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Teach Kids to Manage Big Feelings Through Effective Social Emotional Learning

Over 80% of U.S. public schools reported in 2022 on the negative impact of the pandemic on child well-being and self-regulation. Kids are:

Struggling to manage their feelings and mental health

More disruptive in the classroom

Needing additional social, emotional, and behavioral support

(source: National Center for Education Statistics)

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The Zones of Regulation is a complete social-emotional learning curriculum, created to teach children self-regulation and emotional control.

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In July 2020, educators representing a variety of content area disciplines from across the state of Arkansas collaborated to design an innovative curriculum to support the development of the personal competency skills that all Arkansas students need to be successful at school, at home, on the job, and in the community. The G.U.I.D.E. for Life Curriculum is written for Arkansas teachers by Arkansas teachers.

Each unit contains 8-10 lessons based on the principles of GROWTH (Manage Yourself), UNDERSTANDING (Know Yourself), INTERACTION (Build Relationships), DECISIONS (Make Responsible Choices), and EMPATHY (Be Aware of Others) for grade bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.

The curriculum is versatile in that it can be taught in individual lessons, complete units, or as support to content already being taught in the classroom. The lessons include cross-curricular connections, pre- and post-assessments, as well as intervention and enrichment support. The units are "plug and play" in that all resources are linked right within the lesson plan document for easy access, along with suggestions for teacher self-care, emotional resilience, and educator reflection.

Teacher self-care and emotional resilience is critical in order to be your best both personally and professionally. The tips included for educator self-care, as well as the teacher reflection portion of each lesson, create space to think about personal mental and emotional health needs as well as best practices as an educator.

Thank you for all that you do to help Arkansas lead the nation in student-focused education!

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In July 2020, educators representing a variety of content area disciplines from across the state of Arkansas collaborated to design an innovative curriculum to support the development of the personal competency skills that all Arkansas students need to be successful at school, at home, on the job, and in the community.

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Executive Function | Cognitive Connections

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Cognitive Connections is home to the award winning 360 Thinking Method. Our programs include the Time Tracker Program and the Get Ready * Do *Done Method. We provide executive function therapy and evaluations and are internationally known for our seminars on executive function skills.

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LoveYourBrain Mindset: The Power of Resilience

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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Reflectdion sheet - metacognition.jpeg

Reflectdion sheet - metacognition.jpeg

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Don't know how much money you will need to earn in the future? Don't know which occupation to choose? No problem! Below are three options to help you select the right career for your spending needs.

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Don't know how much money you will need to earn in the future? Don't know which occupation to choose? No problem! Below are three options to help you select the right career for your spending needs.

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0:00 / 1:51•Watch full video

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The Good Behavior Game

If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device.

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3:08

0:03 / 3:08•Watch full video

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HLP #22 Positive and Corrective Feedback

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HLP #22 Positive and Corrective Feedback

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Using Feedback to Improve Student Outcomes

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Using Feedback to Improve Student Outcomes

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Behavior Motivation | Behavioral Intervention | Intervention Central

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Behavioral Intervention is a leading strategy to help educators increase classroom productivity by helping with behavior modification

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Progress Monitoring: Response to Intervention

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Progress Monitoring: Response to Intervention

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Progress Monitoring_ Response to Intervention (2)

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Executive Assessments for Young Children

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Executive Assessments for Young Children

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ESQ for young students Karen Rusinek.docx

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Exectutive Skills Questionnaire.pdf

Exectutive Skills Questionnaire.pdf

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The Executive Function Guidebook - Appendix 1.15

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The Executive Function Guidebook - Appendix 1.15

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Password Reset - We have updated our systems. If you are an exisitng user and have not reset your password since Dec 19, please reset your password now or create an account to access restricted resources.

Alternatively, contact us on:

US (and territories)please call 800-818-7243

Europe (and territories) please call +44(0)207 324 8500

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Appendix 1.1 Meet Amanda-Case StudyAppendix 1.2 Meet Carlos-Case StudyAppendix 1.3 Meet Emily-Case StudyAppendix 1.4 Meet Fariha-Case Study

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A great alternative to paper planners

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Make your own timer on YouTube.

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With the Reminders app on iOS 13 or later and iPadOS, you can create reminders with subtasks and attachments, and set alerts based on time and location. You can even assign a reminder to someone in a shared list.

Before you begin

Set up iCloud to keep your reminders updated across all your devices. Open the Settings app, then tap [your name] > iCloud and turn on Reminders. Inside the Reminders app, you'll see all of your reminders on all of your Apple devices that are signed in to the same Apple ID.

Learn more about upgrading your iCloud reminders after you update to iOS 13 or later and iPadOS.

Get started with Reminders

Create a reminder, add helpful details, then mark it complete when you've finished.

How to create a reminder

Use the quick toolbar to add notifications and more

Tap the date and time button to set a due date for the reminder. Choose from Today, Tomorrow, This Weekend or tap Date & Time to set your own day and time.

Tap the location button to assign a notification based on where you are. Select one of the options provided, or tap Custom to add your own location, choose whether you want to be notified when arriving or leaving, and set the perimeter of your reminder area.

Tap the flagged button to mark a reminder as extra important and make it appear in the Flagged smart list on the Reminders app main screen.

Tap the photos button to add an attachment to the reminder. You can take a new photo, choose an image from your photo library or scan a document.

Tap the assignment button to assign a reminder to someone you're sharing the list with. Reminders assigned to you appear in the Assigned to Me smart list on the Reminders app main screen.

