All about Lina Lifestyle

Reflections of Online Learning

Zoom Learning for young learners

I have conducted 20 Zoom sessions so far on the Zoom with my new Acer laptop and it is quite a big change getting used to home based working. First, I needed to purchase a new Acer laptop with the sole purpose of the camera so that I can use Zoom with the video function to see my students. Second, I needed to register for a new Zoom account to get lessons rolling. Finally, I have to transit all lessons for students below 18 years old online during the phase 2 heightened alert period in Singapore.

Transition to online learning

From May 20, I have to seamlessly transit from where I last stopped for the physical lessons for each student. This is where I have to scan the same materials to ensure continuity and familiarity for the young learners who are used to the textbooks and learning materials.

To ensure that they can follow the lessons, I have to create unique Zoom lesson plans so that the lessons can take place online smoothly. This step is necessary for young learners to keep pace with the change. Behind the scenes, there are lots of transfer of data from my scanner to computer desktop to thumb drive and to laptop. After two weeks of conducting mostly 1.5 hours session using Zoom, my Zoom started crashing.

Zoom Crashing

For a while, I have gotten used to Zoom crashing due to heavier usage. For the first two weeks since I started Zoom, whenever the Zoom application kept crashing, it was nerve wrecking to have to re-enter Zoom again and again. I decided to fix the problem. I am thankful that there is helpdesk from Zoom’s main website to find a solution to the crash. After going through the helpful AI “Bolt”, I managed to figure out that I needed to uninstall Zoom and reinstall it again.

Installing Zoom

I deleted the Zoom program only to realize that I could not log into the Zoom account after I reinstalled the Zoom client. I even tried registering for a zoom account again and resetting the password to no avail. I was logged out of my own Zoom account for half and hour after more than 6 tries to get the password to work on the Zoom client. Finally, I realized that I have to uninstall Zoom by going to the Settings page and remove the program totally as this process clears the cache. True enough, after doing that when I reinstalled the Zoom client automatically appeared. Alas, I could use the Zoom again.

Clear Skies

I was glad that the technical problems can be resolved with a comprehensive helpdesk from Zoom who can troubleshoot almost any sort of problems. Seeing clear skies again, I hope that I will be able to steer towards smooth seas in my online learning journey. It is indeed stressful to encounter these technical problems as I am not a fan of Information Technology. This experience spurs me on to continue learning more about tools from working at home in the new normal. Hope to see clear skies in Singapore once again!

Smell the roses

It is time to destress and smell the 🌹 roses. Woke up today to see the roses blooming at the park. There is much beauty in the early morning 🌄 sunrise with nature’s best orchestra making melodies if we are listening. Taught the lost art of 🎧 listening in our noisy world filled with a cacophony of sounds. It is one of life’s blessing to take refuge in the solitude of nature just gazing at the lone alligator 🐊 swimming in the river.

Morning walk

I got up at 6.10 am on a Monday morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. Living next to a park, I decided that a solitary walk in nature will help break the monotony of work from home. Being at home daily facing computers and laptops, I guess I needed a digital detox. After more than 7500 steps, glad to say the smell of crisp fresh flowers in the woods and looking at the river is therapeutic. Ended the morning with fresh cookies and cream protein shake. Good start to a challenging week ahead.

Zoom lessons

Singapore started the heightened alert with the suspension of face to face lessons with my students from Wednesday May 19 to June 13. To continue with the business, we have to go online. I had the experience of skyping my students last year during the first ever suspension of lessons during the circuit breaker.

Past online experience

It was on a smaller scale last year as more clients chose to wait for physical lessons to resume after the circuit breaker. Last year’s online lessons were smaller in scale and thus served as a rehearsal for the big impact of this year’s heightened alert. This means having to move the stage from all physical to all online sessions in the shortest notice.

Abrupt news

With the abrupt news, I found out that the majority of clients did not want lessons to be put on a hold. As a result, I needed to prepare all lesson plans for an entire month speedily. Preparing all materials for the lessons scheduled for 6 days a week was no easy feat. That is considering that I have zero online lessons before the heightened alert came. Glad to say I am immensely relieved that Zoom became a lifesaving platform to pull off the feat.

Initial fears unfounded

I actually adapted so well to conducting interesting online lessons that I was able to overcome incessant worries about technology malfunctioning. Although hesitant about pivoting online due to having jitters about surviving entirely on technology in my daily work, I now look forward to live and breathe online lessons.

