Final Post

1) Participation-
Throughout the whole semester, I brought gym strip, runners, and had my hair tied up. My gym strip consists of either a pair of shorts or pants and a t-shirt or tank top. . Although I am NOT a sporty person, I do try new things. For example, Gaby Yulia and I would choose sports and games like ultimate outside during choice days. I never had to be reminded by the teacher to participate during gym class. However once during the Buddy day Yulia Gaby and I were reminded to do better and explain the game to the kids. After the talk we had with mr. Neufeld I realized the mistakes that we made and tried to keep that in mind during the next class.
I would give myself a 23/ 25 in this category.

2) Social Responsibility and Contribution to the Class-
At the beginning of the year I noticed that we were all awkward and the class didn't talk to each other. so, I tried to encourage people starting at the middle of the year. I would say good job or you're doing well because I know I get encouraged when people talk to me. I think that was how I expressed my physical presence so I would be benefiting the class instead of not participating because it wasn't fun. I often help get the equipment that we will need at the beginning of the class and also help bring back the cones and jerseys without being asked to. Towards spring our class was more comfortable with each other and I noticed that we were all becoming louder and louder which didn't help during one game of lacrosse. Chris and Miguel we're supposed to be the leaders but everyone started yelling so I tried to benefit the class by not speaking and focusing on the two boys. once I realized what was happening it made me reflect on the days I would contribute to the noise so I learned to only take initiative if the class is lacking leadership. It is always harder to work with the class with many people who have a lot of energy but once we learn to balance the energy that is what we have the most successful and fun class.
I give myself a 22/25.

3)Healthy Living -

My goal starting this year was to eat healthy, and train myself to workout and run, so I will be set to be off on my own next year. I am satisfied with the progress I made working toward the goal. I wouldn't say I met the goal because its something that I must work on religiously and get better at it for my whole life. I am confident that I can be fit and healthy on my own. At the beginning of my P.E life in grade 8, I found myself getting 6-7 on the beep test. As I went on, I noticed that I actually enjoyed running, which led me to training outside of school. The last time I did the beep test, I got 10.1. I am EXTREMELY happy with my fitness, but I hope to improve over next year. I also workout at home, I got a membership to the YMCA, meditate and joined a yoga class in the winter time. I did have bad knees and ankles on one of my leg which I noticed and went to the doctor for. He told me to stop running for a while, and I took a break for 2 weeks, and started running right after that. To prevent that from happening again, I am conscious of not landing too hard on one leg and stretching right afterwards. I also started running with Gaby in the morning at 7a.m. so we wouldn't have to run in the blazing heat in the afternoon. AND I've signed up for the color run to have fun when running. This year, I started to notice the things I was putting into my body. Some days I would eat very little veggies and fruits, which made me constipated and that annoyed me a lot. So, now I eat salad as part of my lunch, and fruits afterschool.

My goal for the future is to run a marathon.

I give myself 25/25 in this section.

4) Digital Portfolio-

Over all, I worked pretty hard on my blog. At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to start blogging more often. To make myself do so, I chose to make my blog look nice, therefore, making me want to look at it all the time. I post more of what I do outside of class because in class, I can tell how I'm doing by the reactions of others (like how my positiveness affects the class) but when doing something outside of school, its hard to get a feedback. So, if I can take time to reflect what I do at home, I know how hard I'm working by the progress I make. I have above 30 posts this year, and 100 posts in total, ( from gr8-10!) and I am so proud of what I can do now compared to gr8. I always link the videos of the workouts I do, and have evidence of these workouts with pictures! I really enjoyed looking at other people's blogs because it taught me the things I should add on to my blog.

After a while, I started making my blog more like a scrapbook then just paragraphs for school because it makes things more interesting & it adds depth by adding evidence to the things I say.

Here are the links to the required posts...

• weight room
• fitness
• games
• diet & meals
• things outside of school
• post about the quality of my blog
• fitness scores
• mid term

I would give myself a 22/25 in this category.

With the supporting ideas above I should get 93/100!
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I am so thankful for the class and Mr. Neufeld! I hope to be in a gym class again will many for you guys in grade 12!

Final Beep Test

So, Gaby and I completed the final beep test today. I got I THINK 9.5 because the walls were still down so I couldn't actually see. The thing about me is that I am so competitive, so I tried to just get more than Gaby. Since the beginning of the year, I've always tried to beat their score ahaha. This time I did the beep test, I felt so dizzy and nauseous afterwards... It took me like the whole 4th blog to recover. Maybe I was hungry? Also, my feet felt like it was pounding!

