Movement in the Classroom: Investigating Connections between Periodic Breaks and Student Focus

Movement in the Classroom:Investigating Connections between Periodic Breaks and Student Focus Ms. Libby Dunlap (English) Harrington Elementary Albion, MI

Problem • The students in our classroom tend to be… • Very social and talkative to the point of near constant disruption • Lacking in independence • Prone to losing focus • The level of unproductive talk began to interfere with instruction and student success

Professional Research: Problem • My students’ behavior is somewhat expected developmentally • According to Chip Wood in Yardsticks, eight year olds… • “enjoy socializing and sharing humor” • “like to talk, explain ideas, and use rapidly expanding vocabularies” • “have limited attention span[s] […] and love to socialize at the same time [that they work on activities]” (Wood 100-101)

Professional Research: Potential Solutions • Also according to Yardsticks, my learners • “need physical release through time to play” • “benefit more from several short breaks than one long one” • tend to be “restless and need lots of physical activity” Wood also notes that “short exercise breaks (even in the classroom) help concentration” • (Wood 102)

Procedure • To address these problems, and to better serve the needs of my students, • I chose to incorporate breaks into our afternoon schedule • Each break involved movement • These breaks served as transitions between the different rotations of our reading and writing work

Sample Afternoon Schedule • Read-Aloud • Active Break • Rotation 1 (usually read to self) • Active Break • Rotation 2 (usually writing work) • Active Break (Recess) • Rotation 3 (varies daily)

Procedure

Video Clip Sample Break: Simon Says

Evidence • To document the connections between these periodic active breaks and student focus, • I tallied the number of times I called the class to attention during each rotation • Each rotation lasted for about 30 minutes following an active break • I wrote tallies on notebook paper, also documenting the activity preceding each rotation

Results Teacher interventions after walking activities Teacher interventions after high movement activities

Results Teacher interventions after intermediate activities Teacher interventions after recess

Results

Why is there so much deviation? • Each tally was not necessarily equivalent • Some tallies represented teacher interventions inspired by most of the class • Other tallies were prompted by only a handful of students • Sadly, not all students were able to participate in recess each day • Recess activities varied in degree of movement for each child

Conclusions • In my investigation, I found that the activities that required the least amount of movement also had the least impact on focus • Activities with heavy activity seemed most productive • More data is needed to confirm • Recess tended to be somewhat extreme • Students were either very focused after recess OR were much more distracted than they had been before

Conclusions • The students really enjoyed the breaks • Anticipated and asked for particular activities (tending to be high in motion) • In addition to the behavior impact, I also found that the quality of student work improved • Though interventions were still needed, students seemed particularly focused in between those interventions

Conclusions • Some disconnect between qualitative and quantitative data • In my teaching, I noticed an improvement in focus and behavior • Those improvements were not always reflected in the data • Quality of work • Level of focus in between interventions

Next Steps • Continue to gather data as to its impact on student focus and performance • Try to gather enough data to make the activities more consistent and therefore consistently effective • Continue to incorporate movement into my teaching this semester and in my own classroom in the future

Bibliography • Wood, Chip. Yardsticks. Turners Falls: Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc, 2007.

Thank you! • Special thank you to… • My students • Mrs. Ellenwood, my mentor teacher • Dr. Melissa Mercer-Tachick • Gwen Tabb, supervisor And thank you for coming!

Questions • Any questions?

Movement in the Classroom: Investigating Connections between Periodic Breaks and Student Focus