By incorporating student movement in the classroom and on the turf, Athlos’ focus on physical activity and a healthy lifestyle shows to effect student behavior.
Movement breaks are less so much “breaks” as they are opportunities for students to develop motor and social skills, improve memory recall, and increase productivity throughout the rest of the day.
Movement breaks effect classroom engagement and behavior.
Researchers have found that students who are more active tend to exhibit better focus, cognitive processing, and improved memory recall than children who spend the time sitting still during class.
The Athlos Movement and Character Program encourages teachers to hold short movement breaks during class. Depending on the teacher, these can be standalone breaks that can aid student focus, or they can be related to the lesson of the day.
“I’ve noticed that the more movement we have in the classroom, the better behaved the students are,” said Katie Jacobson, an teacher at a partner school implementing the Athlos Program. “It allows students a chance to get their bodies moving before I ask them to sit still. It allows them to really explore their surroundings in a safe and structured way which minimizes off task behaviors.”
Physical activity boosts student focus and brain activity.
While many schools are replacing physical education with recess, the Athlos Program not only encourages schools to holds recess and free play, but to take it a step further with added instructor-led movement classes.
Dan Price, a teacher at an Athlos partner school, said “The teachers that I’ve spoken with noticed a marked difference in the students on the day they don’t have athletic movement (PE) versus the days that they do.”
During recess, students don’t have to move around or interact with others, whereas in an instructor-led movement class, students are required to move and engage with one another. This encourages students to take part in social interactions, participate, meet new people, and try new things.
“Recess and breaks tend to encourage social interactions, we can still have that in athletic movement, but we are doing it with a purpose.” – Dan Price
Movement is the key to success.
Movement is the key to success.From gym classes to movement breaks in the classrooms, Athlos encourages schools to keep students active both mentally and physically. However, behavior can still be a challenge and lead teachers to become more creative with their classrooms.
“My whole class last year is a perfect example of improvement,” said Jacobson. “The class was very out of control and had high energy and high behavior issues. When I introduced the five for five movement break (five movements in five minutes) it dramatically reduced the behaviors I was seeing.”
“The students were calmer and more focused and stayed in their seats longer.” – Katie Jacobson
The goal is to increase student health, morale, and productivity.
Athlos offers a robust solution for schools – a program that combines character development with an intentional movement curriculum and approach. When applied together, they can help improve student social emotional skills, behavior, and physical health.
“Sometimes students, especially the younger ones, struggle with socializing and staying on task,” said Price. “We try to foster that social development by keeping social-emotional learning goals at the forefront. I think that students with behavioral challenges tend to love movement because it’s less structured in their minds.”
Research tells us that body movement is linked to increased classroom productivity and improved behavior. By incorporating movement throughout the school day, students not only confirm this research, but show promise for the future of education.