Edit your reminder, get a notification when messaging, and add more info

Tap the edit details button to add even more details and customisations to your reminder, such as notes, a URL and a priority. You can also modify the reminder's notification settings and change the list that it belongs to.

Create subtasks

Tap and hold a reminder, then drag it onto another reminder. The reminder that you dragged becomes a subtask of the other.

Swipe right on a reminder, then tap Indent. The reminder becomes a subtask of the one above it. To undo this, swipe right again on the subtask and tap Outdent.

Tap a reminder, then tap the edit details button . Tap Subtasks > Add Reminder, then type your subtask. Repeat for as many subtasks as you'd like to create.

Complete a reminder

To mark a reminder as completed, tap the empty circle next to it. To see your completed reminders, tap the more button , then tap Show Completed.

Organise your reminders with lists

Want to separate your reminders into categories like work, personal or school? Create a Reminders list to keep things organised. You can customise your lists with colours and icons, and share a list with other people. And the Reminders app's built-in smart lists give you a quick view of all your reminders from across your custom lists.

How to create a new Reminders list

1. Tap Add List in the Reminders app's main screen.

2. Type a name for the list.

3. Choose a colour and an icon or an emoji to customise the list and make it easier to recognise at a glance. Icons are available only for lists that you've created in your iCloud account.

4. Tap Done.

1. Tap the list that you want to edit, then tap the more button .

2. Tap Name & Appearance.

3. Change the list's name, colour or icon.

4. Tap Done.

How to move a reminder to a different list

1. Tap a Reminders list, then tap the reminder that you want to move.

2. Tap the edit details button .

3. Tap List, then choose the list that you want to move the reminder to.

4. Tap Done.

Change the order of reminders

View your reminders in smart lists

Smart lists include reminders from all of your custom Reminders lists. In the Scheduled, All, and Flagged smart lists, you can tap the more button and select Show Completed to include your completed reminders.

Search for reminders

Tap the dictate button to search using Dictation.

Do even more with Reminders

Add a reminder easily with Siri, create a reminder from within another app, and share your lists with others.

1. Tap the list that you want to share, then tap the more button .

2. Tap Add People.

3. Choose how you'd like to invite people to your Reminders list. You can use a built-in iOS app or a third-party app.

4. Add the people you want to share the list with, then send the invitation. The steps for adding people and sending vary based on the app that you use.

1. Tap the assignment button .

2. Select the person you want to assign the reminder to.

3. Tap Done.

Add a reminder with Siri

Add a reminder from another app

With an app open, ask Siri "Remind me about this later". Or tap the share button in the app, then tap Reminders.

When you get the scheduled notification, or when you open Reminders, tap the link under the reminder to go directly to the app. You can also set a reminder when you get a phone call that you can't answer immediately. Tap Remind Me on the call screen, then choose when you want to be reminded to return the call.

Create and view reminders on your Apple Watch

The Reminders app on Apple Watch shows your iCloud reminders grouped into the same smart lists and custom lists that appear on your iPhone. Tap a list to see its reminders, and tap a reminder to mark it as completed.

You can add new reminders quickly using Siri on your Apple Watch, or by tapping Add Reminder or New Reminder within the app. Reminders that you create on your watch appear on your iPhone and other devices that are signed in to the same Apple ID.

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Use Reminders on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

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With the Reminders app on iOS 13 or later and iPadOS, you can create reminders with subtasks and attachments, and set alerts based on time and location. You can even assign a reminder to someone in a shared list. Set up iCloud to keep your reminders updated across all your devices.

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Students can create personalized screens with tools that support Organizational and Time Management skills,

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Welcome to Rainy Mood, the internet’s most popular rain sounds. Millions of people use Rainy Mood while sleeping, studying, and relaxing. Enjoy the free web version, or try the iOS/Android app with additional features.

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A 60-second meditation tool to help clear your mind

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A 60-second meditation tool to help clear your mind

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I just did nothing for 2 minutes. Can you?

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Navigating Across School, Home, and Screen Landscapes using the ILAUGH Model

Discover how the ability to think socially forms the bedrock not only for social interactions, but also for learning to write, comprehend, use narrative language, and learn in classrooms or online. In this two-part series, we explore a variety of practical strategies using the ILAUGH Model of Social Cognition as a guide. Each component of the ILAUGH Model is grounded in evidence that connects how the social world works to how one navigates academic and social expectations. These include: Initiating communication, Listening with the eyes and brain, Abstracting and inferencing, Understanding perspective, Getting the big picture (gestalt), and Humor and Human relatedness.

The foundation of our work provides interventionists (teachers, speech language pathologists, therapists, clinicians, parents) and social learners with frameworks, tools, skills and a shared language to improve social competencies—more than just social skills.

Our goal is to help people learn explicitly how to engage in social information processing; how to attend, interpret, problem solve and respond in any situation—the thinking and doing skills that will aid them in becoming increasingly successful in the social world throughout their lives.

At some point we all struggle in social situations. Engaging  in a social emotional thinking/feeling based process can be difficult at times for everyone in the social world. Our role as interventionists is to help motivate social learners to "do the work" and explore how we all share social expectations, thoughts, feelings, make mistakes and try again as we learn to navigate our way toward our social goals. The practical nature of our teaching and the concrete way we explain social concepts helps engage people in social learning not only about themselves but about others.

Attendees Are Raving About Our Online Training Courses

Gen. Ed Teacher

This livestream was very beneficial; thank-you! I realize what works for one child differs from student to student, but the strategies given at the end of the livestream were very helpful. I’m hoping there will be many more tomorrow.

Social Worker

I’ve always struggled with where to begin when working to support my disorganized students. Although I’ve done some things right, I’ve learned how to approach other things differently.