The new normal

It has been two weeks into online lessons and I am glad I am thriving with the new technology. I can only marvel at how easy Zoom lessons can be as pivoting online for safety will be the new normal especially with this heightened alert.Choosing to stay positive after the initial inconvenience, I start to see the advantages of embracing technology.

This is where you can start the lesson with all the conveniences of having all the lesson plans and materials stored in the laptop. This gives the teacher a myriad of lesson materials to access to at any given time. Above all, accessing your online files from home and sharing it across cyberspace ensures the safety for all students.

Zoom features

The best feature about Zoom is the lovely share screen function where you can use the highlighter to teach new concepts like countering terrorism. You can also use the add text feature to show the correct spelling and grammar and box it. There is a whiteboard to write virtual homework to make it feel like you are in a virtual classroom with your students.

Personal impact of heightened alert

Hence, I believe with knowledge of Zoom, I will be able to get through phase 2 heightened alert without disruptions to my personal business. Overall, being able to experience the effect of the tightened measures helps me to understand the rationale or purpose to keep all of us safe. I can only do this after adapting to zoom lessons and meetings speedily.

Alison online learning

I brushed up my knowledge of Zoom by taking a course on Guide to Zoom video conferencing. I started learning all about the basic and advanced features beyond what my prior knowledge of Zoom is. From the start, I learnt how to install Zoom to creating breakout groups and enable the waiting room feature. There are also interesting facts about security and zoombombing.

Zoom user acceleration

With the acceleration of video conferencing, Zoom went from from 10 million to 300 million users worldwide. As Zoom will be ubiquitous around the world for work and leisure purposes, we can only thrive with learning new technologies.

Belly fat increases your risk

Stubborn tummy fat can be very hard to shift. And it can also increase your risk of developing serious Covid by as much as 75 per cent, according to a new study that has resulted in scientists calling for Covid patients with abdominal fat to be closely monitored.

The Italian researchers found that carrying extra fat around the stomach puts Covid patients at greater risk of developing serious complications, compared to overall body fat, which didn’t appear to worsen the severity of the virus. And, it’s not just a Covid issue: fat deposits around the middle have previously been linked to serious health issues, including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

However, due to our often sedentary lifestyles and stressful jobs, medicated with alcohol and biscuits, belly fat can easily build up.

Lowena Waters, May 11 2021 https://news.yahoo.com/belly-fat-increases-risk-serious-112509679.html

One of the 10 ways of losing belly fat is “Eating a high protein diet“

I choose to eat a high protein breakfast daily with my F1 formula shake.

According to http://www.herbalife.com, this is what F1 formula shake consists of:

With a dense mix of protein, carbs, fiber and essential vitamins and minerals, Formula 1 is everything you need in a glass, is suitable for diabetics* and, with over 10 flavors to choose from, it’s easy to customize for your taste and nutritional needs.

Protein is vital to a healthy diet, as it’s one of the essential building blocks for many cellular components in your body. Protein helps satisfy hunger, build muscle tissue, maintain lean muscle mass and give you energy. And when you consume 25 g of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, you may reduce the risk of heart disease. One serving of Formula 1 provides 9 g of soy protein. Clinical studies on U.S. Formula 1 (one study) and on similar products show that Formula 1 shakes taken twice a day as part of a reduced-calorie diet along with moderate exercise help people lose weight.

My Agile Leadership Superpower

I took a quiz on my agile leadership superpower and realised that I am the Developer.

Having you in the lead means you create a culture that encourages innovation and learning, where everyone in your team can pursue their dreams. You provide the space for each individual to grow through mentorship (from yourself or other motivated team members) and as a result, everyone wants one another to succeed just as much as they do theirs. This inner voice of Agile Leadership makes you a good listener and that’s the key – while you meet your employee needs, you drive your organization’s strength from within its ranks.

Personally, I feel that the DEVELOPER is the most important superpower with the changing needs of the workforce and I’m glad that’s your dominant style.

If you are interested to find out more about the quiz:

Here’s the link to the quiz: https://acesence.com/agile-leadership-superpower-quiz

Mental Health

I have been interested in mental health as a subject and completed my diploma in mental health last November 2020. I decided to attend a mental health webinar as I was invited by Bernard, founder of Cara Unmask.

Alison online course

According to Alison’s website, the course in mental health will “help you gain a better understanding of a range of mental health issues. Raising public awareness of mental health issues has become an important subject for international healthcare in the last several decades, and a basic understanding of the causes, symptoms, and treatments of various forms of mental illnesses is important knowledge to have for your wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around you.”