Here are the results:
Beep test: 9.5
Plank: 1 m 36 s
Push ups: 12
Wall touch: 1 LOL
(I couldn't do the vertical, balance boards, nor the T-test.)

Overall, I am very proud that I met my goal of getting above 9! During the summer I will try to focus on strength training so I will be able to do more push ups and hold a plank for longer.

OMG I missed the beep test... BUT I helped some birds!

So today, we were supposed to do our final beep test. We ended up helping some birds near my house by feeding it and giving water. To make up for the beep test, I worked out my legs, and I WILL be doing one next week, I think!
These are the videos that my cousin and I did:

After the ab video, I learned that "isolating" your muscle by exhaling during the painful parts (ex. exhale when you come up from a sit up instead of exhaling down) makes the workout much more effective. I always love ab workouts because even though your stomach burns, the pain is pleasurable? When compared to other muscles of course...No one would ever choose to be in this kind of pain lol.There was a weird ab exercise where you face one side and lift your upper body that I really liked because most exercises make me feel like im straining my neck but this one wasn't hurting my neck at all.  Anyways, heres an after workout selfie:

Parent Project: Mid-Term

DIGITAL PORTFOLIO: 

1) Have you read your son/daughters blog? 
Yes Was there anything that surprised you or stood out immediately? Yes. Everything, because i didnt know that she was really passionate about wellness.

What was your favourite part about reading his/her reflections? The part when she talks about having fun while working out.

What did you learn about your son/daughter that you didn't know before reading the blog? When she talked about her buddy. Because she rarely liked children so i was surprised that she was having fun.

What part of your child's growth/personality has been reaffirmed for you? That she puts her heart and effort in what she does.

What is missing in the blog that you think s/he should include for the teacher or peers? nothing. I couldnt ask for more.

If you were evaluating him/her on his/her blogging efforts, what would you say? I like her writing style and i was impressed that she took time to design her page. 

What would you give him/her out of 25? How did you come up with that number? 30 because shes my kid, i could never be more proud. 

HEALTHY LIVING:

2) What do you notice about your child's health choices outside of school? She knows more about eating healthy compared to me. So i couldnt complain.

What activity and or diet choices does s/he make on their own? actually everything. We always practise independence at home and shes doing really great.

What exercise/eating choices are encouraged buy the family/household? eat your vegetables. No drinking pop unless its someones birthday.

Did you see any evidence of this in his/her blog? yes.

What is missing that should be included? i think its more than enough.

What improvements do you think your child could/should make to further his/her understanding and participation in his/her own health? health is wealth and im pretty sure she knows that. 

What things can you as parent do to push this learning/practice? Encourage her that shes doing well and support her on her future endeavors.

If you were to evaluate your son/daughter on their progress towards personal healthy life choices what would you say? Youre on the right tract

What mark would you give them out of 25 for his/her efforts and demonstration of those efforts in the blog? How did you come up with that number? 30. Again im more than impressed.

Dance Week

During dance week, our class got to do jazz and bhangra. Surprisingly, I really liked jazz. It was fun because it wasnt too difficult and Gaby, Yulia, Nicole and I had so much fun! Like always, we enjoyed bhangra. The slow one confused me but the fast one was easy to remember. We probably looked so funny doing it but I liked how everyone looked so happy doing it!!

Sun Run

Yaaaay Gaby and I completed the Sun Run!!!! We first took the skytrain early in the morning and we saw a lot of sun runners come in as we got closer to granville station. It was so fun when we got there because there were bands playing and we did a countdown when we started which was inaccurate because it took so long to actually get to the point where you can start jogging. During the run, it was crowded and the heat made it feel like it was longer than it actually was. Once we finished at the time of 1 hour and 4 minutes, we got to eat and drink food at b.c place. We ended up lining so many times to get free chocolate milk ahahaha. It was a great experience and im excited to do other public runs!

April 13 - Zumba

Today for gym, it was choice day, and Gaby, Yulia and I wanted to do zumba. We invited Nicole and Pallvi to join us! Trying to stream the video was a hassle, but once we started it was so much fun... and CONFUSING hah. The steps were so fast and it was hard to follow but we tried our best and ended up being so hot and a tad bit sweaty. It was like last year, where our gang would just do our own thing and have a lot of fun. It was a bit embarrassing because of the upper class men in the weight room, but I tried my best to ignore them and focus on what we were doing. It is sometimes difficult to do things when you're intimidated, but I think being with positive people (especially Nicole) helps with getting over that feeling. I think it would be a great idea for the class to do zumba together in the small gym, and be more comfortable with each other. Doing something out of the box, like zumba, that includes a lot of uncomfortable moves will be great for our class because we can see each other's goofy side and loosen up!