Counselor

Just wow! I'm so amazed by the depth and breadth of insights and strategies. I wish I could absorb them all at once! This methodology is priceless for my work with students who struggle. Thank you so much!

Gen. Ed. Teacher & Mom

I was already able to utilize yesterday’s lessons with my son in helping him take dynamic organization and make it static in which I was previously too general assuming he understood what to do during mini breaks from online school rather than instantly get on more technology. I could literally see his confidence boost today during his breaks. Thank-you!

Social Worker

In regards to how much I learned, there was some content that I'm already familiar with; however, there was new information that will be helpful that I will use when servicing my students. This was a good 2-days webinar filled with information and resources. Thank you!

Gen. Ed Teacher

This livestream was very beneficial; thank-you! I realize what works for one child differs from student to student, but the strategies given at the end of the livestream were very helpful. I’m hoping there will be many more tomorrow.

Social Worker

I’ve always struggled with where to begin when working to support my disorganized students. Although I’ve done some things right, I’ve learned how to approach other things differently.

Counselor

Just wow! I'm so amazed by the depth and breadth of insights and strategies. I wish I could absorb them all at once! This methodology is priceless for my work with students who struggle. Thank you so much!

Gen. Ed. Teacher & Mom

I was already able to utilize yesterday’s lessons with my son in helping him take dynamic organization and make it static in which I was previously too general assuming he understood what to do during mini breaks from online school rather than instantly get on more technology. I could literally see his confidence boost today during his breaks. Thank-you!

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On Demand Training Series: Navigating Across School, Home, and Screen Landscapes using the ILAUGH Model

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Discover how the ability to think socially forms the bedrock not only for social interactions, but also for learning to write, comprehend, use narrative language, and learn in classrooms or online. In this two-part series, we explore a variety of practical strategies using the ILAUGH Model of Social Cognition as a guide.

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www.5pointscale.com was developed to share information about the use of the 5-point scale and other systems to teach social and emotional concepts to children and adults who could use some extra…

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What are executive functions?

Executive functions are often described as the air traffic control centre of the brain. Residing in the prefrontal cortex, this set of skills is responsible for managing all areas of daily life, from work, to school, to home. We rely on these skills every day, and yet, we rarely talk about them. We decided to start the conversation. When explicitly taught, these ten executive functions proved to be the most relevant to enhance student learning:

Emotional Control

The ability to recognize and regulate emotions in order to achieve goals, complete tasks, and direct behaviour.

Flexibility

The ability to revise a plan in the face of obstacles, setbacks, new information, or mistakes; involves adaptability to changing conditions.

Goal Directed Persistence

The capacity to persevere and follow a task through to completion.

Metacognition

The ability to self-monitor and self-evaluate by asking; “How am I doing?” or “How did I do?”

Planning & Organization

The ability to create a roadmap, make decisions, and prioritize for task completion; the ability to design and maintain systems for tracking information and materials.

Response Inhibition

The capacity to stop, evaluate, and think before you act.

Shifting and Time Management

The ability to move appropriately from one situation to another; the capacity to estimate and to use time effectively.

Sustained Attention

The capacity to attend to a situation or task, in spite of distractibility, fatigue, or lack of interest.

Task Initiation

The ability to begin a task in a timely fashion.

Working Memory

The ability to hold information and past experience/learning in mind while performing complex tasks.

Adapted from Guare, Dawson, and Rief

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Executive functions are often described as the air traffic control centre of the brain. Residing in the prefrontal cortex, this set of skills is responsible for managing all areas of daily life, from work, to school, to home. We rely on these skills every day, and yet, we rarely talk about them. We…

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Back

MovetoLearnMS - YouTube

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Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

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Run, Jump, Learn! How Exercise can Transform our Schools: John J. Ratey, MD at TEDxManhattanBeach

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Executive Skills Questionnaire Dawson & Guare

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Executive Skills Questionnaire Dawson & Guare

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Check out these classroom strategies on behavior.

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General Classroom Strategies – Arkansas Behavior Support Specialists

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Getting Help for the Transition to College Some students with disabilities may not be totally aware of the support services available at the college level. To provide more information of how to go about getting more information when considering post-secondary education options, the Disability Services Office at NC State University created a video DVD to help ease students' minds and to give them helpful tips and advice. The video shows a current college student receiving supports and offering help to a current high school student who isn't so sure he can make it at college. Educators, share this video with your students and parents! It can be a great conversation starter that leads to getting the supports students need at the post-secondary level!

Going to College This site has lots of information about going to college and being successful with a disability. A section of the site is for students interested in going to college. It has videos and other tools that can get students on the right track in planning for college. There are three modules that students, parents and educators can participate in. The site also has a "Teacher Toolbox" that provides activities for teachers to use as they help guide students in the planning process. And finally, it has a Portfolio section to help students really get the important pieces organized so they are ready to be successful in college!

This is the Department of Education's website for information about colleges and universities.

Testing Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities from the U.S. Department of Justice
This provides information on the obligation of testing entities, both private and public, to ensure that the test scores of individuals with disabilities accurately reflect the individual's aptitude, achievement, or the skill that the exam purports to measure, rather than his or her disability. The document discusses who is entitled to testing accommodations, what types of testing accommodations must be provided, and what documentation may be required of the person requesting testing accommodations.

Find out more about how you can make life after high school more exciting for you. This is a publication distributed to schools, but you can find the information right here at this site! Learn more about apprenticeships, colleges in Arkansas, financial aid, dorm life and the hottest jobs in Arkansas! You can also read stories from actual students in Arkansas and how they are making the right decisions for the life they want to have after high school.

