Hope everyone had a good 4th!! Remember for those that can make it we are meeting July 17 at Trailhead at 4:00 to discuss chapters 8 and 9 and catch up! This will be the last blog post.
Chapter 7: Engage for Energy and Focus
What are some strategies you might try to increase your class's "electricity", and how will you implement them?
I enjoy using music and movement in my classroom. I have always enjoyed stretching with the kids, especially doing yoga. Music has a great impact and makes things fun and enjoyable. It's also a great way to get the wiggles out before teaching a lesson. I am a strong believer in cross-laterals for a movement. It's a great brain strategy and the kids have fun :) I loved the wave idea and the creative handshakes. I think that would be good for a morning routine.
ReplyDeleteI also use music and movement. We use music a lot in the beginning. We use the HWT cd for letter formation. We also use Dr. Jean although her voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me but my kiddos love her songs. Heidi songs is good too. As Lori stated this is great for getting the wiggles out. There have been times when I could tell they needed a brain break and time to refocus. We stop go to the carpet and sing/move. It's amazing what three minutes of music/movement does for our group. I also like to use calming instrumental music at rest time when we have it and sometimes during writing time. It is not unusual for them to request music and/or movement throughout the year. I also have the advantage of close proximity to the gym. Some years I have a kiddo who needs to run off some energy and I can usually get permission to let them run on the back line the length of the gym a few times as needed by the student. Students, parents, and teachers are all thankful for that little perk. It only takes a minute and it is a win-win for all.
ReplyDeleteI loved using music and movement when I taught first grade. I plan to incorporate more of it in second now in addition to our regular calming music for work time. Cross laterals and the air swimming are other fun activities to do. We move around quite a bit to help focus, but I am really excited about the music ideas and developing play lists for different activities in the classroom. I also appreciated the suggestions for songs to get you started. I am looking forward to using more music again on an everyday basis.
ReplyDeleteI found this chapter to be very helpful. I want to use regular brain breaks in my classroom to get my class moving. I liked all of the suggestions and have found several online, as well. I like his suggestions for getting students moving at their seats, as well.
ReplyDeleteI am also very excited about using music throughout the day. I plan to develop different playlists for different parts of our day and I would really like to incorporate different songs for different transitions. I liked his suggestions for returning to their desks after an activity. I thought there were several on his high energy list that would be a good to signal for students to walk to the carpet. I am looking forward to using music daily in my classroom.
I used Brain Gym a lot when I taught second grade. The kids really enjoyed it and it helped refocus my students immensely. I have always struggled to sit still and even had teachers in college that would let me excuse myself to walk up and down the hallway during long class periods. One of the hardest things for me in school was remaining focused when all I could think about was how many minutes I had to sit still in a chair.
ReplyDeleteRemembering this reminds myself that there are students like me, and even a lot worse that may not be focusing simply because they are tired of sitting still. I try to incorporate movement into the simple things like answering by standing up or striking a pose. I try to transition the students often between different places in the room, and I did still take a stretch break during tests quite often.
I think I lose track of time and forget-- but a timer could help remind the class and myself to take those short refocusing breaks.
When it comes to music, I have scared myself out of using it lately. When I taught second grade I thought I was on the "safest of safest" sites and a bad song came on. Luckily I got to it before anything bad was said, but I can't bring myself to put on any radio sites anymore. I need to put out the effort to filter though some music and come up with a playlist that's acceptable.
I did however have a playlist for multiplication songs that the kids really enjoyed!
There were so many great ideas in this chapter (well the whole book really!) that I am looking forward to using in my classroom. I especially liked the suggestions for getting students to calm down and focus. Last year, I felt like I used stretching over and over again that it lost its effect. I also love the suggestions for matching the music to the activity. I usually played instrumental music during writing and I found it to be very calming for them and ME! :) They sometimes asked for it during Reader's Workshop as well, but I never put it on. Has anyone ever tried it during that time?? I would use Kidz Bop during times that they were working on in groups, but I was always worried about what was coming next, kind of like Amanda! I loved the suggestions of the upbeat latin and rock music.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this chapter and it made me even more excited for school to start! I liked the idea of using movement with music to keep the kids focused, yet energized. Music definitely sets the mood! The 'Making Your Job Better' section at the end of the chapter also made total sense to me! We do influence our students mind and body states daily, hourly, and by the minute. The environment that we create as teachers for our students is so very important for this. I did do some of this with my class at the end of the year but, I made it a reward. We would do a Friday Dance on Fridays at the end of Math. We did one daily during the MAP Test and towards the end of the year. It's funny because some of the student said on their exit surveys that this was the best part of the year. :) Probably not the best but, the most recent memory.
ReplyDeleteAs a first year teacher, I was always a little nervous to have students out of their seats and moving around because I was afraid that would encourage them to be off task. What I realized after reading Chapter 7 is that there are so many different ways to encourage student engagement through movement and music, as long as the activities are purposeful and well managed. One of my goals for this school year is to practice implementing music and movement to see how it affects my students. I’m excited about the idea of activities that promote following directions and good listening skills. I can definitely see how those skills would transfer into learning but also create opportunities to increase my class “electricity”!
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