Over the summer, Alice Keeler, wrote about the fabulousness that is Move It – a Chrome Extension. In short, you can set a timer for regular intervals at which time a screen appears prompting you to exercise. The activities are quick and vary from rubbing your left arm with your right hand to 10 jumping jacks to taking deep breaths (and so many more). I began using it, as I have a tendency to sit at my computer and work for hours on end. I found it to be refreshing and really enjoyed the breaks.
I have always liked the idea of ‘Brain Breaks’ and often tried to incorporate them into my classroom. The problem was that I often forgot and got sucked up into whatever lesson we were doing. Now, the beauty of this extension is that the suggested activity is on a timer, and takes over your whole screen. I CAN’T ignore it!
So starting on the first day of school, I set the intervals at 15 minutes, turned on the projector, and Moved! Now being the first day of school, we were in our ‘Honeymoon’ period. You know that time when everyone is on their best behavior. So the first time it appeared, the students weren’t sure what to make of it. I read it aloud, and told them to stand up and do the activity (touch right hand to bottom of left foot, then left hand to bottom of right foot 10 times). Most thought it was fun, a few were still a little shy. However, as the day progressed, they were all more than eager to do the activities.
There are so many benefits to this: movement gets the blood flowing, blood brings oxygen to the brain, oxygen is good, it breaks up the monotony of the day, and…It’s fun! I HIGHLY recommend this for ALL classrooms.
Nowa Techie 