Having mere basic knowledge about mental health after my studies is good but may not be sufficient to understand the “experiential” aspect of mental health. I decided to learn more from the lived experiences from people who want to share their personal struggles and therapy work.

January 2021

I was invited to the webinar by Bernard, founder of CARA Unmask. The topic was ” How to build mental resilience”. I attended the online Zoom meeting and was glad to hear from speakers Kevin as his personal stories on how he walked the journey when he started struggling with Singapore’s high stakes examination at the A levels. He recounted how he managed to built resilience giving me a real life account of the importance of taking care of one’s mental state. The other speaker, Aloysius shared about his experience as a hypnotherapist and I managed to glean some insights from a mental health practitioner on this relatively mysterious field of hypnotherapy.

Overview of Cara Unmask

You can visit Cara Unmask by going to this website.

https://www.caraunmask.com/?utm_source=social-media&utm_medium=linkedin&utm_campaign=profile-link

Objective of Cara Unmask

“CARA is a Community based mobile app platform that empowers users to take control and improve their mental wellness by connecting anonymously and securely with trained volunteers and professional counsellors, anytime, anywhere. At CARA, we focus on preserving anonymity to serve as a spark plug for a first conversation in a safe, secure and controlled environment. We believe a conversation is a good starting point to discovery, recovery and maintenance of mental wellness. We seek to be an impactful enabler by providing quick access, affordability and human connection through new digital self-help channels by placing technology in the hands of users for better mental wellness. The CARA Community relies on CARA Friends – trained volunteers with lived experience and mental wellness professionals who want to help. CARA is live in the app stores, give it a try.”

5 Ways to a healthier you while working from home

Throughout 2020, I have been working from home and often use video conferencing for work with the bulk of my time online. I read an article on how one can become “video fatigue” and stress can build up during this period. Being home all the time, it is very easy to get into a downward spiral.

I have been thinking about the long term implications of lockdown for both physical and mental health during the circuit breaker and the implication on health for all.

According to the article, many people are “falling into the rut of unhealthy lifestyle habits, including a poor diet and little physical exercise, which may have serious implications on their well-being in the long run.”

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/advertorial/5-ways-to-a-healthier-you-while-working-from-home-13750926?cid=adv_fb_paid_20201218&fbclid=IwAR0nq6qIK70Fqz-vCEs7kMarZJs1OfiVauoP45Q2OpoQ4JbwZ2kJM7DksuI

In summary, here are 5 ways to a healthier lifestyle

Start your day with a healthier breakfast
Create a daily routine
Incorporate physical activities into your day
Set aside time to relax
Plan for balanced and nutritious meals

The Glycemic Index

The Glycamic Index (GI) is a relative ranking of carbohydrate in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels. Carbohydrates with a low GI value (55 or less) are more slowly digested, absorbed and metabolised and cause a lower and slower rise in blood glucose and, therefore usually, insulin levels.

Mental Health

I have been interested in mental health as it is an area that had been increasingly in the spotlight due to the pandemic related stresses like lockdown. I read an interesting article on how two twin sisters in the UK started to create a business helping people to keep active and positive.

“Our community page has proved popular so we can bring our positive energy and zest for life into people’s homes.”

(Rebecca Creed, 28th November) https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/18894341.twin-sisters-supporting-mental-health-exercise-classes/

Singapore Story Teller Miracle

This reminds me of my experience in Singapore with my new community of people interested in helping others stay positive. I am now in the next season of the 10 Day Challenge. I have counted taking part in 30 days of 7 minutes of daily exercise and never missed a day. This motivation stems from a group that was so excited to start a new season with their motivational story tellers. I feel connected to a group of likeminded story tellers at heart who continued to share inspirational stories of an 84 year old man who defied all odds and not place limitations on what he could do to keep active.

Headstart

To my present surprise, I started my 7 minutes challenge before the official day of the new season that begins today. And I am glad to have a headstart on day zero to prepare for the new season. According to the twin sisters, this is their belief about the effects of exercise.

“We think exercise helps people’s mental health because it gets their hearts pumping which release all the feel good hormones.”

It is good to have a headstart by having both the physical and mental aspect well taken care of in the comforts of my home with my home workout video. I am often looking forward to hearing, “happy hormones are activated in your brains”. In addition to that, I am glad that stories shared from the heart by other members to inspire others to take simple small steps during a pandemic is one that will go a long way in improving the mental health of a community. I think it is the twin effect of feel good stories that spark joy to the soul and activation of happy hormones that created a transformed me.

Hope to inspire more to follow in my footsteps to keep active!