Blog #4: Change Things Up!

This post is for grades 1-8.

Your Students Need Integrated Movement Throughout the Day

Are your students getting "spring fever?" Are you feeling a bit stale? Well we have an idea for you – add more integrated movement into your lessons!

Waldorf teachers know that when we want our students to learn a new concept or skill the best approach is to engage them through their feeling life–and one way to reach their feeling life is by getting them to move! 

Not only does Waldorf know that movement is an important channel to learning, so do mainstream education experts. In his book Teaching with the Brain in Mind, Eric Jensen writes that brain research reveals that movement "strengthens learning, improves memory and retrieval, and enhances learner motivation, and morals." 

So if movement is important, how can teachers make sure that they are getting the most out of that time while avoiding getting stuck in the same old "sit and get" model of teaching during most of main lesson? One way to do this: get rid of your 'morning circle!' (Morning Circle is defined as the first 20-60 minutes of each main lesson devoted to movement, music, and speech.) 

Instead of 'morning circle,' we urge you to consider past Pedagogical Director, Christof Wiechert's, strong suggestion in his essay "Rethinking the Threefold Division of the Main Lesson." (Article found at http://www.waldorftoday.com/2011/01/rethinking-the-threefold-division-of-the-main-lesson-christof-weichert/.) In his article Wiechert encourages teachers to limit the initial opening (circle) part of main lesson to 15 minutes. How do teachers do that? Shorten movement time in that section and intersperse movement exercises throughout main lesson-especially during transitions! This shift will keep students in: 1) peak mental states of calm arousal, 2) cut down on inappropriate behavior, 3) stimulate neural networks that promote learning, and 4) bring your lessons in alignment with the healthy in–breath and out–breath recommended by Rudolf Steiner in The Study of Man or The Foundations of Human Experience. 

We love sharing our integrated movement ideas with teachers. You'll find our favorite activities in our Integrated Movement Energizers for Grades 1-3 and Integrated Movement Energizers for Grades 4-8 in our "How To" section of this website in the "Plan and Present a Main Lesson" subsection. 

You can also find additional ideas for Grades 1-4 in various files in the 'More Resources' section of each grade. Be sure to check the grade above and below you as well for ideas that might work for your class.