Arkansas Apprenticeship
Visit this website to view a list of Arkansas' apprenticeship schools and find out how to become an apprentice. View this list of Arkansas colleges' disability support services contacts.

Arkansas Disability Resource Professionals Contact List
View this list of Arkansas colleges' disability support services contacts.

Students' coursework already prepares them to take the ACT-but additional practice can help them be ready to do their best. ACT Online Prep provides additional practice wherever and whenever they want it.

ACCUPLACER Preparation
Free practice tools and resources to help you prepare to succeed on each of the ACCUPLACER tests

Arkansas Future (ArFuture) is the newest state grant program. The purpose of this grant is to increase education and skills of Arkansas's workforce in an affordable manner. The grant applies to students enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) or regional high demand areas of study. The grant will cover tuition and fees for qualifying certificate and Associate degree programs at Arkansas's public institution for eligible students. The grant is available on a first come, first served basis.

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Getting Help for the Transition to College Some students with disabilities may not be totally aware of the support services available at the college level. To provide more information of how to go about getting more information when considering post-secondary education options, the Disability Services Office at NC State University created a video DVD to help ease students' minds and to give them helpful tips and advice.

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Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Second Edition (BRIEF-2)

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Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Second Edition (BRIEF-2)

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Borrow the BRIEF-2 from the loan program! Contact Ellie.Gaut@ade.arkansas.gov

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Behavioral Regulation Index, Emotional Regulation Index, and Cognitive Regulation Index combine to form a Global Executive Composite

Individually administered rating scale completed by parent, teacher, or self-report

10 minutes; 5 minutes for screening version

Assesses executive function and self-regulation in children and teens

Select Pricing Below

(BRIEF-2) Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition

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About This Product

BRIEF2 BY GERARD A. GIOIA, PHD, PETER K. ISQUITH, PHD, STEVEN C. GUY, PHD, AND LAUREN KENWORTHY, PHD.

The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition measures executive function in home and school environments. This new edition maintains the original's intrinsic qualities that made it so popular. It is efficient, comprehensive, and useful for evaluating children and adolescents with developmental and acquired neurological conditions such as learning disabilities, ADHD, traumatic brain injury, low birth weight, Tourette's Disorder, and autism.

Requiring just 10 minutes to administer, the BRIEF2 is an efficient way to evaluate impairment of executive function in children and adolescents with neurological conditions.

What's new in the second edition

Parent, Teacher, and Self-Report Forms are covered in the same manual

Item content is more consistent across the three forms

Rater discrepancy base rates allow you to easily examine different perspectives from multiple raters

Scales are more concise, making administration easier for the respondent

New Infrequency Scale to help identify unusual responding

Task-Monitor and Self-Monitor Scales are now separate

New screening forms quickly indicate whether further assessment is needed

Clinical Scales

Global Executive Composite

Behavior Regulation Index

Emotional Regulation Index

Cognitive Regulation Index

Validity Scales

Inconsistency

Extent to which the respondent answers similar items in an inconsistent manner

Negativity

Extent to which the respondent answers selected items in an unusually negative manner

Infrequency

Extent to which the respondent endorses unlikely events

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(brief-2) behavior rating inventory of executive function

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(BRIEF-2) Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition

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BRIEF-2 Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition assesses self-regulation and is made for children and youth from ages 5 to 18.

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iPad
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iPhone 11 by Apple 21334

Amazon
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Fire HD 10 tablet, 10.1″ by Amazon 21336

The Zones of Regulation & Navigating the Zones

Acer Chromebook Spin 713 with Touchscreen 21335

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Explore the world of iPad. Featuring iPad and iPad Pro, and the powerful iPad Air and iPad mini.

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Accessible Educational Materials Youtube Channel

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Accessible Educational Materials Youtube Channel

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Brain breaks and focused attention practices help students feel relaxed and alert and ready to learn.

©Shutterstock/Robert Kneschke

I've enjoyed creating and sharing brain breaks and focused attention practices here over the past few years-practices that benefit every student as their brains prepare to learn. Brain breaks create a state of relaxed alertness, while focused attention practices help students slow down and focus on a stimulus, enhancing their executive functions of sustained attention and emotional regulation. These practices address discipline proactively, before any problems arise.

I hope you and your students enjoy these activities as you prime the brain for attention and a state of relaxed alertness. These all work well with elementary students, and some can be used with older students as well.

Brain Breaks

Peeling a tangerine: Give every student a tangerine. To begin, ask them to guess what they might be doing in the next couple of minutes before they eat the fruit. You can prompt them with a question such as: How is this tangerine like our brains?

Next, ask them to hold the tangerine behind their backs-or just close their eyes-and peel it without looking. Can they peel it without splitting the fruit? Was this easy? Harder than they expected? How fast could they do it? As they eat the fruit, ask what sensations, feelings, or memories they experienced.

Paired mirror drawings: Have students find a partner. Each student will take a pen or pencil and a sheet of paper, and sit facing the other. One student will lead and the other will follow: The leader starts drawing an image related to the class subject matter, and the follower copies the drawing and tries to guess what the drawing is supposed to represent.

Have students switch roles, so the other person can lead. Once again, as the leader begins to draw, the follower should mimic the leader's drawing and guess what the drawing is.

Pouring water: Give each student two small paper cups, and fill one with water. Have students practice pouring the water back and forth from cup to cup, finding a rhythm in the pouring. After a few times, have students close their eyes and see if they can continue to gently and carefully pour the water back and forth without spilling too much of it. Give them 30 seconds for this, and then see who still has water in their cups.

