If you’re like me, you’ve been a
loyal GoNoodle user for a while now. You love it. Your kids love it. You’re
even singing “Run Like a Kitty Kitty” while you fold the laundry.
But what if I told you you could
take it a step further and even use it to enhance your classroom behavior
system?!
In my classroom it looks like this:
we usually take at least two brain breaks per day REGARDLESS OF BEHAVIOR – one in the
morning and one in the afternoon because, as we all know, KIDS NEED TO MOVE!
But recently I started letting a
student who has been demonstrating my classroom expectations CHOOSE the brain
break. People, you’d think I gave them $100.
I use ClassDojo to award my
students points when they demonstrate positive behavior. These behaviors
include working quietly, staying on task, helping others, participating, etc.
When they earn a certain number of points, they get to choose a reward in
class. The most popular reward is “Choose a Brain Break!” They live for that
reward, and it costs me NOTHING.
I use the cards that I found on
this post on the GoNoodle Blog: Brain Break Tickets.
My “Show & Tell” cards are
wrinkled. The “Choose Your Seat for the Day” cards have kids names written all
over them.
But my “Choose a Brain Break” cards
are so popular they are disappearing. I’ve had to print more at least three
times, and we’ve only been in school for seven weeks!! They LOVE them!
And the best part: no more running
to the store at lunch because I forgot to pick up a bag of candy the night
before. No more worrying about having a behavior reward everyone likes, won’t
affect their allergies, or that fits in with my corporation’s health initiative.
The same applies for those of you
who have a treasure box in your classroom. Save your time, money, and space,
and try letting them choose a brain break instead.
Give your kids the gift of
GoNoodle. And then let them CHOOSE. You’ll be glad you did.
