Adults are not the only ones experiencing cabin fever this time of year. The cold weather and indoor recess can really make our children more squirmy and less attentive. Here are a few tips to help these sweeties still learn while in school:
1. The Wiggles. Students sometimes need to wiggle to help them to fire the neurons in their brains. Leg shaking, doodling on papers, and the general wiggles are their bodies natural way to help them to pay attention. As long as children are not distracting others by making noise or touching their neighbor, my advice is to let them wiggle. (They are children after all.)
2. Time to Talk. Providing time for students to talk is also imperative for students to retain what they’ve learned. “Turn to your partner,” is a great way to engage students often in the classroom. For example, after teaching about early civilization, have students turn to a partner and tell them one thing that they’ve learned and how it applies to their life.
3. Mental Engagement is KEY! It is important that we keep student’s minds on the subject at hand and not their “wiggling behavior”. Instead of saying “Suzy, stop wiggling” (which will only draw her attention to wiggling—in which case she won’t be able to think about anything else); say, “Suzy, what do you think about what is happening on page 45?” This will bring her mind back to the subject at hand and get her to do what you really want her to do which is learn.
4. Use the Discovery Method. Children learn best when they have to search and discover information rather than be told the information. The brain is naturally curious and prefers to search for answers and then share what it has learned. For example, while teaching about poetry, teachers can ask the students to search online for narrative poems and then share their favorite one.