April 7 - Buddies

The last time our class went to Cambridge, we taught the first graders how to throw underhand. During that class, I had some difficulties trying to get my buddy to step with the opposite leg than the hand he was using to throw. I noticed that he got more confident as I encouraged and complimented him. However, with his new found confidence, he also wanted to show off how far he is able to throw the tennis ball... This lead to him throwing overhand (baseball style), and that made it hard for me to make him practice his underhand throws. After a while, he listened and threw properly, and it was great. While we played the game where he would throw into the circle, he had a hard time not throwing as hard and aim for the ball. I noticed that he was frustrated as all his friends were able to move onto the levels before him. I tried to have a small conversation with him and tell him that he was very close to making it into the circle and if he threw a little lighter, he can totally do it. Eventually, he was able to get it inside the circle, and he was so excited and we sprinted to the next level. It was a lot of fun seeing him focused and happy at the end of class!

March 24 - Interim

To start off, I haven't been on my blog as often as I should be. I always plan to blog but I end up forgetting all the time. However, to change that, I decided to write my blogs in the morning while I eat breakfast because I wouldn't be wasting any time, and it will force myself to finish it before school starts.

I have been keeping active during spring break, which I explained in my last post here. I enjoyed going on long walks because time passed by so quickly that way and I would just have time to reflect and think about my life (instead of wasting water in the shower). I am also proud that I got myself to go running. Not a lot, but better than not going at all.

I am so excited to start this term because our class has gotten to know everyone, and we are all in the comfort zone. Of course, we are not the best class yet, but we have this term to make that happen!

March 13 - Spring Break

During spring break, I have been going on long walks with my dogs, and running on sunny days. When I ran for the first time during the spring break, I couldn't believe how bad my time was! Here's the result of that run:

As I kept on running the next days, I was able to get to my goal pace, 10 min/mile.
I noticed that when I was running around the park, I was able to get faster then 10 min, because there are not uphills or downhills so I wanted to try running with different levels to see how fast I ran. I was still able to go faster than 10 min/mile, which I was so happy about. However, the day after spring break when we played the chariot game in class, Gaby and I were so tired during the run. We noticed that our legs were stiff ( maybe from the game) and we were sweating quite a lot. But anyways, I'm planning to go running more often since the sun run is coming up! Also, Gaby and I are planning on doing The Color Run! Here are all the results to my runs during spring break!

Note: My healthy eating didn't do so well during spring break. My cousins from the states came over, and we ended up buying more snacks, that I just kept eating when I was bored. BUT I didn't drink any pop or juice :)

February 26 - Hair Tie Football & Buddies

The buddy program has been so much fun! When I first met my buddy, we were wearing matching clothes and he was so excited! He was wondering if our shirts were matching so he looked at his shirt that had the hulk on it and I asked him if he liked the hulk and he said he didn't like him! I thought that was so funny. As he and I talked during the stretches, he was telling how he joined gymnastics before and he quit because he thought he was so flexible but turns out he wasn't! LOL! Anyways, I didn't think I would have so much fun doing short gym classes with our buddies but I was completely wrong. Its actually amusing to see how they enjoy the 35 minute classes and don't waste any time, and makes the most out of all the games we play. I'm so excited to see my buddy again!

On Thursday, we went outside to play a game with a hair tie. Its basically like flag football but with a hair tie instead of an actual football. It was Blue Baluga Whales v.s. The Wildcats! I was in the BBW team and the game was so much fun to play. You had to make strategies and run a lot. I hope to play it again with the other class too!

February 9 - This Week's Update

This week I basically worked out at home, for 45 min each day. For gym class, we did the pond relay! I was in a group with Yulia, Gaby, and Hardil :) It was the first time doing a fitness with Hardil and I think it went well. Unlike the 1 min run, 1 minute walk, this workout required you to run intensely around the pond. Every time I get to the end I feel so tired and I am not able to speak for another minute. On the last minute, Gaby, Yulia and I ran around the pond and that was hard because I couldn't slow down and had to keep up the exact same pace as them.

