Blissful Breathing

My Jing Recording

Here is an example of the Down Dog asana.

Very interesting

This is a great book that I read and would like to share with you. It is called a Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor her experience with dealing and living with the challenges of a stroke. Here is a review of the book enjoy

My first video cam

Photo sharing in the classroom

As I have been surfing through all the different sites some really great ones have come up that would be interesting to bring into the classroom for the students to explore. I’ve talked about before how the class time we have together is limited and most of them are just coming for the physical attributes of yoga. I love to talk about the roots of yoga, where it came from, who were the ancient teachers and gurus? What a great way to introduce this to them by having a picture of a few of the ancient teachers and information flashing up as they move from one asana to another as I talk and discuss the topics. One of the methods we bring into a yoga class is a theme or topic for each class. This would be a great opportunity to bring that aspect of yoga into the class and the students wouldn’t feel like they didn’t get a workout. Another example would be using photo sharing to study the incredible statues and shrines of the Hindu teachings. What a great learning tool to share the many stories and the history of these deities and this wonderful culture of India. Using the visual aid would bring it to a whole different level instead of trying to describe it to them from my focal point they could see it and understand it from there eyes.

Yahoo! 360

Yahoo 360

I couldn’t decide which one to do research on so I closed my eyes and put my finger on this site.
The target audience for this site started out as an invitation-only launch on March 29, 2005 and then by June 24 2005, it opened up to any Yahoo! user of the age of 18. Yahoo! 360 was used in U.S., Canada, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and Vietnam.
Yahoo! 360 started their launch March 2005 but didn’t start the full launch till June 24, 2005. By September 2007 the U.S. interest of the site dropped more than half it seemed to have more of a global draw to it. They officially shut the site down on July13, 2009. From what I’ve read they decided to no longer provide support for or perform bug fixes on Yahoo! 360 starting around 2007 because they had plans to abandon the site in 2008 and move to another experimental system. This might have had some impact on how their members felt and pushed them away from Yahoo! 360 and turned to other more stable sites that they would feel secure.
The Southeast Asian business took over Yahoo! 360 in May 2008 and created a new Vietnamese blogging application and called it Yahoo! 360 plus. This site is targeted mainly to the Vietnamese market one of them is Yahoo! Vietnam.
When it was targeted for the U.S. it sounded great, lot’s of features that would be very useful even integrating other Yahoo! services but, from what I read it didn’t seem like the structure of the business was that strong maybe not enough marketing skills or team work too wishy washy. My experience with social networking is very limited I only started a year ago with Facebook so as far as an example to share I really don’t have one.

Classroom 2.0

Reading and digesting what Steve Hargadon wrote, two of the topics that drew my attention.

Topic #2
"Topic or content maybe not as important as the act of engagement".
Diving into the topics to discuss really brings out the passion of what I love to talk and share about. I love getting prepared for the class that is ahead. Every time I open a book or go on line it opens up many of these little tidbits of awareness and knowledge that brings out the wonderful passion of teaching. My definition of the many opportunities that are open to share with the students are called the “nanny” just assisting us to bring our gifts of teaching to a new level. So, if things go south we sit up take a deep breath and say good notice.
Topic #4
"A network must fulfill some compelling needs". This is the challenge I have experienced being in this class creating the different windows of technology. I’m not saying that this is a bad challenge, it is using your creative juices to grab the attention of the student population that travels through the network that seems to be where this generation is at and keeps going on and on and on OH! I’m sorry I was taken into the many layers of the cyberspace. I’ve really enjoyed working on the blog and wiki because it has opened up a whole new way of bringing the practice of yoga to the students. After class there is always someone who is coming up and wanting to know more, I suggest for them to go on line and look into the many traditions of yoga. It will be such a rewarding feeling when I can suggest to go to my blog or wiki for this information or the demonstrations of what they have asked or questioned in class and also, to contribute to the class with how they felt with their experience practicing yoga and also, their knowingness of yoga. I love to hear what they have to say before and during class.

Using a Wiki in the Classroom

I’m sitting at my computer, just adding the final touches to the wiki that I designed all by myself (and thank you Todd for the help to make this possible). This really opened my eyes as to how I could use this tool in the classroom. I have mentioned that the classes are too short teaching a yoga class. Using this wiki tool would take the class to the next level of learning, by lengthening the class and also, keeping them interested on the subject outside of the classroom. I’m really encouraging them to look deeper into the other limbs of the practice of yoga by reading and researching on the internet, so this would help them to find this information on the wiki. I have a section on philosophy and spirituality this would be a great way to have them engage with finding different translation on the yoga sutras. When I was in school for my master in yoga one of the homework projects that we had to do was to write down as many translations on the yoga sutras. By writing the many different translations down really helped me to comprehend what the meanings of each of the sutras from every master or teacher that expressed their explanations. The other section on asanas this would be helpful by the demonstrations on the poses that were challenging or to refresh their memory. Using a wiki they can look it up and research with either books or on line and share their understanding with everyone or what they would like to share if they found something of interest.

