Movement in the clasroom- Evovling Education

http://www.balancedandbarefoot.com/blog/the-real-reason-why-children-fidget

Last August, I took on a new adventure in the teaching world. I started teaching third grade. I happily embraced it not really knowing what it would be like. At the beginning of the school year, I questioned leaving the innocence of kindergarten many times. I was truly being challenged as an individual and professional. My timing seemed to go hand in hand with the educational shift towards more rigorous academics. The demands had been raised for the students and the teachers. Some I agreed with, others I didn't but still had to embrace and support.
After the first week of teaching third grade, I knew I had a diverse and complex group of students. As their teacher, I wanted to reach everyone of them and provide them the support they needed in third grade. Luckily that summer, I took a class on gender differences which taught about the typical classroom being ideal for females and not suitable for males. The class emphasized movement incorporated into the day and showed the science behind it all. Not only does movement help the boys but it also increases test scores and achievement for all students as well as curb behavior problems.
As a school, we implemented whole school movement once a week and incorporated 30 minutes of movement into our instruction while still having 2 recesses a day and specials.
Half way through the year, I was fortunate to participate in a grant program which taught us about high intensity movement in the classroom and how to get the most bang from your buck while using movement to enhance instruction and achievement. I started to begin my days with movement and also put it in before any major instructional time as well as before testing. I found that if I could get my students exhausted from moving, they would focus so much better and engage in the academics.
This year ended up being my most rewarding year of teaching yet. I started the year with so many behavior problems. Many of these problems were issues I didn't think I would ever deal with in third grade. Half of third grade was also below proficiency in reading. The year ended with such an amazing sense of community in third grade, very few behavior issues, and amazing growth in reading with less than 20% below proficiency. Reflecting upon the year, I credit so much of the success to movement. The students began to crave it and also knew when they needed it. As a teacher, it made the day so much more enjoyable for me too. I know I can't sit still for 8 hours straight and listen to same person talk to me. I hope more and more schools start to incorporate movement into their regular days instead of taking recess and PE away!