Focused Attention Practices

Breathing: Have students inhale deeply, lifting both arms in the air over their heads and holding their breath for four seconds. As they exhale, have them slowly place their hands on the back of their neck and massage their neck. They can repeat this three or four times until they feel more relaxed.

Tracing a hand: Have students take a marker, crayon, or pen and trace their nondominant hand without lifting the pen as many times as they can until they begin to feel calmer. They should focus on their breathing during this activity.

Swimming in the deep end: Have students lay on their bellies and move their arms and legs, breathing in and out five times; on the sixth breath, they should slowly relax their arms while still kicking their legs. On the seventh breath, they should stop kicking and lay still, imagining that the water is pulling them down or the clouds are pulling them up into the sky. Tell them to imagine they're weightless and drifting or floating to their favorite place. They can imagine the colors and sounds as they breathe deeply for a minute.

Melting an ice cube: Give each student a small ice cube to place in their mouth or hold in their hands. Ask them not to crunch or chew it but to notice how it slowly melts. They can imagine a worry or concern meting away with the ice chip, taking deep breaths until it has disappeared.

Balancing tree: Have students place both feet solidly on the ground. They should slowly lift one foot and touch it to the inside of the other calf or upper leg, and raise their arms in the air over their head. Next have them wave their arms as if they were a tree with its branches blowing in the wind. Have them switch legs and repeat this motion. Next ask them to show a tree in a rainstorm and to notice how the trunk of the tree-their body-stays strong: Even though they might wobble, they're still standing tall.

Focusing on balance: Ask students to stand on one foot, holding the other foot off the ground and keeping their balance. With each breath, they should try to lift their foot higher. Have them pay attention to how high they can lift each foot.

Not chewing gum: Give each student a piece of gum and have them hold it in their mouth for one minute without chewing, just feeling the sensation. Ask what they noticed as they tasted the gum but did not chew.

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Activities That Prime the Brain for Learning

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Brain breaks and focused attention practices help students feel relaxed and alert and ready to learn. ©Shutterstock/Robert Kneschke I've enjoyed creating and sharing brain breaks and focused attention practices here over the past few years-practices that benefit every student as their brains prepare to learn.

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In our latest study of brain wave activity, researchers confirmed what many people sense from experience: Back-to-back virtual meetings are stressful. But the research also points to a simple remedy-short breaks.

"Our research shows breaks are important, not just to make us less exhausted by the end of the day, but to actually improve our ability to focus and engage while in those meetings," says Michael Bohan, senior director of Microsoft's Human Factors Engineering group, who oversaw the project.

Settings in Microsoft Outlook make it easier and automatic to carve out these essential breaks between back-to-backs-and because we know that one size does not fit all, companies have two options. Individuals can set scheduling defaults that automatically shorten meetings they schedule. And now customers have the ability to set organization-wide scheduling defaults that shorten meetings and create space for breaks for everyone at the company.

"The back-to-back meetings that have become the norm over the last 12 months just aren't sustainable," says Jared Spataro, CVP, Microsoft 365. "Outlook and Microsoft Teams are used by millions of people around the world, and this small change can help customers develop new cultural norms and improve wellbeing for everyone."

Here at Microsoft, because we have many employees in different functions around the world, we're encouraging individuals to turn on the setting if it works for them and their team. And as we shift into hybrid work, we'll continue to learn and look for ways to improve the way we work together in this new, more digital world.

The case for breaks: what the research says

As the pandemic upended routines and heightened the digital intensity of workdays, hundreds of researchers across Microsoft came together to study how work is changing, amassing one of the world's largest bodies of research on the subject.

Our most recent study builds on that work. Microsoft's Human Factors Lab sought to find a solution for meeting fatigue-a pressing concern in our new era of remote and hybrid work. Researchers from the lab, which examines how humans interact with technology, asked 14 people to take part in video meetings while wearing electroencephalogram (EEG) equipment-a cap to monitor the electrical activity in their brains.

The 14 volunteers each participated in two different sessions of meetings. On one day they attended stretches of four half-hour meetings back-to-back, with each call devoted to different tasks-designing an office layout, for example, or creating a marketing plan. On another day, the four half-hour meetings were interspersed with 10-minute breaks. Instead of hurriedly jumping from one meeting to the next, participants meditated with the Headspace app during the breaks.

To ensure clean data, all the participants taking breaks were assigned the same downtime activity-in this case meditation-so the results would be comparable. The sessions took place on two consecutive Mondays; some participants started with back-to-backs while the others had breaks between meetings, and the next week they switched. We also had additional people join meetings with the research subjects to simulate a typical day interacting with various teams.

The research showed three main takeaways.

1. Breaks between meetings allow the brain to "reset," reducing a cumulative buildup of stress across meetings.

As we've seen in previous studies , in two straight hours of back-to-back meetings, the average activity of beta waves-those associated with stress-increased over time. In other words, the stress kept accumulating.

But when participants were given a chance to rest using meditation, beta activity dropped, allowing for a "reset." This reset meant participants started their next meeting in a more relaxed state. It also meant the average level of beta waves held steady through four meetings, with no buildup of stress even as four video calls continued.

The antidote to meeting fatigue is simple: taking short breaks.

Your brain works differently when you take breaks

Taking time out between video calls prevents stress from building up.

2. Back-to-back meetings can decrease your ability to focus and engage.

When participants had meditation breaks, brainwave patterns showed positive levels of frontal alpha asymmetry, which correlates to higher engagement during the meeting. Without breaks, the levels were negative, suggesting the participants were withdrawn, or less engaged in the meeting. This shows that when the brain is experiencing stress, it's harder to stay focused and engaged.