My wiki space where you can find more information:

http://yogaexperience.wikispaces.com/

Instructional Design Models

This assignment has been very challenging this is like a foreign language to me. From what I have researched and sifted through the two models that I looked at were Dick and Carey System and Gagne System. The two are similar in that they both give stimulation on a visual and also engaging in interaction of questions that the learner has to participate in the solution. These models could be very helpful with the students who are a little slower in reading and involving themselves in the classroom with the visual approach.
As I look at the two on how they differ I feel that Dick and Carey could be a little more rigid and lengthy for me to use in the classes I teach. The Gagne System seems more interactive with the learner and more to the point.
Being in the Physical Education Department in the college students are coming to work out. I would love to create a blog to where I could post information that they don’t have the opportunity to experience in the little time we have together twice a week for 50 minutes. The blog would have subjects of the philosophy of yoga, giving visual examples for the asanas with pod cast, using jing for vocal pronunciation of the sankrit pronunciation for the asanas, breath work and for special mantras that can be put to song. Some of the student questions that come up in class “Is how can I remember all that we learn in class?” visual and vocal would be a glorious asset to take their yoga practice outside the classroom. This week just to keep them interested and informed outside the class I’m bringing in my collection of the Yoga Journal Magazine (I have a lot of them) this magazine is full of information that I feel they would truly benefit from. They can take a few home when they are done they will bring them back and share through the class. Sure would be nice to just post on a blog with the information of this magazine and the many windows filled with incredible knowledge and the philosophy of yoga that is just at our finger tips.

New Pedagogy

Reading through Will Richardson’s blog really made me think about where technology is taking education to the children today. He has wonderful ideas how this can be brought to all of our teacher’s and schools in this lifetime.
EduCon 2.2
His ideas on crowdsourcing to serve as a conversation starter for schools to tackle questions that arise in the planning for the change process. That would be a great asset to many of us that are not up on all of the technology that can be very overwhelming. I’m sure finding that out being in this class. I like the phrase that he said was used in this conference “Stop complaining. Be the change. Love your students and do well by them. If that includes technology so be it”. Okay I’m getting it now!

No ChoiceI agree on what he says that the teaching technology will be a huge part of children’s learning lives in the classroom and outside of the classroom. It’s true if you look around you every child has some device of technology in their hands wherever they are. The report from the Kaiser Foundation states that children from 8-18 years of age devote an average of 7 ½ hours a day to using entertainment media and in that time they are multi tasking using more than one medium at a time because of that they are actually learning while they are exploring the media content. They are immersed at least 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media in those 7 ½ hours. That’s a great effect on the way they see the world and how they learn from the media. The ages they did the research on from 8-18 could of included even the younger ages. I gave to my 2 year old grandson a great learning tool that you connect to the T.V. and when I went to visit, he was showing me how to do it. I have to get him the next level because he’s ready. I agree to a point what Will Richardson comments about most schools are making a bad choice by not immersing their students into these on line learning environments if it is the reason of not willing to change. But, with the lack of funding for the schools that definitely has an impact on the willingness for schools to make that change

My philosophy on teaching yoga to the students is to always move from your heart space and breathe, allowing the mind to rest and renew while being in their yoga practice. I offer them the principles and practices of the 5000 year old philosophy of healing and inner development of Hatha yoga, through understanding basic asanas correctly and safely, explaining the basic theory, introduce the Sanskrit names for each of the asanas, breathing techniques, meditation, to have them experience the benefits of a yoga practice as it relates to other physical activities in their daily lives. I will invite questions and ideas to encourage them to deepen their studies and practice. I love to see the change in the students as they walk out of the class having more self esteem and feeling good about them self. It can be very challenging and frustrating to a student in the classroom, so I bring in a lot of humor and show them it is okay to laugh and not to be so serious and critical about them self and life. I love to say to the students, “Let your inner child out be playful with yourself and life”.
I was reading in a book called Yoga Gems and found this passage by Swami Chetananada, The Dual Purpose of the Teacher
The role of the teacher is basically twofold: to arouse the deepest creative power of Life present within you; then, to support you as this power unfolds. As this happens, the creative power of Life makes you aware of the intimate inter-relationship of all spirit and matter, and of the oneness of all spirit. Supported by the teacher, you enter into an experience of union not only with the teacher, but also with that teacher in whom your own teacher is unified, and with the Teacher from whom all things have come forth….

My first blog post

Wow, lot's to learn need some deep breathing to clear my mind.