'Moving' Towards Better Learning for Students

 

 

My wife and I have four boys—four squirrely boys.  They aren’t what we would consider belligerent or even really disruptive.  But each parent teacher-conference we have ever had goes about the same.  We come in, sit down, and after a bit of courteous chit-chat, the teachers inevitably say something like…

 

 

 

‘You know, we spend a lot of time trying to get your son(s) to still and be quite so that other kids can learn.’

 

 

 

As an educator and researcher with some interest in classroom management, I tended to empathize with the teacher.  But after a while, it occurred to me that these were four different boys--each with different personalities.  They varied in age, interest, attention span…you name it.  Yet, it was always the same concern—that their teachers couldn’t get them to sit still.

 

 

 

One time, instead nodding and playing along, I asked one of my boy’s teachers a question.  Actually, it was just a single word…

 

 

 

‘Why?’

 

 

 

 

References

 

Glenberg, A. (2014, July 22). How Acting Out in School Boosts Learning. Scientific American Global RSS. Retrieved July 28, 2014, from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-acting-out-in-school-boosts-learning/

 

 

 

Jensen, E. (2008). Teaching with the brain in mind. Alexandria (Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.