For the workouts I did at home, I basically did 45 minute videos on youtube by FitnessBlender and BeFit. I found those two to be as tiring as insanity. Here are the videos:

Since my cousins were staying over at my house, Gaby and I had to workout in the garage which was kinda hard because rocks would go into your hands. Also, I made one of my cousins start to workout with me as well! On Saturday, I went for a run to the shopping plaza near my house to go get starbucks. I went with my uncle and my cousins. Since my uncle is in the army, his stamina and running pace was waaay up there! It was hard to keep up with him but I was so proud that I was able to do so.

January 28 - Mid Term Reflection

1) Since the start of this year, I have brought my gym strip, including runners, and had my hair tied up, ready to participate in the activity of the day. I always come with a bright attitude, because I learned that the positive attitude you put out, will affect the way that day will go. I put my best effort into both fitness days and gym days. During choice, I pick an activity that I know I will actually want to do like Capture the Flag, and not just sit out for the majority of the time. On fitness days, I surround my self with people I know will motivate me and won't hold me back from doing my best. I struggle more with choice days, rather than fitness, or the times we have an activity the whole class has to do. I don't enjoy playing sports like basketball, and volleyball, so I always choose to do activities such as handball, and anything you can do outside.

2) I think I haven't contributed as much as I did last year, mostly because I don't know many of the people in my class. I do however, try to always be positive, especially fitness days, because I know  that a lot of people don't enjoy it as much. I recently played Capture the Flag with a couple of people from our class (like 8 people), and that helped me to be more comfortable around them. I will definitely try to get to know more people in our class the next semester, which will be so much easier in the spring, when the we can play as a class. 

3) I love fitness days. I have always enjoyed doing all the activities because it's not like sports where you win or lose. During fitness, if you work hard, you will always win, because you get stronger mentally, and physically. I enjoy doing the community run, because I get to talk to Yulia and Gaby, compared to fitness days like locomotion, where it is almost impossible to talk and breathe at the same time. For the rest of the year, I still don't have a specific goal. But, I want to be able to work hard, each day, and learn to put up with the uncomfortable feeling during fitness, so I have enough self control to do it myself, once I'm not in P.E 10 anymore.

4) To me, leadership means motivating the class to make improvements. For example, a leader doesn't always have to be the one holding the whistle, but can also be the person who listens attentively, making it easier for the class to get things done faster. I don't think there is a specific person in the class who is a leader, but everyone in our class has the potential to be a great leader. 

5) I would like to talk and get to know more people in our class. I am most proud of the things I do outside of gym, like doing insanity, and running.

For these reasons, I think I deserve an A (90%)

January 19 - What is Wrong with my Ankles?

On Monday, Gaby and I went out to run 3 miles, just like we planned. Our route was doing the 2 community runs one after the other. I remember it being so dark while we were running, and it was also very cold, which made it difficult to breathe at times. Here's the result:

On Tuesday, we did 2 miles, with the community run. I noticed that this run was really hard on my legs and my lungs. It could have been the weather, but I'm not sure. Also, at the end of the run, I noticed that my left ankle started to hurt badly. I thought the pain would go away, but it's Monday of the following week, and I still can't put my weight on my left feet so I have to improperly walk on my right side of my foot, or tip toe. I ended up not doing any physical activities for the rest of the week to insure that I won't make my ankle any worse. I feel a bit bad about just leaving Gaby, but I hope to get back into things once my ankle heals. Here's the result:

I also have been thinking about changing the running table, into doing one short and fast run, and one long run, and doing exercises in between the other days for strength and cross training. I don't want to over run and get an injury, or make my knees go bad like I did last summer. I was thinking about doing Kayla Itsines's BBG, which consists of legs, arms, abs, and cardio workouts. I think this way, I can still exercise every day (with 2 rest days) and maintain strong knees, and ankles.

This week, I've been having peanut butter on bread, and Caesar salad for lunch. Here's a picture of one of my lunches. I thought it consisted a balance of all the food groups and I was pretty proud of myself. I put pumpkin seeds, bacon, and mixed veggies in my salad, and Caesar dressing. I had one slice of bread with peanut butter, and a juice box!

January 12 - Week 1 ish

Gaby and I signed up for the Vancouver Sun Run and we decided to train from this week until the second week of April. Here's a picture of our training!

We went running all week, and on Wednesday, we did insanity with my cousin! Since it was raining hard on Thursday, we decided to just do a workout and stretch because of how tired we were from fitness. For fitness, we did this awesome poker game which was so fun to do! Gaby, Yulia, and I were in a team, so we had to do more exercises compared to the team with 4 people. I had so much fun doing fitness and actually having motivation to do all the exercises (we're so competitive lol).

