Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Student Choice in Brain Breaks

Hey guys!

     I wanted to share with you all an experience that I noticed in my first grade classroom at Holabird Academy. During the first two weeks of school, we used the BMoreFit program for our daily brain breaks. We put one of their videos on the overhead and students were supposed to dance along with the instructor and the kids in the video. Did this motivate some students to get up and move? Of course!  But a decent amount of students slouched in their seats and refused to participate (because why would you participate if the option of defying the teacher is readily available)? That's what we thought at least, so going into week three we tweeked our brain breaks a bit. Although we love the BMoreFit program, we decided that the basic action of telling students what to do, even if it is a fun activity, makes some students want to do the opposite. So we came up with a new idea:

     The team of students who had gotten the most number of points that day for good behavior got to choose that day's brain break. They also got to stand up in front of the class and lead that day's brain break. After implementing this plan, we noticed two major things:

1. Most students got involved and did the brain break when it was lead by their peers.

2. This way of doing brain breaks gives students a choice in what they are doing in school. By doing this, students feel like they are in control of their education and are more activly engaged. STUDENT CHOICE is a necessity in schools.



Ted Talks: What is good for your waistline is good for your bottom line

I found an interesting Ted Talks from Dr. Antronette Yancey who pioneered "Instant Recess."  Instant Recess® is a MOVEment of ACTIVE-ists dedicated to making America healthier 10 minutes at a time. By introducing brief activity breaks in the middle of the day, we can make activity the norm.

According to Instant Recess, Inactivity has a lot to do with the obesity epidemic in our society. Prolonged sitting increases the risk of premature death by 40% and doubles the risk of cardiovascular disease, even in lean people who exercise regularly. It shuts off our ability to burn calories and the electrical activity in leg muscles, drops fat-burning enzymes by 90%, and limits the effectiveness of good cholesterol and insulin.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Experiences this week...



Hello!

As our team has mentioned in earlier posts, we are excited to study and research the use of "brain breaks" in the elementary classroom.  One of the key components of the brain break is to have some sort of physical movement.  First, we wanted to share some of our personal experiences with brain breaks in school this week (and please share your personal experiences with our team as well).  In one of our classrooms, the teacher played "Happy" by: Pharrell Williams and the students were allowed to sing and dance around the classroom for the entirety of the song.  The children absolutely loved the freedom to move around the classroom and sing/dance to a popular song!  Both my mentor teacher and I danced and sang with the students.  Katie Brown's teacher incorporates PBIS (positive behavior intervention and supports) into their brain break routine.  Each table (set of 4-5 student desks) gets points for good, on-task behavior. Whichever team receives the most points at the end of the day gets to pick a brain break of their choice-they are allowed to pick from a short exercise video or choose from exercise cards.  **Does anyone have any thoughts on brain breaks being at the END of the day?  This brings up an interesting question: if the goal of brain breaks is to keep children engaged and relieve a lot of the tensions/stresses from sitting for too long, is it effective to have a break at the end of the day?  One of the ways we will investigate during this research project is trying to identify "which" brain breaks seem to be most effective, and "when" is an optimal time to incorporate them.  Stay tuned for our upcoming posts.  We are interested in interviewing a fellow classmate about her experiences as a yoga instructor, and specifically her work with children's yoga!

Unfortunately, this event just passed, but this would have been a great conference to attend to learn more about children's yoga and it's use in the classroom!
http://conference.yokid.org/

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Our Problem Statement

Welcome back!

Tonight, we collaborated on our team problem statement. We're really interested in "Brain Breaks." A brain break can be defined as "a short mental break, taken at regular intervals during instruction, and used to achieve optimal learning." Our group defines a brain break as "a short break from instruction (before, during, or after) that involves some form of physical activity." In our experience, brain breaks are used to refocus students on the content at hand.

Our Problem Statement
Teachers frequently have difficulties keeping students engaged and motivated during a lesson because young students have a limited attention span. Our team will analyze the effectiveness of "brain breaks" on overall student engagement and student achievement.

We've each experienced a different form of brain breaks in our classroom and are excited to expand the type of brain breaks our students experience:
Lindsey - Yoga breaks, physical activity (pushups, jumping jacks, etc...)
The Katies - B More Fit Breaks (See video below)
Morgan - 1 minute breaks during writing assignments to "Happy" and "Jumping to the Moon" after math assessments.


Does anyone have any experience with brain breaks in the classroom? We'd love to get your perspective!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The Beginning

During our first class, we were immersed in the world of action research. It quickly became apparent that action research is imperative in the classroom, and so we wanted to share with you what it was.

Action research is the constant, even daily, process of posing questions, analyzing the results, and looking for solutions to everyday problems in the classroom. Action research involves using the classroom as the laboratory for teachers to find the best ways to improve instruction and increase academic performance. It allows teachers to self identify specific problems that they are having within the classroom and collaborate with other teachers to improve their areas of needs, ultimately delivering the best education possible to his or her students.

Does anyone have any experience with action research? If so, we'd love to hear about it!

Welcome!

Hi! We're the Primary Professionals! Here is a little bit about our team...

Katie Brown is teaching in a first grade classroom at Holabird Academy in Baltimore City. She is from Baltimore and got her undergraduate degree from University of Maryland in public relations. 

Lindsey Collier is teaching in a second grade classroom at Bollman Bridge Elementary in Howard County. She is from Silver Spring (a SKINS fan) and earned her undergraduate degree from Florida State University in marketing and management. 

Katie Putnam is teaching in a first grade classroom at Holabird Academy in Baltimore City. She is from Nashville, Tennessee and received her undergraduate degree from Savannah College of Art and Design in advertising design. 

Morgan Johnston is teaching in a second grade classroom at Atholton Elementary in Howard County. Her undergraduate degree is currently a mystery :).

Stay tuned as we share our experiences with action research in our primary classrooms! 

EDIT: For those of you that were on the edge of your seat waiting for Morgan's credentials, we have solved the mystery! She graduated from West Virginia with a degree in integrated marketing AND journalism advertising.