Yoga Class Disclosure

Teacher: Jennifer Pitt Email: jpitt@dsdmail.net

Classroom: E4 Office: In Room E4

Office Hours: 7:45 – 8:00 am, 3:00 – 3:15 pm

Course Description: This is a semester long course where students will learn breathing techniques, basic to intermediate yoga postures and poses, as well as how to create a yoga sequence. By the end of this class, students will be able to perform their own yoga sequences so they can continue incorporating yoga into their daily life. Yoga provides a great set of skills and tools to help one manage stress, strengthen, and stretch their body, and learn more healthful practices for body and mind. Everything we do in this class may be modified for injuries, disabilities, etc. Yoga is for everybody!

Learning Guidelines, Policies and Procedures

Materials Needed:

Girls: *Combination lock for gym locker. Please do not get the cheap ones from the dollar stores. They break after a couple of weeks. Also, DO NOT get locks that unlock with a key. It is too easy for the key to be lost. (*please see clothing guidelines below for more information.)
1. Boys will be assigned a locker with a lock already on it from Coach Lacy
School issued device. This is the laptop that checked out to you during the first week of school.
Pencil or Pen for Journal
Clothes you can comfortable move in.
Deodorant and other personal hygiene items to be stored in your gym locker.
Yoga Mat: I recommend they bring their own mat that they can keep in my classroom. I do have a classroom set of yoga mats that students are welcome to use. However, if they do not want other people using their mat, they will need to bring one from home. A basic yoga mat on Amazon goes for $16.00 dollars. I have also seen them for as low as 10 or 12$ at Marshalls, TJ Maxx or Ross.

Clothing: Yoga attire must be fitted to the body and cover the torso. This is helpful for me as a teacher to see proper Musculo-skeletal alignment during our various yoga activities. Students have two options in dressing for yoga:

Option #1 (Change into yoga clothes before class):Students can change for class before entering the classroom. They will be given 8 minutes from the time the tardy bell rings to get dressed for class and to use the restroom. Roll will be taken exactly 8 minutes after the tardy bell rings. Students will have 8 minutes at the end of class to dress before bell rings to be dismissed.
Option #2 (Come dressed to school in movement appropriate clothing):Students can come dressed in clothes that follow the school's dress standards and are appropriate for yoga (NO DENIM OR SKIRTS/DRESSES PLEASE!). They will be expected to be in the classroom before the tardy bell rings.

Guidelines for Clothing:

Tops: T-shirts (long sleeve or short sleeve) that are fitted and long enough to cover your stomach even while dancing.
Bottoms Fitted dance/yoga pants, or shorts, slim athletic pants (soccer style), joggers. Shorts/bikers MUST go to mid-thigh. WARNING--Some leggings have the potential to be see-through. Please check your leggings to make sure they are not see-through when you bend over.
Feet: bare feet or yoga socks. Regular socks are a safety concern as students are not as stable and may slip and injure themselves.
Hair: Needs to be pulled back and out of the face.
ABSOLUTELY NO: Baggy sweats, huge t-shirts, crop shirts, crop sweatshirts, crop sweaters, socks, gum, jewelry, street clothes, or pajamas.

Classroom Expectations: I have high expectations for all the students. I am confident that we can make this a great semester of learning! R-E-S-P-E-C-T is most important in a participation class such as this. Let's work hard, but still make time for a fun journey together exploring the world of dance!

Be on time.
Dress in appropriate attire for movement exploration.
Come to class prepared to work and participate in all class activities. If absent, complete and turn in missed assignments in Canvas.
Be respectful towards yourself and others. No talking when the instructor is teaching, or when students are teaching.
No food, or gum in the classroom. You may have water. It is HIGHLY recommended that you bring a FILLED water bottle with you to class.
NO HATS OR HOODIES ON DURING YOGA PRACTICE AND EXERCISES.

Citizenship: Failure to follow our classroom expectations will affect a student's citizenship grade. Students may receive an N or a U depending on the severity of non-compliance. Extra work/projects will be provided for students to make-up any "unsatisfactory" citizenship grade. (See School Handbook for further information on Citizenship Grade Policy)

Attendance, Absences, Participation & Tardies: Students will be expected to attend class and will receive credit throughout the semester for their attendance. All in-class work will be posted to our Canvas Course as assignments. If students are absent for more than half a class period or all the class period for any reason, they will need to complete assignments at home.

Tardies: Please see school handbook for policy on Tardies. Tardiness is defined as not being in the dance space, in their assigned spot, with the required materials exactly 8 minutes after the tardy bell for those changing and by the time of the tardy bell for those who come already dressed.
Assessment Days: Assessments will be given on days those students are assigned to be in-class. If we are moved to 100% remote learning students will be able to do submit a video of them doing the assessment.
Sitting Out of Class: DON’T SIT OUT! Students will participate in yoga unless I have a note from a doctor or parent explaining the situation. If a student is injured and I have received a doctor’s note they will be required to complete the assignment on Canvas with modifications for each in-class day that they are not able to participate. This will be due on a specific date determined by the teacher and the student’s circumstance.