In sum, breaks are not only good for wellbeing, they also improve our ability to do our best work.

3. Transitioning between meetings can be a source of high stress.

For the participants deprived of breaks, researchers also noticed that the transition period between calls caused beta activity, or stress levels, to spike.

That might be because "you're coming to the end of the meeting, knowing you have another one coming right up, and you're going to have to switch gears and use your brain to think hard about something else," Bohan says.

For those participants, beta wave activity jumped again when new check ins started. When people took meditation breaks, by contrast, the increase in beta activity dropped between meetings, and the increase at the start of the next meeting was much gentler and smoother.

Jumping directly from one meeting to another can cause spikes of stress

Taking breaks between conversations eases that stress.

The takeaway: Breaks, even short ones, are important to make the transitions between meetings feel less stressful.

"What makes this study so powerful and relatable is that we're effectively visualizing for people what they experience phenomenologically inside," Bohan says. "It's not an abstraction-quite the opposite. It's a scientific expression of the stress and fatigue people feel during back-to-backs."

How we are adapting our products-and practices

These findings helped inform settings in Outlook that allow individuals or organizations to set defaults that shave five, 10, or 15 minutes off Microsoft Teams meetings to carve out breaks between conversations.

For example, an individual or company might decide to start its meetings five minutes after the hour or half-hour, so that 30-minute check ins drop to 25 minutes and hour-long conversations shorten to 55 minutes. That means a half-hour meeting that would have started at 11 a.m. will become a 25-minute meeting beginning at 11:05 a.m.

It's not just the brain research that supports this change. Digital overload has become an urgent issue in the new era of remote and hybrid work. In Microsoft's 2021 Work Trend Index published in March, 54 percent of respondents in a global external survey said they feel overworked, while 39 percent described themselves as outright exhausted.

Over the past year, we have introduced several new capabilities to foster wellbeing in this time of rapid change. Together mode in Microsoft Teams helps combat meeting fatigue; a virtual commute helps reestablish boundaries between work and home; and a Headspace integration coming with the Microsoft Viva Insights app promotes mindfulness. This new Outlook setting is a next step in this wellbeing journey, with more to come.

One final note: If you're using the new setting in Outlook to build in break times between meetings, consider stepping away from your computer. "Try not to use that five or 10 minutes to squeeze in some other kind of work," Bohan says. "Catch your breath and take a break away from your screen."

Strategies for making breaks successful-and beating meeting fatigue

Because we know making space for breaks is easier said than done, we've pulled together some research-backed tips on carving out time to pause, getting the most from moments of respite, and making meetings more effective and energizing.

Shift your mindset. While it might feel more productive to power through back-to-backs, research shows the opposite is true. View breaks away from your computer as an essential part of your workday.

Find break activities that calm your mind. Meditation is one effective way to relax and recharge between meetings, but other studies show that physical activity such as walking is also beneficial. Past Microsoft studies suggest that doodling or reading something enjoyable also bring benefits. "It can be anything that takes your mind away from work-related things and focuses it on something that you feel is relaxing," Bohan says. That will help you be refreshed and recharged when you start your next meeting.

Create even more time for breaks by considering other modes of communication. Before scheduling a video call, pause and ask yourself: Do we really need a meeting on this issue? More dynamic, creative, or emotional topics may require a meeting, while status check ins and informational subjects may benefit from document collaboration, a Teams channel, or email. Other simple tasks may be handled via chat. Read more about creating time for breaks.

Make meetings more intentional. The best-and often shortest-meetings are more intentional. Best practices like creating and sending an agenda ahead of time, being thoughtful about who attends, starting and stopping on time, and transitioning to a recap for the final five minutes will make it easier to accomplish your goals in less time. Read more about intentional meetings.

Keep participants engaged and energized. In virtual meetings, it can be hard to chime in remotely. A moderator can help ensure remote participants are included. Features like Raise your hand, Whiteboard, and Breakout Rooms in Microsoft Teams are great ways to use technology to elicit creative and strategic conversations.

Stay up-to-date with WorkLab

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In a study of brain wave activity, researchers found back-to-back virtual meetings are stressful. But the research also points to a simple remedy-short breaks.

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The Importance of Brain Breaks - supportREALteachers.org

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Learn about the science and classroom applicability of these quick learning activities.

© Shutterstock.com/CWA Studios

Early in my teaching career, I was disturbed by a note left by the substitute teacher. She wrote that during the three days she was with my students, they were responsive during the first part of class, but that many of them became inattentive, distracted, and even disruptive after about 20 minutes of her instruction. When I asked the students what had happened, they were of one voice: "She didn't give us our brain breaks."

What Are Brain Breaks?

For students to learn at their highest potential, their brains need to send signals efficiently from the sensory receptors (what they hear, see, touch, read, imagine, and experience) to memory storage regions of the brain. The most detrimental disruptions to traffic along these information pathways are stress and overload.

Brain breaks are planned learning activity shifts that mobilize different networks of the brain. These shifts allow those regions that are blocked by stress or high-intensity work to revitalize. Brain breaks, by switching activity to different brain networks, allow the resting pathways to restore their calm focus and foster optimal mood, attention, and memory.

The Neuroscience of Brain Breaks

For new information to become memory, it must pass through an emotional filter called the amygdala and then reach the prefrontal cortex. When students' brains become anxious, highly confused, or overwhelmed, the activation of the amygdala surges until this filter becomes a stop sign. New learning no longer passes through to reach the prefrontal cortex and sustain memory. Even if students are not stressed by the pace or content of new learning, a point arises when the amygdala exceeds its capacity for efficient conduction of information through its networks into memory.

