Alyssa Owens tells us about her Action Based Learning Experience at Haskett Junior High School in Katy ISD

School Spotlight | Haskett Junior High 

I quickly implemented all I could for my students. In movement through the district when I got to an intermediate school after 4 years in elementary I was quick to want to implement not only the strategies I had learned, but bring more kinesthetic furniture into my classroom. I began teaching newcomers, so not only did this help to make an impact on my students learning of the content but of the English language as well. After three years at Budewig intermediate in Alief I then moved to Haskett Junior High in Katy where I am now teaching 8th grade U.S. History for my second year and dance for the first year. Implementing movement can be trickier for older students until you tell them the "why" behind it and it begins to click for them and they understand how important movement is to learning. I continue to have my kinesthetic seating that my students utilize when in my class. 

I currently have kinesthetic furniture within my classroom at my campus, I do my best to implement multiple strategies in my lessons that get students up and learning, and I have recently made sure to open up my knowledge to other colleagues to learn some of these strategies so that they too can implement movement in their content areas.

Before I was not aware of the positive aspects that movement had, but things like having my third graders skip across the blacktop at the beginning of the year to determine who my struggling readers were helped me to implement strategies to improve their reading skills. I have utilized other kinesthetic strategies to build relationships with my students throughout the years. I have watched students who had a difficult time learning vocabulary and new concepts learn it through movement. 

Movement is implemented in different lessons during a 45 minute class period. Students utilize kinesthetic furniture throughout the class period while learning new content. 

"Exercise grows brain cells" and ultimately our students need different ways to learn and for information to continue to stick with them. It also gives students an outlet in a social emotional way to make connections with others. With the COVID pandemic a lot of our students felt the effects of it and movement helps to increase not only their brain power but their social power as well. Helping to understand the brain and the effects exercise has on it is crucial to us helping our students become the best person they can ultimately be. 

While at Heflin Elementary data was collected that showed students reading achievement scores, through iStation, increase after utilizing the ABL lab. Behavior issues also decreased for students while utilizing the lab at Heflin from 2014-2018.

The best advice I could give for this is: trial and error. Trying new things and figuring out what works for your group of students is key. What works for one group of students does not always work for each of your groups. 

Come and try it, watch the students learn, and become engaged in what they are doing. Track your data and progress within your classroom to help show your students growth. Start small, even with a group of teacher friends, and rock what you know and show the growth and improvement that your students are having. Having students also write about how Action Based Learning and movement has impacted them is always helpful as well. Don't ever quit!

I have a student who has a difficult time reading and maintaining his focus at times. It is the students first year in public school. I asked the student to skip for me which showed me his deficit in reading and the reason behind him not enjoying reading. We have been working hard to improve his scores in all his classes as reading is fundamental to all his classes. We have been practicing crossing the midline, doing activities like skipping, rolling, and talking about how we can gradually improve his memorization with movement. His grades have begun to improve from the beginning of the year and we are aiming to improve them even more so as the year progresses to all A's and B's. 

In a majority of my classes' students have begun to use movement to recall information while testing and explaining to other students content they have learned. Recall times have become faster due to movement and they seem to be more engaged in our daily lessons when movement is involved. 

Classroom Balance balls might be just what the doctor ordered to help children reach their full potential in the classroom, especially for those with sensory processing disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or just a strong need to fidget! In 2003, a study was published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy concluded that in students with ADHD, sitting on therapy balls improved behavior and legible word productivity. In other words, students using ball chairs were able to sit still, focus, and write more words clearly.