Now we’re finally getting to the good stuff; applications in the classroom! What all this hard work was for! Well, one of the main reasons why I decided to do my project on brain breaks was because I used to deny the power of brain breaks and I used to argue against them. I felt they were not a good use of instructional time, and I only wanted to use physical movement if it was for specific academic purposes. But after three years of teaching rural schools, this winter more specifically I found myself wondering if brain breaks really would be beneficial and that it might be okay if taking 10 minutes or so of instructional time to take purposeful breaks if the benefits made up for it.
After actively and purposefully I’m implementing brain breaks in my classroom for about a month now, I have officially changed my mind. I have learned that brain breaks are great, and for a few different reasons. First off, I was able to see some improvement in the classroom after using them. Furthermore, doing these fun and simple physical activities makes my students happy. They get to have fun, move around and be active for a few minutes. They laugh and smile while doing them, and this enjoyment really helps our classroom environment and can pull kids out of the grumpy moods that often accompany springtime and long daylight hours.
Other educators can use my findings to support their use of brain breaks in their classrooms. Brain breaks are great and can be beneficial in the long and short terms. Also ‘y research supports the use of brain gym in the classroom, despite much criticism by educational scholars. After reading my research, other educators would be able to discover that brain breaks are worth the loss of instructional time and are a good way to improve classroom engagement and build classroom community and environment.
burns12 
Wonderful. I’d be curious to see what you used or perhaps what you classified as brain breaks. I do incorporate brain breaks into my room, but not as often as I should and seeing your list of ideas would help ignite me to do them more often.
LikeLike
Wow! I didn’t know you used to argue against brain breaks. That’s so interesting and powerful! I love that you include how brain breaks make students feel happier. I think that fact gets overlooked to often. School should be fun and not everything we do has to be tied to something academic. It’s okay to just have fun once in a while! However, we all know that the more motivated and positive students feel about school, the more likely they are to succeed anyway. 🙂
LikeLike
I’m glad to see that you saw positive effects of brain breaks as well. I agree, it does make the kids happy and it definitely can change the atmosphere of the classroom. That’s what I like most about them. They’re definitely worth it!!
LikeLike
I too am a fan of brain breaks, but am still figuring out how to implement them in the most productive manner. I find that sometimes they can lead to over stimulation, whereas other times they are just what the doctor ordered. How long did your typical brain break last?
LikeLike
You specifically used brain gym right?
I am glad that you noticed they were a positive thing as well. I also saw that it made most of my students happier, and that was one reasons I wanted to try them. If I could make my math class a little more fun, then that was a goal.
LikeLike