I always start my school day with a class meeting. I love my morning meeting time, especially because of all the "good news" I get to hear. I give my students a time where they can share one good thing or something they are excited about/looking forward to. Everyone gets a turn if he/she wants to share. This is an awesome time for me to get to know my students better, and for them to get to know one another a bit better. It is also the perfect time to practice whole body listening and being polite. I usually stop the person who is sharing and wait if there is someone who is talking. Then apologize to the student and let them continue. I also always choose my next "good news sharer" based on who was demonstrating wonderful whole body listening skills.
After this, I always go over the schedule and the objectives for the day. This gives the students an idea of what is coming up and when. I don't know about you, but I do a whole lot better when I know what is going to happen next. I like to know the schedule and keep track of where I am in the day. I just helps me function a little bit better, so I think providing and discussing the schedule helps the students as well.
I am thinking of adding something for my morning meeting in fourth grade. I have been reading about the benefits of yoga for children. The mental, emotional, and physical well-being of children can be positively influenced by the use of yoga. Because of this, I am wanting to try some yoga at the beginning of each day to start us all off on a good note. I am hoping that it will help to focus the students and get both sides of the brain connected and working. It would be nice to have a repertoire of yoga movements/poses to pull from, while most days still having a set routine. My plan as of now, is to start the year by teaching several poses or stretches to the kids, give it a name, and perhaps have a drawn symbol. Then, I will use those movements to create a routine that we will use for a couple of weeks. I will probably have to change it every few weeks so that the kids never get too bored with it. Anyway, this is my plan for now, and I'll let you know if I come up with any better ideas or changes. Once I get some yoga routines made or symbols for the movements, I might post them here or on my TpT store. Also, any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
FYI and Today's Workout
I just wanted to let everyone know that although I posted all of these workouts in one day, I did not do them all in one day. I have been trying them out over the past few days. :) I'm not that motivated!!!
Today, I wanted to focus more on strength and less on cardio. I started my workout with 5 times up and down the stairs in my house to warm up. I then took a brisk, short walk up and down a couple hills in my neighborhood (maybe a 5 to 10 minute walk).
When I got back, I did the following workout (I kind of just made it up after reading a few different ideas and watching some people at the gym):
20 Squat Sweeps
30 Lunges each leg (with five pound weights in each hand)
30 Calf Raises (with five pound weights in each hand)
1 minute Wall Sit
100 Jumping Jacks
1 minute Wall Sit
40 Squats with 20 pound weight
30 Lunges each let (with five pound weights in each hand)
30 Calf Raises (with five pound weights in each hand)
20 Squat Sweeps
Then I did a butt workout from this website.
(I used a 20 pound weight for the first exercise. If you go to the website, each picture will show you the move over and over again. Helpful!)
Cool down:
5 times up and down the stairs again.
Light Stretching.
Verdict: My legs were pretty tired during the wall sits, but it wasn't too difficult overall. The end was harder, and the 5 times up and down stairs at the end was a little difficult for my legs. Decent workout, but tomorrow I will be able to tell how much it worked out my thighs and butt compared to my usual gym leg workout of squats (115 pounds) and lunges.
Today, I wanted to focus more on strength and less on cardio. I started my workout with 5 times up and down the stairs in my house to warm up. I then took a brisk, short walk up and down a couple hills in my neighborhood (maybe a 5 to 10 minute walk).
When I got back, I did the following workout (I kind of just made it up after reading a few different ideas and watching some people at the gym):
20 Squat Sweeps
30 Lunges each leg (with five pound weights in each hand)
30 Calf Raises (with five pound weights in each hand)
1 minute Wall Sit
100 Jumping Jacks
1 minute Wall Sit
40 Squats with 20 pound weight
30 Lunges each let (with five pound weights in each hand)
30 Calf Raises (with five pound weights in each hand)
20 Squat Sweeps
Then I did a butt workout from this website.
(I used a 20 pound weight for the first exercise. If you go to the website, each picture will show you the move over and over again. Helpful!)
Cool down:
5 times up and down the stairs again.
