The Breakfast Club – #BFC530 – is a 15 minute, 1 question Twitter chat every weekday. We chat in 4 timezones Mon-Fri – 5:30am Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific Times. The mission of BFC is to empower participants to make a difference in education by engaging in consistent reflective practice in a supportive community that inspires and challenges one another.
Good Morning #bfc530. Kevin, 7th grade history teacher from NW NJ checking in from the diner. Today wearing my 1970’s style Orioles hat to honor the only @baseballhall of Famer I ever met, Mike Mussina.
Just movement and small exercises as a group. For our state testing days, we walk/run on the track prior to the start of the session. Switching classes helps get some of the wiggles out too. #bfc530
Have you ever used brain breaks? What have you tried and do you feel like they have helped?
@drknicki#BFC530
& add to the question bank: https://t.co/16LoC576RB
Have you ever used brain breaks? What have you tried and do you feel like they have helped?
@drknicki#BFC530
& add to the question bank: https://t.co/16LoC576RB
Magic moment yesterday..my youngest/smallest student stood up, on her own, during a dance party in our class (totally student organized) & did a beautiful solo singing and dance to “Let It Go!” My quietest and shyest student! I cried with joy! #bfc530#StarfishClub#JoyfulLeaders
Happy Friday! Brain breaks...well, if you mean plan with adding in consistent movement and intentional breaking up of concentration with talk or activities...every day. If you mean Googling specific procedures and doing a named ‘brain break strategy’ .. no 🙄😂 #bfc530
Have you ever used brain breaks? What have you tried and do you feel like they have helped?
@drknicki#BFC530
& add to the question bank: https://t.co/16LoC576RB
We do fitness goal rotations every day for fifteen minutes: pull ups, sit ups, weights, balance postures, etc. right between writing time and math. It does wonders. #bfc530
Easy to see the importance of brain breaks in middle school. That four or five minutes between classes can totally revive students and help them get ready to learn in the next classroom. I always tried to break up the time mid-period as well. #bfc530
Remember 1st time as teacher reading boredom in my students. I had two female students in two different classes, typically focused, but when zoned out would pull a few strands of hair in front of their face. Knew if I lost them I lost everyone so I would change it up #bfc530
Related to the “magic moment” I just tweeted...spontaneous dance parties can be incredible opportunities for a brain break. It is sometimes truly magical to watch my kids come alive in ways that surprise me...in such great ways! #bfc530
Have you ever used brain breaks? What have you tried and do you feel like they have helped?
@drknicki#BFC530
& add to the question bank: https://t.co/16LoC576RB
Good morning #BFC530. Happy Friday. Periodically we just stop what we are doing and have a mental break. This can be just chatting, listening to music or physically going for a walk.
Not to sound shallow, but ... our Sunshine Committee is hosting a pancake breakfast for the staff this morning and it makes me a very happy dude #bfc530
I'm not in the classroom but do understand the importance of brain breaks 4 all.
I've recently started doing this. For me, it's usually a quick lap or 2 (inside) around school and/or a classroom visit. Walking gets blood to the brain, talking 2 S's just makes me smile! #bfc530
Have you ever used brain breaks? What have you tried and do you feel like they have helped?
@drknicki#BFC530
& add to the question bank: https://t.co/16LoC576RB
Brain breaks usage? Yes, assuming we are talking about metacognition exercise. Pause. Reflect. Revisit what Ss said, learned, or covered. Stop + reflect. Journals can be brain pause in motion. #bfc530
Good morning, #bfc530!
