Sara LeBlanc of Frostwood Elementary School talks about the impact of Action Based Learning on her students and within her school!

I started teaching PE for 7 years. I moved to Kindergarten for 11 years and now I'm in my 3rd year as the Action Based Learning Facilitator / Active Learning Lab Specialist.  

Staying active is my passion. I am a marathon runner and find that on my "rest days" I am not as productive. The more I learn about ABL the more I see how crucial it is and how it goes hand in hand with learning and student performance. I feel like I'm always on my soap box preaching the importance of movement. 

Though I don't have a chance to see every single student, I did implement morning movement at my school. Every morning the students get up and moving during the announcements. Our school does live stream announcements so we are able to show different videos. I select a different video each day for a month. They range anywhere from dances, repeat after me movements, sequences using movement to guess answers, to yoga.

I am usually the "go to" person when any other labs/teachers in the district have questions. This year I helped a PreK facility set up their ABL lab and I am continuing to mentor the faculty throughout the school year. 

I started my job in the middle of the pandemic, it was difficult to get parents and teachers on board. Action Based Learning was new to me and new to the school. Parents were not allowed on campus so many didn't even know my classroom existed. I used newsletters to get information out. Last year was better, so many people had questions. The students beg to come and each year I tweak my schedule more to squeeze in the maximum amount of kids.

Most schools don't have an Action Based Learning Lab in their school so I think the lab we have sets us a little above the rest. I feel honored to be able to help these students. 

I introduced morning movement school wide and students rotate through my room on a weekly basis. Some students on a case by case scenario get to come daily or every other day. I set up a sensory path outside my room that everyone has access to. Most of our lower grades have flexible seating. I also sent the monthly morning movements to the teachers can use them as brain breaks.

Teachers do see a difference in students after they return from my room. Most teachers use brain breaks after transitions. Teachers now ask me different techniques to use for specific students to refocus.

The way the world is today, kids don't go outside and play like they used to when I was young. Kids are always attached to electronics and end up lacking in gross motor development. It is important for the primary students to bridge the learning gaps through movement. By coming to my lab students are given the opportunity move specifically and rewire their brains which results in enhanced learning and fun times for the kids.

We have less students in the office/in trouble, and our resource/SPED students are passing the STAAR test.

I've seen students transform their behaviors and really turn into likable students. I had a student that was rude and just hated everything about school and was failing math. Even his homeroom teacher didn't know what to do with him. He came to me every other day. At the beginning of the year even I dreaded the days he was around. I know relationships help but it was difficult to even get him on one of the cardio machines (which most kids beg to use). By the end of the year his confidence was up, grades were up, overall behavior was much better, and he was like a new kid. He wanted to come to my room and I looked forward to his days. He passed the STAAR math test. As far as I know the only change in his life aside from getting older was that he was a frequent in my classroom.

I have been tracking the same three students for 2 years and have seen growth academically as well as behaviorally. All these students come to me frequently due to past behavior in the classroom and 2 of them were below grade level in their reading levels. To this day, they are at or above grade levels in reading or exceeded their goal of growing 3 levels in the year. There is no negative data based on coming to the Active Learning Lab. 

One hurdle that I specifically had to overcome was that I had a new job, new position to my school, and a book to read for reference. My principal was very supportive but there was no trainings or observations I could go to because of Covid. I had to study. I read everything I could find on ABL. I watched youtube videos and set up my lab the best I could. I knew the only way I could get teachers to listen to me was to actually know what I was talking about. I went to the first ABL Summit available and learned that there isn't a wrong way and that I was doing this whole thing correctly. I also learned there was so much more to it. The Summit in the Summer is so informative and helpful.

One piece of advice I can give is: Be flexible. Some days teachers are testing and won't let you pull kids, other days I have no planning time because I'm squeezing in students that had to miss because of said testing. 

If a teacher or admin says they don't "have time" for Action Based Learning, I would tell them: Make time. If you have time for snack, you have time to do 5 minutes of movement. There's always time to squeeze in movement during transitions or reviewing for tests. It's so important for students' development.

If you are having trouble with buy-in within your school or district, don't give up. I always invited admin to come watch or any/all teachers really. I always keep my windows open so people can look in.  I did a presentation in the beginning of the year my first year introducing myself, my role and my lab. My second year, I held a mini teacher training in my room and let teachers do some stations. I put out monthly newsletters to explain the purpose of the stations to faculty, staff and parents. This year I am doing seasonal newsletters with what is going on in my room. Parents love to see pictures of their kids. I also have the "why" written out at each station so students or anyone can read why that particular station is important and what it helps you accomplish in the classroom.

If I could give one final piece of advice, it would be to set small attainable goals and grow as you can. "If you build it, they will come." -Field of Dreams