This chapter gave us some insight on influencing student learning and behavior through movement, exercise, and music.
What are the biggest challenges you face when it comes to eliciting appropriate levels of energy and focus from your students?
What are the biggest challenges you find when it comes to eliciting appropriate levels of energy and focus?
What is your preffered method of "out of their seat" movement? What about "at their seat" movement? Does anyone have suggestions how to use movement and integrate curriculum simultaneously?
Do you have any favorite songs, artists, cd's, Pandora stations that your students enjoy?
Don't forget the IDOE book study is starting next week. You can earn 10 PGPs and a chance to win $1,000 for PD for your building. The book we will be studying is Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook Free Your Teaching and Revolutionize Your Classroom. Let me know if you would like to sign up and I can get you a book at a discounted price. There will be six of us from Bon Air participating and we would love to have more people join us!
My other 3rd grade teacher and I notice that about 2:30, they run out of energy. They just finished reading-so that was an hour of sitting and have started math. We lots of movement in their day, but I need to focus more on music and maybe some ideas such as air swimming or cross laterals. I think I am afraid my class would lok chaotic and that makes me uncomfortable. When I do use music, it is during math and I allow movement/singing-but its only over certain topics. I am going to try (tomorrow) adding in more!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo, so true! Definitely feeling the 2ish struggle for them.
DeleteStrong classroom management shines through even what you think might look chaotic. Many times chaos can also mean ENGAGED!
DeleteOften, when it's time to read a passage or do a math page, I'll notice that I don't have everyone engaged. Then, I will have the students pair up to work. As long as I'm circulating, I know that the students are working on task. Then I pull the kids back together and we check for understanding. They like getting up out of their seats, and I know that everyone is working and understanding! Yes, it's a bit noisy, but purposeful noise!
DeleteI think that is a major key to teaching being able to read your students. If we are paying attention to our students and their needs we can usually see when they are getting restless and need movement just like adults when we have to sit in meetings all day.
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ReplyDeleteI think many students struggle with transitioning both to and from differing levels of movement and energy expectations. I think they are often well behaved during reading rotations partly because there is movement and interaction. I am interested in trying more brain break type ideas. I've seen samples on Pinterest but none that grabbed me. I would love to start incorporating music as well so hope some have Pandora ideas. :) I hesitate because I want to make sure it's appropriate and that keeps me away from it....which I want to change this year!
ReplyDeleteI also hesitate to use Pandora because it has advertising. Plus, you don't really know what will come up next, and it's not programmable. It might be possible to pull up selected music from YouTube and copy it onto a disc. Is that legal?
DeleteHmmm! Youtube-good thought!
Deletewww.gonoodle.com
DeleteI use it and I love it. It gets them up and moving or dancing. It even has breathing techniques. They're always asking for it and then asking for more. Let the energy and stress go!
As a PE teacher I live movement and energy. I have found that fast upbeat music helps my students to jog longer so I use it during our exercise time. Many times I also use it when we are working at stations and use it to transition when the music stops. When teaching STEM we try to get the students up and moving. They are frequently working with partners or groups out of their seats observing and creating. I know classroom teachers have used Adventure to Fitness for brain energizers.
ReplyDeleteDo you still have "Chicken Fat"? I remember exercising to that nutty song when I was a kid, and recently heard it on a commercial! It was silly, but it sure got us moving!
DeleteI love using websites like GoNoodle in my class. It's great for fast paced energizers and focusing using short yoga clips.
DeleteI'm more mindful of the students' energy levels now, and realize that I've been incorporating more movement into the kids' daily routines. My fifth grade class has been studying the 50 states and capitals, and to incorporate movement, I made a giant puzzle map of the states, plus nametags for the states and capitals. I open an ActivInspire flipchart map, and have the kids get up out of their seats to sticky-tac a state to the whiteboard. Others will place the labels. I remember long ago an adage that if you get them moving while thinking, they are bound to retain the learning. It has worked so far: all of my 24 kids made an A (90% or higher) on the last test.
ReplyDeleteAnother item that I enjoy using is a scavenger hunt setup. Erica Bennett, my student teacher from last year, and now a teacher at Bon Air, used this with my kids last year. She had a template for any subject that got the kids up and moving around the room to solve multiple choice problems.
I use music to set a mood in my class. Sometimes I will have some soft classical music to start the day. Music can also be a great mnemonic device as well.
Finally, Eric Jensen reminds us on page 123 that students need to be taught to control breathing and stress. We will do little breathing exercises or a little Yoga to help bring us back under control. As teachers, we don't like to sit in meetings for hours on end, so why should we expect our kids to do that?
That is such a good point about how restless we get when as adults we have to sit for long periods of time. I hate to say this, but sometimes teachers can be the rudest audience in terms of listening and sitting still when someone is speaking. I also have to chuckle to myself at times when a presenter will "lecture" on a how a classroom should run, but doesn't model it themselves.
DeleteI want to use more music in my classroom. I've used it in the past and they've done alright. I think i just need to tell them not to sing so loud. They keep asking for it and I just keep putting it off because I know they can get a little loud. But yeah after reading this chapter I think I need to just play more music.
DeleteBeing at the integrated arts school validates so many of the ideas that get thrown around in education circles and plays right into moving and feeling what the student is learning. I see the children gain such confidence through this method of learning and because everyone else is doing it - they don't feel singled out or weird. Children really learn the information when it is presented in a fun, novel manner. Music, acting and representing learning in a visual manner really helps the message stick with them.. i was talking to someone I graduated with several years ago. She said that the idea of latitude and longitude really stuck with her due to the teacher having everyone in the class standing to represent longitude and latitude lines. She said she still remembers it to this day. Think how children learned the state capitals through song too. It does make a lot of sense, but it also takes a lot of work and thought on that of the teacher to implement the curriculum in this manner.
ReplyDeleteI always have had the kids lie down on the floor to show latitude in social studies, or horizontal in math. Then they stand to show longitude or vertical. Oblique gets to be really fun! To help my kids keep their math problems lined up for place value, I have them pull down an imaginary line from their foreheads to their tummies. Putting an action to a learning really helps my LD and MiMH mainstreamed kids remember things!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea for using movement to learn math concepts! I always had the kids make a life size ten frame that they could stand in. That's how we counted and showed addition/subtraction by stepping in and out.
DeleteSee I knew there was a reason I was reading this chapter late. I literally just went to my principal after school today and said, "i'm stuck. I'm a 3rd year teacher and I'm stuck. I shouldn't be struggling." After reading this chapter I think I might have part of the solution. Short energizer every 5 mins and a more active energizer every 30 mins. I like the idea of using one of these after every reading group rotation. Something to get them focused and ready to move onto the next rotation.
ReplyDeleteThe challenges for eliciting appropriate levels of energy and focus is getting all students to participate and getting them to be in control while completing the energizer. I’ve found lots of modeling and me actively participating in the energizer helps with both of these challenges. My preferred “out of the seat” movement from the chapter is freeze. I’ve done this with primary students and it really helps on working cooperatively, using self-control, and being safe. My “at their seat” movement is rhythmic clapping. This also a great to integrate with patterning with math. I love the Piano Guys on youtube. My kids were fascinated with the videos and the music. I also love Go Noodle. If you haven’t tried it the website is free and a great resource for brain breaks!
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