Genius Hour Trailer

Hello world! 

     Since first being introduced to my Genius Hour proposal you would know that I am focusing on the steps that I can take to promote mental health and wellness in the classroom (both for my students and myself/peers). This topic is important to me because if students are not feeling well or are being faced with too many outside factors their readiness to learn will be impacted, in this case, students will be more likely to withdraw and disengage from their learning - something that, as educators, we don't want to happen! Not only is it important to consider our students' wellbeing as this can impact their growth and success (in this case their likelihood of reaching their full potential), but when teachers are not feeling well it is difficult to perform our jobs in a meaningful and impactful way.

     Now you can see why it is important for me to look into this topic! Check out my PowToon creation that presents a sneak peak into my Genius Hour Project. 🙂

I hope you join me on this journey to not only learn more about Mental Health and Wellness, but to also learn about the ways that you can promote this for your students and even yourself!

     Before I log off, I do want to briefly mention the benefits of incorporating PowToon into the classroom! This resource can be used in so many different ways to promote student learning - but most importantly, this provides the opportunity to create fun and engaging videos to help present lessons for students (i.e. advertisement style, infographics, YouTube format, etc.), but it can also be used by your students! This allows for a fun and create way to present your information. Not only that, it is beneficial for students who tend to be shy, especially when presenting in front of their peers, as this provides the opportunity to record audio into the presentation! As you can see there are so man reasons why we should use PowToon in the classroom, but here are some more:

• There is a help tool that guides you when confused and/or lost (you feel as though you have someone helping you when something isn't work)
• Promotes creativity 
• Allows for differentiated learning
• Engages students in their learning 
• Brings fun and excitement into learning and the classroom 
• Develops 21st Century Skills (i.e. Media and Digital literacy) 

Logging off for now!

- Miss. Wighton 

"Your mental health is a priority. Your happiness is an essential. Your self-care is a necessity." - Anonymous

Hart, E. (10 October, 2016). World Mental Health Day. Retrieved from https://dribbble.com/shots/3016101-World-Mental-Health-Day