Cell Phones & Backpacks: Cell phones are to be stored in back packs unless the teacher asks you to get it out for use in class work. Please see School Policy Handbook for more details concerning the school’s cell phone policy. Backpacks are to be kept in a designated place assigned to each student.

Hall Pass Policy: Use of the hall pass is per the teacher’s discretion. Students will receive 2 hall passes each term for non-emergency use. Students using a hall pass for more than 15 minutes will be considered truant per school policy.

Canvas Learning: We will be using Canvas as our main learning platform. Each day of class will be connected to an assignment on Canvas. If students attend class in-person, they will complete the assignment during class time. If they are absent for any reason at all, they will need to complete the assignment at home. It is recommended that parents and guardians obtain a Canvas Guardian account so that they can monitor and be aware of the course work that is asked of their student.

Assignments: At the beginning of each week, I will post the week’s assignments in the Announcements Section of their Yoga Canvas Course. Each weekly announcement will include a links to the specified assignments. Students may also access their assignments through the modules link on the home page of our course.
Due Dates: All assignments are due 1 week from the time they are issued in-class.

At-Home Yoga Space: Students will need a designated space that they can comfortably and confidently do yoga at home. This space does not have to be very big. Lessons will be able to be completed in a small space (I will be filming all remote learning lessons in a 5ft x 6ft space or 8ft x 8ft space). They can use a variety of places—bedroom, living room, kitchen, garage, basement, backyard (weather permitting).

Late Work: All late work must be turned in by the end of each term to get credit.

Extra credit: Opportunities for extra-credit will provided throughout the semester for those that have turned in all their course work.

Use of Media: We will be using a variety of dance on film, photography, and video recordings to reinforce concepts taught in class or through remote learning lessons. We will be using the Canvas platform as our main learning platform. We will also be accessing Nearpod in our learning activities. These will be used in-class and in remote learning lessons. Links to resources have not been vetted beyond the original page cited.

Video Recording: To assess individual improvement, students will be submitting self-record videos and be recorded in-class throughout the course of the semester. These video recordings are used for teacher observation, assessments, and group projects.

Grading Standards & Grading Scale: Your grade will be determined based on achievement of meeting the learning objectives of the course. Each assessment will be linked to the Priority Standards for this course. Priority Standards focus on the following categories:

Correct alignment and kinesthetic awareness in yoga
Learn and define yoga and yoga philosophy
Understanding different types of yoga.
Breathing for stress management and energy promotion.
Mindfulness practices that support total health and wellness. We will be using worksheets from the following books:

Conquer Negative Thinking for Teens by Mary Karapetian Alvord and Anne McGrath
The Self-Esteem Workbook for Teens by Lisa M. Schab
The Self-Compassion Workbook for Teens by Karen Bluth

Assessments will be based on 4-point scale.

Here is a sample of the grading system based on the Correct alignment and Kinesthetic Awareness in yoga.

Rubric Example
4	3	2	1
Excels at Identifying and demonstrating proper standing and sitting body alignment for the five-point posture check: feet and knees, hips and pelvis, shoulder and chest, head and neck.	Identifies and demonstrates proper standing and sitting body alignment for the five-point posture check: feet and knees, hips and pelvis, shoulder and chest, head, and neck.	Attempts to demonstrate proper standing and sitting body alignment by only meeting 3 of the five-point poster check.	Struggles to identify and demonstrate proper standing and sitting body alignment.
Meets or exceeds standards	Meets Standard	Progressing to standard	Standard not met

Grading Scale:

Grading Scale
A 4	A- 3	B+ 2.84	B 2.67	B- 2.5	C+ 2.3	C 2.17	C- 2	D+ 1.76	D 1.26	D- 1	F 0

Grade Breakdown. The term grade is weighted in the following categories:

Class Assignments/ Yoga Practice: 40%
Unit Performance Assessments: 40%
Unit Self-Assessments: 20%

Use of Media: From time to time, we may watch video clips to enhance the understanding of the dance concepts we are studying. These video clips give students a greater understanding of how dance can be implemented in the real world. It gives students a chance to see how dance can influence good teamwork and dedication. It gives students a chance to see what dance looks like in different settings such as a stage, in a movie production, musicals, for competition, or just for fun. Links to resources have not been vetted beyond the original page cited.

The Positive Impact of Yoga: Here are 7 ways that yoga benefits teens:

Improves fitness and physical health.
Reduces stress and anxiety.
Improves optimism.
Improves focus and school performance.
Improves self-esteem and body image.
Encourages creativity.
Develops discipline and self-regulation.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/201505/7-ways-yoga-helps-children-and-teens

**Because of the physical nature of yoga, the instructor may give tactile feedback to students. If any student at any time feels uncomfortable with this, please politely let the instructor know prior to class. **

Signed by Students and Guardians on myDSD