Get Your Students Moving, Motivated & Learning!

Kids fidget, wiggle, daydream, and lose focus.  It’s a fact of life and it doesn’t seem to matter if they are elementary or secondary students, they all do it.  Let’s be honest for a second.  When we, as adults, are asked to sit and focus for an extended period of time we too fidget, wiggle, daydream, and lose focus.  Let’s look at some ideas for increasing student focus and helping everyone learn more.

 

1.  Put them in groups.  I know, but our students are social beings.  They learn as much, if not more, from their peers as they do us.  Let them talk math.  Let them express different ways to solve problems.  Let each group come up with multiple representations, and most important, let them present their work to the class.  Before you do this remember to establish clear rules, boundaries, and expectations – then stick to them!     

2.  Get them out of their seats.  Very few have mastered the skill of sleeping while standing.  Have activities that get them out of those seats and moving around the classroom or around campus.  Nice day?  Go outside.  My kids still talk about the picnic table lesson.  We moved outside because of very loud, very high pitched noises coming from the intercom, but they don’t remember that part.  Scavenger hunts, walk-abouts, and rotation stations are great additions to any classroom. 

3.  Brain breaks.  It might seem like the 2016 buzz word, but brain breaks have been around for a long time.  If students have been working at one task for a sustained period of time, they need to stop, take a break, and refocus.  There are a million and one ideas out there for brain breaks, but you don’t need to go fancy.  Tell those kids to get up and shake it, put on a funny video clip, play Simon says, switch seats, or anything that appeals to your students.  In the past my students have done the chicken dance and sang the polygon song.  Yep, they are middle schoolers but lucky for me they can be silly too.

4.  Have students set goals.  I discovered the power of this activity when “writing in math” became mandatory a few years ago in my district.  Every quarter students had to write about something math related.  For the first assignment I had them write about their goals in math for the year and was surprised at how much thought went into the assignment.  They kept a copy of their goals and we checked back every quarter (it wasn’t part of the other writing assignments).  Those goals became very real for them and I found they worked hard to achieve them before the year ended.  It also provided encouragement along the way that they were growing in their math knowledge.

These are just a few ideas, but I hope you can use them in your classroom.  I’d love to hear what ideas you use for moving and motivating your students to increase learning.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Student-Engagement-Activities-Mega-Bundle-for-Middle-School-Math-2679833
 

Happy teaching!!