THE INQUIRY
How can whole-body movement be best used in an elementary setting to maximize students’ cognitive function and reduce undesired behaviours?
“Sometimes I can’t help my spinning; I just need to move.”
Welcome to our early elementary class where we team-teach over 40 high needs students, some of whom rely heavily on physical activity as their primary means to express inattention, frustration or excess energy. Particularly in the season of frigid air and indoor recess, our students sometimes struggle to restrict movement to safe, appropriate contexts and occasionally demonstrate a lack of spatial awareness. However, when presented with structured, whole-body movement activities, we observe that our students often experience higher levels of engagement, faster response time and an overall decrease in undesired behaviors such as calling out, yelling, hitting, spinning and pushing/shoving. This inquiry aims to explore a variety of content-related, whole-body movement activities and their ability to potentially heighten academic performance and minimize the above behaviors.
This inquiry intends to explore a variety of content-related, whole-body movement activities; each of which will be researched, implemented in a related lesson and collaboratively reflected upon to determine its efficacy in improving engagement and response time as well as its ability to minimize the previously mentioned behaviours. Findings show that peer presence encourages student participation in whole-body movement (Fedewa & Ahn, 2011) therefore, each activity will be conducted in a small group or whole class environment with consideration of individual personalities to minimize disruption. This process will be repeated on a regular basis, and each week three activities will be uploaded and available for public display. This decision is based on the discovery that physical activity is most effective in promoting academic achievement when implemented three or more times per week (Fedewa & Ahn, 2011). The collection will then be refined to reflect the activities best suited to our students at this time; it will be drawn upon for the remainder of the school year using a collaborative recommendation and 5-point scale. Less-suited activities will remain available for subsequent years when the dynamics and context of the student group change.
CURRENTLY IN CLASSA number of our students sit on wiggle stools in place of traditional desk chairs. These stools have a curved bottom and allow the individuals who need it most the opportunity to move and rock while they work or listen to instructions.
Because these stools amplify movement, they function particularly well as indicators of restlessness for the whole class. When students become hyper-active on the wiggle stools, they begin to spin and travel over increasing amounts of floor-space; patterns that can be more noticeable than the quiet twiddling of fingers. As a result, the movement patterns of students on wiggle chairs often helps inform us when students need a movement break and for how long. Ideally, breaks are implemented before students begin to spin to prevent extreme behaviours. |
CURRENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELSIt is important to note the amounts of physical activity that students were getting both before and during this inquiry. These periods play a large role in both classroom behaviour and management as students often react to changes in their regular scheduling.
Typically, students receive a 45-minute physical education class twice per week in the afternoon. We have noticed that some of our more active students struggle to moderate their behaviours early in the morning due to the absence of physical activity. Students also receive two 15-minute recess breaks every day as well as a 25-minute outdoor lunch break. In particular, we have observed that these recesses have the largest effect in comparison on student behaviour and on-task behaviour. |
How were behaviours defined during the inquiry process?
For the purposes of this particular inquiry, 'on-task' behaviours are synonymous with 'desired' actions as 'off-task' mannerisms are with 'undesired' outbursts. This is simply due to our individual circumstances; our current student group has the ability to transition directly into behavioural extremes depending on the day's dynamics. However, it is important to recognize that every group of students is different and to highlight that student behaviour can change dramatically by the day, week or even month depending on a wide range of external factors including change in daily routine, sleep-patterns, diet or medication.
To clarify the upcoming rhetoric, 'on-task' or 'desired' behaviour is taken to include the following:
For the additional purposes of this discussion, 'off-task' or 'undesired' behaviour will be defined to encompass the following:
To clarify the upcoming rhetoric, 'on-task' or 'desired' behaviour is taken to include the following:
- gathering necessary materials and self-starting appropriate instructional tasks
- engaging in focused, meaningful discussion with peers and working collaboratively to achieve common goals
- seeking assistance where required and practicing self-advocacy
- listening attentively to instructions when given and acting on their behalf when appropriate
For the additional purposes of this discussion, 'off-task' or 'undesired' behaviour will be defined to encompass the following:
- yelling, calling out or interrupting during inappropriate times
- circulating the classroom during inappropriate times by running, skipping or emulating animal walks
- speaking defiantly to peers and teachers or refusing to comply with classroom policy
- engaging in fights or play-fights, headlocks, wrestling, slapping, hitting or shoving
THE INQUIRY ENVIRONMENTDepending on the day's schedule and classroom dynamic, each activity was implemented at a specific time that best suited the needs of our students. While activities were always conducted in a whole-class or small group setting to support scientific findings, this meant that the location changed regularly; our students quickly learned to move in a wide variety of spaces under the supervision of a teacher. Activities were chosen beforehand for each piece of of our instructional day and executed as necessary according to the behaviour patterns of our students.
For our students, movement is no longer restricted to the gym. Please see the master list for a detailed description of when, where and how each activity took place throughout the instructional day. For reference, the activities were conducted in the following environments:
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Final update: Did this inquiry make a difference?
As my time with these students draws to a close, it provides a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon the efficacy of the activities and the results of the inquiry. I've learned some important things by implementing these activities on a regular basis. First: all movement is not equal. Every individual activity is characterized by a unique energy level, curricular connection and physical requirement. Each of these characteristics has their own relationship with classroom dynamic, and depending on the day students can react strongly (both positively and negatively) to their implementation. To be truly successful, a teacher must consider the activities the result of a variety of contextual variables; they are less movement breaks and more individual lessons.
Continuing from this result, it is also important to recognize that there exists a direct correlation between the number of physical activity breaks and students' trust in their newfound environment. From the first week to the last, we were able to see a huge progression in student behaviour. As students accepted movement as part of both their daily and weekly routine, students increasingly trusted both the physical and psychological safety of the environment; they also decreased off-task behaviours during the sessions as they became regular and were accompanied by a consistent set of expectations. This progression made the activities increasingly successful, and students scored higher on many of the latter activities.
The results of the research (increased academic performance and minimization of off-task behaviour) were observed to be true, but indeed expected. However, it is the unpublished results that made the biggest difference in our classroom. Because students can sometimes perceive themselves as more vulnerable when participating in physical activity under direct observation, this inquiry also strengthened a number of student-teacher and peer-to-peer relationships. Students often approached during lunch or recess, asking to engage in similarly styled physical activity or self-starting alternate games. Movement became safe, and daily levels of physical activity rose because of it. Kids truly felt safe to be kids and to me, that defines the success of this inquiry.
Continuing from this result, it is also important to recognize that there exists a direct correlation between the number of physical activity breaks and students' trust in their newfound environment. From the first week to the last, we were able to see a huge progression in student behaviour. As students accepted movement as part of both their daily and weekly routine, students increasingly trusted both the physical and psychological safety of the environment; they also decreased off-task behaviours during the sessions as they became regular and were accompanied by a consistent set of expectations. This progression made the activities increasingly successful, and students scored higher on many of the latter activities.
The results of the research (increased academic performance and minimization of off-task behaviour) were observed to be true, but indeed expected. However, it is the unpublished results that made the biggest difference in our classroom. Because students can sometimes perceive themselves as more vulnerable when participating in physical activity under direct observation, this inquiry also strengthened a number of student-teacher and peer-to-peer relationships. Students often approached during lunch or recess, asking to engage in similarly styled physical activity or self-starting alternate games. Movement became safe, and daily levels of physical activity rose because of it. Kids truly felt safe to be kids and to me, that defines the success of this inquiry.