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.