Although we didn't get a good hand on any of the games, it was a blast and I hope to do it again!

Where is Yulia when we're taking these pics????

For Friday, we ran 3 miles, which was tiring considering that our legs were dying from the day before! My phone decided to not record our run because it hates me. One thing I noticed was that when my legs are in pain from doing something the day before, it goes away while I run, but it returns right afterwards! 

On Saturday, Gaby and I ran 6 miles in about an hour and 10 min! We haven't ran long distances since summer but it was totally fun! At the pace we we're supposed to go at according to the plan, we were able to talk to each other just fine and forget that we were even running! Here's the result from this run:

Also, I've been researching healthy eating for my Planning 10 project, and I started eating more fruits and veggies!

Here are some examples:

This was my breakfast. I had a banana&strawberry smoothie!

After insanity, Aubrey and I were starving and we ate oranges, apples, and melons!

After school, I had kale salad and water as a snack before going out for a run!

My dad noticed how much salad I was eating and decided to buy more!

I don't know if I like this style of blogging where I would sum up my week in one post. I'll be trying it for the next few weeks and if I like it, I guess I'll stick with it!

January 11 - This is #Insanity

My cousin and I planned to go for a run today, but since it was too cold outside, we ended up working out at home. We did a cardio insanity video and stretched for 20min aafterwards. In the video we did, I really hated the power jumps and the frog jumps. But I really enjoyed when the video ended LOL. But anyways, I actually think I did pretty well today because I didn't stop or feel the need to modify any exercises (not counting when I slowed down). Anyways, here's the after workout selfie!

January 9 - I Can't Move

I'm writing this on a Saturday night, still very sore from yesterday! The gym block did Insanity for fitness and I can't believe how intense it was! I remember doing it last year but I didn't think it was that hard.. That means I either worked very hard, or I'm just very out of shape. Either way, I am feeling a lot of pain in my calves, my lower back, and my thighs. What I hated most was the burpie ish exercise where you drop and do 4 push ups, then mountain bikers, then back up again to raise your hand up to the ceiling. Also, I didn't like that jumping thing where you would be in a plank and jump both legs close you your hand, then back into a plank position. Even though I was wearing black, my sweat was visible at the front from wiping my face, and on my back. However, I feel like I became stronger(mentally) because I suffered through the video. Anyways, after school, I ate a salad which was really yummy! Gotta get my healthy eating back after eating junk all throughout winter break!

January 8 - Foggy Day

Today, I went for a run again with Gaby and my cousin. I felt like we were going slowet, but actually, we improved by 10 seconds. I also felt more tired when I started. When I got to the last hill I felt like my body was trying to stop! A great thing about having a partner is that you're always trying to keep up with them so I didn't ever think to stop. Also, I noticed that after my run, my thighs started to hurt or feel kinda weird when we walked. Also, my cousin and I walked Gaby home so that was a great cool down for us. Heres the results from today!

January 7 - Continuation

Yay me! I actually went out to do the community run with Gaby, while my cousin ran at the park like I planned yesterday! It was surprising to see that I was able to keep up a conversation with Gaby while I ran (not up that giant hill, of course). Outside was kinda creepy because of the fog, and I think the cold made it harder for me to breathe at first, but once I picked a breathing pattern, it was alright from there. Here's the result from my Nike Run app!

January 6 - Running with my Cousin

So today after school, I decided to go running with my cousin. I thought it was so much fun because I haven't been running in so long and having a partner made it seem more safe to run in the dark. She doesn't run much so it was difficult for us to be at the same pace so we decided that I would just run ahead, then wait at the corner to make sure she doesn't get lost. I ended up just running up the last hill of the community run, and walked back with her. I really enjoyed running up the hill and I realized how much I missed running. I tracked my bit of running on the Nike Run app and here's the result!

If it doesn't rain tomorrow, she and I are going to go for a run but this time, I will do the community run while she runs around Goldstone and meet up at the park, and walk back home. This way, we can both have a workout at the pace we want to go!

January 4 - Last Day of Winter Break

After the Christmas and New Year's dinner, I decided to try and balance out how much I ate by exercising (yaaaay)! This morning, I woke up and decided to do a light 10 minute workout so start my day. I did feel very tired and zombie like in the first 2 minutes, but after that, I was able to do all the exercises and follow the instructor's speed. I hate the toe touches because it makes my stomach hurt so much! I've noticed that when I try to control/stabilize my breathing, it makes it much easier to execute the harder exercises. Here's an after workout selfie!