Teachers Learning to Do Brain Gym Activities

Teachers and supervisors of babies to 3rd graders, owners of daycares, homeschool teachers, and others  come to the Early Childhood Conference.  During the day they attend various classes.  These attended my class where they had fun learning some Brain Gym Activities and how to use them with children.

Another Aid in Helping Us Learn Easier and More Effectively

Are you right-handed? Left-handed? Are you right-brained? Left-brained? We all know if we are right-handed or left-handed. Many of us have also heard about left-brained or right-brained. What we may not know is that we also have a dominate foot, ear, and eye and that this information can help us to learn easier and/or better. Last week I took a Brain Gym class to learn more about this and how it impacts our learning.

One of the first things we did in class was to determine our personal unique learning style, based on the side of the brain, eye, ear, hand, and foot that is dominant for us. I found that I am "mixed". My dominate brain side is the right side (No surprise there!) with my dominate hand and ear being right also. However, my dominate eye and foot are on the left side. That gave me the appropriately named learning stye as "mixed". You may be thinking, : "Is that good?", "Is it bad?", "What does that mean?" It is like so many things about us. It is neither. However, having this information can give us insight about the way we learn and react to things.
Because each of us is unique, we do and see similar things differently. How often have we watched people load a dishwasher differently than we do, start to draw a picture in a different way than we would, or even put a picture puzzle together differently! As we learn more about our unique learning style, we are better equipped to learn. Some of the exciting things I learned in this class were: how we can learn to help children who struggle to learn more easily; that if we struggle, it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with us, but it is just that we learn differently; and how movement, in this case using Brain Gym Activities, can help to access the whole brain resulting in more effective and easier learning;

Cross Crawls: Prepare for Tests; Let go of Frustration

To engage the whole brain before beginning testing, do some Cross Crawls. They help recall information, resolve problems, and remain calm.

Have you ever gotten frustrated and the harder you try, the more you seem to make mistakes? When that happens, you are in what is called "survival mode”. You are not accessing your whole brain. If you will do some Cross Crawls, it can help you get the whole brain working again. Your frustration will diminish and you will be able to perform easier and more accurately.

I saw this recently as I worked with one of my tutoring students. As he worked on some exercises, he became tense and began making more mistakes increasing his frustration. I asked him to do some Cross Crawls. After he finished, he sat down and was able to proceed easily.

Cross Crawls

Bring one leg and opposite arm together. Then bring the other leg and its opposite arm together. Repeat rhythmically for about one minute. 

Tip: Take a Break. Play "Simon Says"!

Whether it is a break with an entire classroom or a just a few children. "Simon says" is always a fun and great way to move. You can lead or they can. Simon says point to the south. Simon says point to five pieces of information on the walls. Simon says point to the new poster put up this morning. Use other movements than pointing, such as bending, turning, or twisting. How about jumping, lifting one leg or putting your left hand on your right shoulder while lifting your right leg. Make it simple. Make it more complicated. Just remember that movement is the key to learning.

Tip: ADHD Behaviors; Sit or Stand?

Have you noticed that some kids and adults, too, find it hard to stay seated when they are working? This isn’t new. Winston Churchill wrote most of his books standing up at a “standing desk". Standing desks are available today too. I recently saw a desk constructed for those who like to stand which also allowed them to swing a leg. However, these desks are a bit pricey, so it maybe more practical to let kids stand while working. For some it works better. The movement can help them to focus better.