for next week, I will need to document my reflection on my Genius Hour task via journaling. One reflective question I have thus far, however, is how will I be able to best continue to integrate physical activity in my daily practice as I progress through the rest of the busy term? Will my academic thoughts and stressors overcome my desire to exercise? How will I continue to ensure that I shift my mindset? Moving forward, I must also continue to develop my growth mindset as I progress through my Genius Hour project to ensure I achieve my goals and challenge myself to succeed in ameliorating my mental health. As coined by Drake et al. (2014), students who possess growth mindsets believe they will improve with effort, perceive failure as temporary, and see obstacles in their pathways as excellent opportunities for learning.
Buzz words that would best describe this most busy academic week: school practicum placement, pedagogy, weekly assignments, daily course tasks, stress, goal setting, motivation, resilience, and trying to maintain an effective equilibrium between my academics and social life. Completing my Genius Hour task this week was extremely rewarding, despite the heavy course work load, as I felt that I improved my mental health by implementing physical fitness in my daily routine.
| Petrovic, M. (2018). Regular exercise boosts your productivity. Retrieved from https://medium.com/mop-developers/regular-exercise-boosts-your-productivity-d12381778615 |
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| Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.ca/ |
When reflecting on my initial performance on this week's Genius Hour Task, I did not feel a sense of ease or confidence in implementing several of the workouts in my daily routine because of my constant preoccupation with school work. This preoccupation is an ongoing challenge and, as a result, I noticed that within the first few minutes of exercising, my mind began to wander and create a running record of my daily tasks and upcoming assignments that needed to be completed. In order to confront this impediment when exercising, I found that I needed to critically shift my mindset on an ongoing basis and encourage myself to succeed in completing the workouts to the best of my ability. My mindset was the most important lesson I acquired in my Genius Hour task this week because I did simply succumb to my initial hesitance and insecurities I felt earlier this week. Rather, I developed a growth mindset (Drake et al., 2014) by using self-direction to refocus and guide myself towards achieving my Genius Hour project goals.
One of the Tone It Up workouts that I very much enjoyed and will continue to implement in my practice is the Quick Metabolism-Boosting Workout because of the energetic hosts, upbeat music, and diverse exercises that targeted multiple muscle areas. In fact, I enjoyed this workout from the Tone It Up series so much so that I completed this workout three times this week. I strongly encourage you to attempt the routine and challenge yourself to maximize your workout regime, as desired!
Tone It Up. (2018). The Best Quick Metabolism-Boosting Workout- Pure Power! [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSQQ_PvR0Fw&feature=youtu.be
Despite my initial challenges in completing the fitness exercises earlier this week, I am very content and feel a sense of achievement as I take the time to now reflect on my experience. I feel much more confident and comfortable with implementing Tone It Up workouts in my daily practice because of the sense of achievement I felt, and my overall improvement in physical and emotional mental health. These engaging workouts also allow me to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone and complete more challenging workout sessions.
In preparation for next week, I will need to document my reflection on my Genius Hour task via journaling. One reflective question I have thus far, however, is how will I be able to best continue to integrate physical activity in my daily practice as I progress through the rest of the busy term? Will my academic thoughts and stressors overcome my desire to exercise? How will I continue to ensure that I shift my mindset? Moving forward, I must also continue to develop my growth mindset as I progress through my Genius Hour project to ensure I achieve my goals and challenge myself to succeed in ameliorating my mental health. As coined by Drake et al. (2014), students who possess growth mindsets believe they will improve with effort, perceive failure as temporary, and see obstacles in their pathways as excellent opportunities for learning.
Genius Hour: Learning Object
I am very much enjoying the Genius Hour project thus far and have created a Genius Hour Learning Object (see the infographic below) using Canva, a graphic-design tool. Learning Objects, such as these, help facilitate learning across all subjects and content matter. After accessing this tool, I found Canva to be an excellent graphic-design tool to create engaging info-graphic Learning Objects in the classroom.
References
Drake, S.M., Reid, J.L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
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