Light Stretching.
Verdict: My legs were pretty tired during the wall sits, but it wasn't too difficult overall. The end was harder, and the 5 times up and down stairs at the end was a little difficult for my legs. Decent workout, but tomorrow I will be able to tell how much it worked out my thighs and butt compared to my usual gym leg workout of squats (115 pounds) and lunges.
Tabata?
Okay, Tabata is also very new to me. 4 minutes and that's it? I find that hard to believe. So I found one, and decided to give it a shot. The good thing is, it is only 4 minutes so if you don't like it, it isn't like you wasted your time.
Here is what I did:
Here is what I did:
Verdict: It was HARD. You push yourself so hard for the 20 seconds that it definitely gets your heart rate up pretty high. It was short, so it wasn't too painful. Do I think it burns as many calories as a 40 - 60 minute run??? Probably not, but I really wish it did. This would be a great morning workout!! I am not a doctor or a fitness expert, so honestly that is just a feeling guess that it isn't as effective as a long run. However, it would still definitely be a great workout for days when you are short on time (or oversleep!).
Anyone have any ideas/comments about Tabata? I am just learning so any help for advice would be greatly appreciated. :)
My First HIIT Workout
I have just starting learning about HIIT workouts. So far I have only tried one.
Here is the HIIT workout I tried at home. It is the HIIT workout designed by Jessica Smith. The site is extra helpful because it shows you how to do each exercise properly. This specific workout alternates between a minute of high intensity and two minutes of moderate intensity. With this kind of workout, it is suggested that you only do it a couple of times a week, or if you are in great shape three times a week.
5 minute warm up (I went for a short jog outside)
Interval:
1 minute lateral burpees
2 minutes jumping jacks
1 minute mountain climbers
2 minute high knee march
1 minute squat sweep
2 minute toe jacks
Repeat the interval set for a total of 2 or 3 times.
Cool down (I went for another short jog and then stretched)
This HIIT workout was more intense than I thought. It killed my shoulders and core while I was doing it. I really thought I would have no problem getting through the workout three times because I feel like I am in decent cardio shape. I have to admit, I only got through it twice. Each interval section is 9 minutes, so two times gives you 18 minutes and three gives you 27 minutes.
The ten minutes of warm up/cool down plus the 18 minutes of intervals seemed to be a decent workout for the morning. My whole body was sore by the evening (okay, shoulders, chest, back, hips, and core...close enough?). Does anyone have much experience or advice with HIIT workouts?
Here is the HIIT workout I tried at home. It is the HIIT workout designed by Jessica Smith. The site is extra helpful because it shows you how to do each exercise properly. This specific workout alternates between a minute of high intensity and two minutes of moderate intensity. With this kind of workout, it is suggested that you only do it a couple of times a week, or if you are in great shape three times a week.
Interval:
1 minute lateral burpees
2 minutes jumping jacks
1 minute mountain climbers
2 minute high knee march
1 minute squat sweep
2 minute toe jacks
Repeat the interval set for a total of 2 or 3 times.
Cool down (I went for another short jog and then stretched)
This HIIT workout was more intense than I thought. It killed my shoulders and core while I was doing it. I really thought I would have no problem getting through the workout three times because I feel like I am in decent cardio shape. I have to admit, I only got through it twice. Each interval section is 9 minutes, so two times gives you 18 minutes and three gives you 27 minutes.
The ten minutes of warm up/cool down plus the 18 minutes of intervals seemed to be a decent workout for the morning. My whole body was sore by the evening (okay, shoulders, chest, back, hips, and core...close enough?). Does anyone have much experience or advice with HIIT workouts?
Intense Running Workout
Here is a workout that is awesome and it is done within a half hour. However, you do need a treadmill, which for me means going to the gym. It is tough, but you feel awesome when you are done. (Sometimes I have to decline the incline for level 10 - it is really tough). The workout comes from pbfingers.com. I love this blog - if you haven't visited this site, you NEED to. Here she has a list of treadmill workouts for beginners and more advanced runners. Here is the workout I used from this website:
This one is really, really difficult and it will make you feel so proud of yourself if you do it. I am planning on doing it again tomorrow. Wahoo! It is also nice because you start out walking (although walking on 4 for me is hard because I have really short legs). Push yourself and give it a shot!!!
