justplainbil

Just Plain Bill

Observations by a Substitute Teacher IV

Last fall, I substituted in an Alt School, a private school that focuses on “alternative” teaching/learning methods. As I helped team-teach there, I found their slogan – Technology and knowledge are transforming society at an accelerating rate. It’s time to accelerate our thinking about learning – to be lacking in some of the basic understandings of the behavioral and developmental needs of very young children.

You may wonder how I can speak negatively about an innovative program, especially one baked by some prominent leaders in the field of technology. My opinions come from many decades of practical experience in educational leadership and advanced education.

The first clue that this slogan may not be in the best interests of students as young as four-years of age is a young child’s need for physical movement to help facilitate learning, especially first thing in the morning. There are several studies that focus on the link between movement and brain development. Real Mom Nutrition reports on the necessity of Brain Breaks, and Wikipedia provides a comprehensive overview of all the ways that physical exercise can enhance learning.

The following paragraph presents an uncompromising reality: Ideally students should be getting physical activity before they try to learn new material… However, if it is not possible for students to have physical activity before class, there are many ways to get students out of their seats and moving during a class period. Students can get out of their seats to turn an assignment in or to pick up a handout. You could have students stand up to share their answers to questions posed by the teacher… Once they get out of their seats and move around for a bit they will act more alert. Students that struggle to stay focused or are seen as disruptive can benefit greatly from movement in the classroom.

As I observed the four and five-year olds constantly being reminded to “keep still”, I noticed that their feet, with shoes off, were in constant movement. I was reminded of a kindle of kittens in perpetual motion. The youngsters had to wait over an hour before they could let off some of their natural energy, which, if done sooner in their day, would have enhanced learning.   

This is also especially true when working with special-needs learners. A study by Reynolds and colleagues (2003) found that children with dyslexia were helped by a movement program. Those in the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement in dexterity, reading, verbal fluency, and semantic fluency than did the control group. The exercising group also made substantial gains on national standardized tests of reading, writing, and comprehension in comparison with students in the previous year.

Finally, in reflecting on my personal experiences as a child, my difficulty in “keeping still” could have been positively addressed by allowing movement before quiet learning.