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!
You might consider using the definition of brain breaks above in the problem statement contained in your WikiTask to set the stage for your issue or problem -- see comments I posted on your WikiTask. I think the movie adds a quick way to understand what a brain break can look like and can be integrated into your ARPP methodology when you describe your instructional intervention. Charge on!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nick! I love the suggestion. I'll work on incorporating it into our problem statement.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Thank you for the suggestion, Nick.
ReplyDelete