Never marry a tennis player. Love means nothing to them.

How crazy is it that this is our last blog for the semester?! I know that I am excited about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In my classroom this week, I had an observation, and I was extremely nervous for that, but it went well and the feedback was very helpful! My CE showed me the books that they are going to be reading during PDP meetings next semester, and showed me where to buy them at. These PDP meetings will help teachers with passing the Reading Foundation Test. So, if I do not pass the test when I take it this semester, I will have a lot of my time spent studying for it at these PDP meetings. My teacher explained in detail what the folders on top of each desk were. Turns out that each of those folders have a students name on them, and they have differentiated work inside each of them that is specific to that kid! I thought that those folders were a wonderful! They use these folders during WIN time, but this is the first I got to observe that, because they were finally not testing. I also observed some students take the STAR test today, and noticed a lot of them were just clicking answers to be done with it, and my CE noticed that and made them take it again during their free time.

For us in college, when we think of a brain break, we think about going home or away for the weekend. This past weekend, I was able to go home, and it was a wonderful brain break for me! I came back to school refreshed and ready to go. I think that everyone needs a brain break everyone in a while, and that is including our students. I found a great article on Edutopia talking about the importance of brain breaks in the classroom, and different strategies to implement brain breaks into the classroom. “When we take a brain break, it refreshes our thinking and helps us discover another solution to a problem or see a situation through a different lens. During these few minutes, the brain moves away from learning, memorizing, and problem solving. The brain break actually helps to incubate and process new information” (Edutopia). Some of the activities that the article suggests are as follows; A Squiggle Story is when students, on a blank sheet of paper, whiteboard, or Promethean Board, draw one squiggly line. Give students one minute to stand and draw with their opposite hand, turning the line into a picture or design of their choice. Another activity is called, Opposite Sides. Movement is critical to learning. Have students stand and blink with the right eye while snapping the fingers of their left hand. Repeat this with the left eye and right hand. Students could also face one another and tap the right foot once, left foot twice, and right foot three times, building speed they alternate toe tapping with their partner. This article has a ton more activities to have small brain breaks throughout the day in your classroom. I encourage each of you to look at this article and find a few strategies and activities you can use in your classroom. 

This article hits on the NCPTS number one, because I think it takes great teacher leadership to distinguish when your class needs a brain break. As teachers, we will sometimes think we need to push through the day to get everything finished that we need too. However, they are human too, and we all need a brain break every once in a while in order to absorb the material we want them to learn. 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-breaks-focused-attention-practices-lori-desautels