I visited a fifth grade math class a couple weeks ago to observe the teacher's methods and compare those to what I've experienced in my 2/3 split. At one point, when the kids seemed to be tiring and responses were dwindling, the teacher brought the class to their feet and involved them in a spirited game of Simon Says. We all got the blood flowing to our brains and went back to work after about 5 or 6 minutes of fun. We've had quick exercise breaks in our 2/3 split but never anything taking that much time or involving that much fun. It seemed to have the desired effect so I tried it last week. My cooperating teacher was out and we had a substitute. I was teaching the math lesson she had prepared. Our math period is 80 minutes - a long time for 2nd and 3rd graders. Somewhere in the middle I brought them to their feet just as I'd seen in the 5th grade class. Of course they loved it and I suppose they like me a little better too. The substitute teacher said she approved because she thought it was effective.
I also accompanied one of our 3rd graders to his OT/PT session one day. He goes regularly to work on fine motor skills. It was very interesting. The session began with the student warming up on some gym equipment. The specialist had me do the same so I would understand exactly what was going on. I did everything he did during that half hour. We wrote with battery powered vibrating pens to help us learn to control our fine motor movements. We sat on exercise balls. We stepped on two foot long plastic boards and shifted our weight to make them walk across the room. This session was unlike any lesson I'd seen before. It gives me an understanding of what my 3rd grader is doing when he's pulled out of class.
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