Welcome!
Summer is the best time of the year, and the worst time of the year. I love, love, love the weather and getting to sleep in. Getting a chance to get things done at my own pace is pretty awesome, too. However, I miss my job and spend most of my free time thinking about how I want my classroom to look, my schedule to flow, and my management plan. I have only taught for three years. My first two years were spent in second grade, and then I was moved to kindergarten. I loved both kindergarten and second grade (and my school!), but in March of this past year, my boyfriend of 5 years proposed. It was an awesome proposal - Meet the Parents style. He came into my school (some how everyone kept a secret), got me out of the room (with the help from some other teachers), gave each of my students a letter (or an exclamation point), and arranged them so it read "Marry Me Lee Ann!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I have never been so shocked in my life, and I thought it was going to be impossible for him to surprise me. I guess he showed me! Anyway, my fiance lives about two hours away and we decided that after four years of living apart we should live in the same city again. :) I started searching hard for jobs in his city and spent a lot of time driving around and personally handing my resumes to principals. I'm sure you all know how hard it is to get a teaching job right now! I was prepared to sub, work as an instructional assistant, or even work at Target. This wouldn't be my dream, but I would be with the person I love. I prayed and prayed and hoped that God would put me where he wanted me. About a month ago, I was hired as a fourth grade teacher at a school in town. I am so excited!
Now I am trying to build up my classroom library for upper level readers, learn about fourth grade curriculum, create my management plan, think about setting up my classroom (akawasting spending a TON of time on Pinterest), finish moving, and coming up with a good workout plan. I love teaching, but during the school year it demands a lot of time and energy. For the last three years, I would get up early, drive 45 minutes to work, work all day, stay late and plan/grade, drive 45 minutes back, and go straight to the gym before going home. That worked for me then because it was a small town and I didn't have too much else to do. However, now that I live in the same city as my fiance I would like to be able to spend more evening time with him and some of our friends that live here (while still spending enough time at school planning and grading). My goal for this year is to workout before I go to work. This is going to be difficult for me, so I want to have a plan that is going to allow me to be successful. I like to run, but I don't want to run in a dark neighborhood; most of the school year it will be dark at the time when I would be able to run. Also, I want to do some strength training. I could go to the gym, and that is still my backup plan; however, I have started looking into interval training (HIIT and some circuit training) that is time efficient and challenging. I'm going to try to figure something out to help me be successful, and hopefully this blog will help.
I am going to use this blog to work through the challenges of fitness, teaching, and life in general. I do know if anyone will find this interesting or helpful, but I am doing this for me. I hope others can find inspiration or at least can commiserate with me on this blog. This is my second attempt at a blog, and I hope it goes a little bit better than the last one. I'm going to try to do better!
I have never been so shocked in my life, and I thought it was going to be impossible for him to surprise me. I guess he showed me! Anyway, my fiance lives about two hours away and we decided that after four years of living apart we should live in the same city again. :) I started searching hard for jobs in his city and spent a lot of time driving around and personally handing my resumes to principals. I'm sure you all know how hard it is to get a teaching job right now! I was prepared to sub, work as an instructional assistant, or even work at Target. This wouldn't be my dream, but I would be with the person I love. I prayed and prayed and hoped that God would put me where he wanted me. About a month ago, I was hired as a fourth grade teacher at a school in town. I am so excited!
Now I am trying to build up my classroom library for upper level readers, learn about fourth grade curriculum, create my management plan, think about setting up my classroom (aka
I am going to use this blog to work through the challenges of fitness, teaching, and life in general. I do know if anyone will find this interesting or helpful, but I am doing this for me. I hope others can find inspiration or at least can commiserate with me on this blog. This is my second attempt at a blog, and I hope it goes a little bit better than the last one. I'm going to try to do better!
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