Brain breaks can be planned to restore the emotional state needed to return the amygdala from overdrive into the optimal state for successful information flow.

Brain Breaks Restore Brain Supplies

Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that carry messages from one nerve cell to the next, across gaps between the cells called synapses. These message carriers are necessary to keep one's calm, focused attention and maintenance of a new memory. Neurotransmitters are in limited supply at each synapse and can deplete after as little as 10 minutes of continuing the same type of learning activity (attentive listening, practice drills, note-taking).

Brain breaks, by switching the type of mental activity, shift brain communication to networks with fresh supplies of neurotransmitters. This intermission allows the brain's chemicals to replenish within the resting network.

Timing

Brain breaks should take place before fatigue, boredom, distraction, and inattention set in. Depending on students' ages and focus development, brain break frequency will vary. As a general rule, concentrated study of 10 to 15 minutes for elementary school and 20 to 30 minutes for middle and high school students calls for a three- to five-minute break.

Brain Break Strategies

Brain breaks do not require disruption in the flow of learning. Simply stretching, moving to a different part of the room, or singing a song can revitalize the brain. Use your learning goals and students' responses to guide you in selecting the best type of brain break. You might decide to use the time to boost mood or motivation, as well as restore the brain's peak performance.

Mood

To restore the emotional state needed to bring the amygdala back from overdrive, help students build habits of emotional self-awareness and mindfulness. Prepare them for successful self-calming brain breaks by demonstrating and providing practice times as they build experience using mindful breathing or visualizations.

Read aloud from a relevant and engaging book.

Introduce physical activity such as jumping rope, singing a song with movements, or tossing a beach ball while students ask and answer questions to review the topic-these are all great dopamine boosters. They also increase the blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain.

Have students move in ways that they think a character in literature or person in history would at a designated event. Or move to imitate a biological, physical, or mathematical process.

Neuroscience has yielded information on activities that increase restorative neurotransmitters such as dopamine. Some of these activities, such as laughing, moving, listening to music, and interacting with peers, make great mood-boosting brain breaks:

Motivation

Tell a true anecdote about the author, historical persona, or scientist when they were the same age as your students. This will personalize the topic and boost interest and engagement.

Use dopamine boosts from personal connections and personal relevance by inviting students to share with partners something about how the learning relates to their lives or interests.

Especially when topics of study are necessary foundations but are not of high personal relevance to students, brain breaks can enhance their motivation to attend to a potentially tedious subject.

After just a few minutes, students' refreshed brains are ready to return to the next learning activity with a subdued amygdala and full supply of neurotransmitters. Both they and you will reap the benefits of this restoration.

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Using Brain Breaks to Restore Students' Focus

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Learn about the science and classroom applicability of these quick learning activities.

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It's no secret that my #1 productivity hack is movement throughout the workday. And everyone knows that exercise is good for us and can help us feel better, but who has the time to go running for 45 minutes every morning just to achieve the "Runner's High?" Luckily for working stiffs like us who live in front of computers, the benefits of simple exercises and movement reach far beyond what you might get from intense activity, and the full potential that exercise and regular movement throughout the day have on improving your overall health and brain power is more profound than you can imagine...with a much smaller investment than you might expect.

In this episode I have an in-depth conversation with Dr. John Ratey, a clinical psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, and the author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain about how regular exercise and movement can actually improve your brain power and even make you smarter (based on science, not opinion). We discuss the immense impact regular exercise can have on cognitive function, memory, attention issues, and stress. And on the flip side, we discuss how lack of exercise and movement are literally shrinking your brain and impairing your cognitive function.

That's right, not only is your desk chair hurting your lower back and causing brain fog...sitting in it all day long might actually be making you dumber.

Want to Hear More Episodes Like This One?
" Click here to subscribe and never miss another episode
Here's What You'll Learn:

John's background and how he became interested in the benefits of exercise

When scientists began to measure the effects of exercising on mood and other cognitive functions

Exercising can help prevent the decline of cognitive function by 10-15 years

How do activity, movement and exercise change our brains?

When we move we are activating our "thinking brain"

Exercise does the same thing as a little bit of Prozac and Ritalin combined

Our brain cells grow as we use them and move around (read: you can make yourself smarter just by moving!)

A Duke University study (and many others) found movement/exercise can relieve the symptoms of depression

Once you exercise consistently for 2-3 weeks you will see a noticeable change in your mood

Exercise builds enzymes that help reshape and build the brain

How exercise can help mitigate the symptoms of ADD and other attention issues

Continuous exercise and movement can help bring stress levels down to a manageable level

BDNF is an antidepressant and antianxiety protein in our brain - it grows with movement!

Endocannabinoids may be more important than endorphins

Studies on how children learn better when they move

You don't need to get to the gym! Short exercises throughout the day will do the trick

Brain shrinkage: how being overweight and sedentary can actually shrink your brain

This all comes down to: movement makes you smarter!

When children were studied, those who tested higher on physical fitness tests were smarter

When starting an exercise program don't focus on long-term goals, focus on how you feel every day

Easy wins to get you started: 7 minute exercise and make gradual progress

Useful Resources Mentioned:
www.johnratey.com Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain Driven to Distraction Delivered from Distraction A Classic Case of Post Production Burnout The 7 Minute Workout
This Podcast Featured in:

My ultimate guide to building a healthy, ergonomic workstation.

