Movement ...

Right at the beginning of the year, a news article entitled, Feeling fidgety in class? Go stomp, jump or hop down this school's sensory hallway caught my eye.

While many teachers incorporate “brain breaks” into the day [Examples include 20 Three-Minute Brain Breaks, BrainGym, and GoNoodle], I love that more and more schools have a designated sensory area/hallway that students may access. In the case of Manitoba’s Roland School students (regardless of the weather outside!) access this hallway at least twice a day on their way to the classroom in the morning and after lunch.

The New York Times 2017 article, Why Kids Shouldn’t Sit Still in Class highlights the positive impact of movement within the day. Mr. McQuigg, chief executive and a co-founder of GoNoodle, is quoted as saying, “If we invest three to five minutes for our kids to move in the classroom, we are actually going to optimize the next 45 minutes for learning. That small investment in time has such a big yield for teachers.”

This point is reiterated by Brian Gatens, a school superintendent, who states, “We fall into this trap that if kids are at their desks with their heads down and are silent and writing, we think they are learning… but what we have found is that the active time used to energize your brain makes all those still moments better.” He goes on to state, “We need to recognize that children are movement-based.”

While it is evident that creating a sensory pathway/sensory wall does not entail an expensive outlay (simply some creativity, paints, perhaps stencils or, if you prefer, a Sensory Floor Decal Set can be purchased), and programmes such as GoNoodle are free, I invite you to consider how you can optimize learning - within your school setting - by introducing (or, if already in place, expanding) communal spaces so as to best accommodate those students who need to fidget as well as all students who benefit from brain breaks.

#SchoolCulture #Wellbeing #LearningDifferently