Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Shake Your Groove Thang

Lately I have been so tired after I get off work. I really couldn't figure out why since I have been going to bed at a decent hour and I feel like I have been sleeping pretty well. Then it dawned on me...I have been sitting way too much at work lately. Sitting all day makes me super tired. I don't do a lot of whole group instruction up in front of the class because my kids are on very, very different levels from each other...it's the nature of a special ed class. My kids sit at tables in pairs of two, so I roll in my chair from table to table to work with the kids.

 Making kids who are hyperactive sit in a chair for more than 20 minutes is just down right torturous (in my opinion anyway). This week I decided that we all needed to move around more. So, we spend no more than 20 minutes on a given lesson/activity (like say, Math) and then we do something where we have to move.

I did several lessons outside this week. One day were were working on basic graphing, so we made a graph of the different colors of cars in the parking lot. That meant that we had to walk all the way around the school since there is parking all the way around.

The other day I realized that many of my kids don't know their left from their right. So I used this opportunity to not only teach them left from right, but also to get up move. We moved the tables, I made all the kids stand up. I turned on the Smartboard and I played this video...



 


We all did the Cha Cha Slide! It was so much fun! And yes, even my kid in the wheel chair had to participate.

I also have this on my desk....



When you press it it plays Shake Your Groove Thing. We had a spelling pre test today. The pre test is usually on Thursday and the test on Friday, but since the kids are out on Friday our pre test was today.  Anyone who scored a 100 got to press the Boogie Button and dance with me. Six of my kids got a 100...so I had to shake my groove thing six different times.

Who else can say they have a job where they do the Cha Cha Slide and shake their groove thing...AND get paid for it.

Man, I love my job :)

15 comments:

A.J. said...

Next thing you know you will be doing Zumba!!

♥ Drazil ♥ said...

I want you for a teacher. Seriously.

Tully said...

Gosh I wish I had teachers like you when I was growing up!

What a fantastic way to keep you and the kids moving and motivated.

trishajo said...

you're so good at what you do - God bless you and your talent and big heart girlfriend :)

Unknown said...

Its great to see you are making a conscious effort to get the children up and moving!
You really are a amazing teacher.
xx

Cheri said...

I LOVE all these ideas! My active kiddo would soooooo love those ideas too! And how cool that some of your thinking came from YOU wanting to move more. :-)

It makes me happy thinking about the "happy" you bring into the days of the kids. :-) xoxoxoxo

Run, Chelle, Run! said...

I LOVE THIS! You are a great teacher, and way to incorporate all of these things for your kids.

Teachers who bring their love into the classroom are the best kind, and you just shine!

jennxaz said...

what a great idea! You are an awesome teacher!

MandaPanda said...

You sound like a fantastic teacher and good for you for incorporating some activity in your day!

Tina@The BanditGirl said...

What a creative teacher you are! As the mother of a kid with ADHD, I love you!

sweet addy said...

That's so neat! Next time, I'm gonna need to see a video of the groove thing shakin'. :)

MBFL said...

Sounds like you are a fantastic teacher who understands your kids. Schools need more teachers like you

Harmony said...

I love this post. It makes my heart happy to see that you are doing so much for your students. Rock on!

Totally agree with Terrie - schools need more teachers like you!

adorkbl said...

Way to get everyone up and moving. Love it. :) Shake your groove thang!

Rhonda said...

Come be my boys' teacher! :)