Greetings from the Jersey shore. It's a Friday and the gods are cruel today. Down to one coffee filter. Have to wait until the wife wakes up before I can caffeinate :(
PT. 1 Brain breaks? Yes! Especially for the littles! Last year, I ended each days news with something from @GoNoodle and even the 5th graders loved it. Centers in the library this year are a longer brain break. #BFC530
Brain breaks ... I have the kids for 45 minutes ... I don’t have official breaks ... I do pay attention to their frustration level and help there. #bfc530
Good morning! I use brain breaks for my hs ss, we have 90 class periods and sometimes they just need to get up. I send them for a walk down the hall and back - sometimes I ask them to talk about what we’ve been learning in class. Should be a brisk walk, never is 🙄 teens! #BFC530
Hello, Culliope from NH here. Happy Friday! I try to work movement into the lesson structure so getting up and moving is part of what we do anyway. But if I can see the kids are fading out, I will do a quick break #bfc530
Agree. I never mind walking in to start the class seeing my students standing and talking. We've taken a lot of that unstructured time out of the school day. #bfc530
We do these little vocab review game where students have to get up, get a scrap piece of paper, move to another seat, take the "game quiz" and then move back to original seat. Main reason is retain vocab of unit, side benefit it gives them a legitimate to move #bfc530
I like brain breaks...for me, let alone the kids! Playing "Would You Rather" about a topic or issue is a great way to maintain the academic mindset while getting them moving, too. #bfc530
PT. 2 With it being "go time" all of the time in class simply due to the tremendous amount of learning happening in the classrooms, centers have become a brain break for all of my classes. #BFC530
It’s on our schedule. I put up the pull up bar in the door frame, have bought sets of weights and they rotate around the classroom. Usually we graph our data but I’ve been slack this year! Mom was a PE T for yrs and a great inspiration. #bfc530
Good morning everyone- I'm thinking about how students are so skilled at taking their own brain breaks when they've had enough or need some time before starting something new- how it looks different for each student. #bfc530
I may have freshmen, but when I read that there’s no energy in the room, it’s time for #goNoodle. “banana, banana, meatball” is our classic go to. I also have a box of wood blocks and triangles to add to the mix #bfc530
And I never had a problem with students being loud in the halls between classes. They need that time to let go a little, and walking quietly in a line isn't going to do it. #bfc530
In my math classes (and other subjects too) we work at #vnps where v=vertical so Ss are standing as they problem solve. They walk to visit other groups & ask Qs. It's a 75-monute long break from sitting. (not a break from thinking though)
#BFC530#ThinkingClassroom
How about kids who go to the bathroom more than necessary just b/c they need a break? I know teachers who want to curb it but for me I think…I WAS that kid, I get it. Sometimes you need that walk to get your focus in class again. Still do #bfc530
Sometimes I wonder if we over think things in Education ... like we won’t do something ... like take a break ... unless it has some sort of Academic/trendy sounding name ... “Brain Break” ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯... I’m taking a break with no apologies. #bfc530
Brain breaks with movement help mix up who sits where and talks to who. If you have to find a partner you haven't talked to yet today, etc. I partner kids up randomly based on # vowels in your names, bday, etc. figuring that out and getting in line is it's own brain break!#bfc530
So true! We need to recognize that walking over to sharpen a pencil, doodling, taking a quick look at a phone, zoning out for a minute, etc. could all be a student's way of taking a unplanned brain break at a time when they need one. #bfc530
Good morning everyone- I'm thinking about how students are so skilled at taking their own brain breaks when they've had enough or need some time before starting something new- how it looks different for each student. #bfc530
Even though I was a straight a student w a mom for a teacher, I actually taught myself how to get the hiccups when I was a kid so I could be sent out for a drink. Funny, and a little sad, but true! 😂 #bfc530
#LGM You were a good man in my eyes already Karl, but posting that hashtag is just more confirmation of the strong character you must have being a Mets fan #bfc530
Strategy I think? Also maybe more a numb butt break based on what people are describing b/c it sounds like many of them involve thinking. But common element seems to be movement. #Bfc530
Sometimes ppl need those fancy phrases to justify what we know is good practice. Did you get bombarded w/Harry Wong in college? In my early years of teaching I felt guilty if I wasn't "always on task". Eventually, I came to realize Harry Wong was wrong. #bfc530
I agree. We have our own class bathroom and some Ss hang out for awhile. It doesn't bother me but I put in a basket of books in case they also want to get some reading time in :) #bfc530
All the time. Students all have different things that work for them. Brain breaks work when they are intentionally set and have an end time. Walk to the bathroom, listen to music, colour or draw, sit in another room, do a puzzle... etc etc #BFC530
I wasn't an Ed major in college ... my 1st year teaching i heard people referencing Wong ... and because I have a very shallow sense of humor (and I have a middle school age mind) i always thought they were joking. #bfc530
#bfc530 In a role that can sometimes require a lot of office work, a brain break for me is taking a 20-minute walk, walking down the hall to answer an email in person (imagine that!), or popping into a class for a quick observation. Really helps me refresh.
Have you ever used brain breaks? What have you tried and do you feel like they have helped?
@drknicki#BFC530
& add to the question bank: https://t.co/16LoC576RB
#bfc530 For students, anything that can be done standing up--turn and talk, carousel, stand in two rows facing each other then talk then switch. All good.
Have you ever used brain breaks? What have you tried and do you feel like they have helped?
@drknicki#BFC530
& add to the question bank: https://t.co/16LoC576RB
Yesterday was a dark, rainy day. My most energetic class looked so tired were not into the discussion of current events in Venezuela like other classes were. They told me if I played a few minutes of this video, they would wake up. It worked #bfc530https://t.co/3y6oViQFvw
I've never thought about why we call it a brain break but I first learned of it from my mother-in-law who used the phrase to teach her students why we do it. Every moment is a "teachable moment" for her. #bfc530
Of the brain breaks I have tried, the ones that feel fun for my students (little games, riddles, or brain teasers) seem more effective than breathing techniques. It could also be my high school students.
But this is a good reminder for me to integrate more brain breaks.
#bfc530