Continue to Listen & Learn:
Sitting Is Killing You, But Standing Isn't the Answer (And Neither is Exercise) Ep23: How Being Sedentary Is Damaging You (According to NASA) | with Dr. Joan Vernikos Tired of Sitting and Want to Ignite Your Energy & Creativity? Start Moving More. Ep123: The Solution to Your Sedentary Lifestyle | with Ben Greenfield Ep02: Deskbound - Standing Up To a Sitting World | with Dr. Kelly Starrett More Resources for Moving More "
Our Generous Sponsors:

This episode is made possible by Ergodriven, the makers of the Topo Mat, my #1 recommendation for anyone interested in moving more at their height-adjustable workstation. Listen, standing desks are only great if you're standing well, otherwise you're constantly fighting fatigue and chronic pain. Not like any other anti-fatigue mat, the Topo is scientifically proven to help you move more throughout the day which helps reduce discomfort and also increase your focus and productivity. And they're really fun and a great conversation starter.

Guest Bio:

John Ratey, M.D. is the coauthor, with Edward Hallowell of the books Driven to Distraction, Answers to Distraction, and Delivered from Distraction. He is also the author of Shadow Syndromes. In 2001 he published the book A User's Guide to the Brain, in which he describes the human brain as a flexible muscle, which works on a "use it or lose it" basis. He is the author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (2008), which describes the positive benefits that exercise can have for people with ADHD. In 2014 he coauthored the book Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization with Richard Manning which discusses new evidence & case studies about the benefits of living according to the needs of our core DNA in the areas of: food, exercise, sleep, mindfulness, being outside, being with others, and our central nerve well-being.

Show Credits:

This episode was edited by Curtis Fritsch, and the show notes were prepared and published by Jakin Rintelman. Special thanks to Krystle Penhall and Sarah Furie for helping to spread the love!

The original music in the opening and closing of the show is courtesy of Joe Trapanese (who is quite possibly one of the most talented composers on the face of the planet).
Note: I believe in 100% transparency, so please note that I receive a small commission if you purchase products from some of the links on this page (at no additional cost to you). Your support is what helps keep this program alive. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Zack Arnold (ACE) is an award-winning Hollywood film editor & producer ( Cobra Kai, Empire, Burn Notice, Unsolved, Glee), a documentary director, father of 2, an American Ninja Warrior, and the creator of Optimize Yourself. He believes we all deserve to love what we do for a living...but not at the expense of our health, our relationships, or our sanity. He provides the education, motivation, and inspiration to help ambitious creative professionals DO better and BE better. "Doing" better means learning how to more effectively manage your time and creative energy so you can produce higher quality work in less time. "Being" better means doing all of the above while still prioritizing the most important people and passions in your life...all without burning out in the process. Click to download Zack's "Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Creativity (And Avoiding Burnout)."

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Ep30: How Regular Movement Makes You Smarter | with Dr. John Ratey

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Learn how daily movement and regular exercise can improve mood, memory, attention issues, and possibly even make you smarter.

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Brain breaks help children by replenishing attention, improving learning, and boosting creativity. But, it turns out we might all benefit from giving our brains more downtime. Here's why.

Breaks Replenish Attention

Focusing on a task takes mental effort. That's especially true for children, whose attentional systems are still developing, says Karrie Godwin, a developmental psychologist at Kent State University. "Maintaining attention in formal learning environments is really quite difficult for young kids." Godwin led a 2016 study that found children were less attentive as lessons increased from 10 to 30 minutes.

In the typical elementary school classroom, the teacher's voice, the hum of the HVAC system, a fidgeting classmate, or brightly colored posters adorning the walls all compete for student's attention. As we're processing all that information, we want to focus and try to ignore distractions. "Our attentional resources may be depleted over time," says Godwin.

Brain imaging studies back this up. In a 2010 study, researchers tracked cerebral blood flow as participants performed a test assessing their vigilance and reaction time. They found blood flow to regions of the brain involved in vigilance decreased over the 20-minute testing period, which correlated with worsening reaction times.

When we focus on a task, our brains devote more processing resources to areas that will boost our performance, says study author Julian Lim. Mental fatigue might be a signal that we're expending too much energy relative to the benefit we'll get from staying on task, so the brain withdraws these resources, he says.

Breaks can mitigate this: numerous studies show interspersing brief bouts of physical activity can keep children on-task and focused. In 2013, Lim and colleagues from the National University of Singapore found brain waves indicative of mental fatigue - theta waves - increase during bouts of sustained attention but decrease during breaks.

Breaks "help us improve our focus by reducing boredom and restoring energy and motivation to resume on-task activity," Lim says.

Breaks Improve Learning

Breaking learning up into several, short chunks of time is better than cramming learning into one block. Called the "spacing effect," it's one of the most replicated phenomena in psychology and education, says Haley Vlach, an educational psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scientists have documented it in a range of animals - from humans all the way down to the humble sea slug.

In a 2008 study, Vlach found toddlers recalled the names of novel objects better when they were given a 30-second break between each presentation of an object.

Spacing may be effective because it gives us time to forget. "Forgetting forces you to practice remembering information," Vlach says. "That practice retrieving information from the past helps you later when you need to retrieve that information for a final test."

Brain breaks might work the same way. "I think people are scared to take breaks because they think learning stops," Vlach says. "But learning doesn't stop during a break. The brain is still doing things with that information you took in."

Breaks Boost Creativity

Whenever you're awake but not focused on a task - like when you daydream - you activate a network of brain regions called the default mode. It turns out this network is important for many of the brain's more complex feats, like creative thought.

Lots of studies show breaks help facilitate creative insight and problem-solving. In one, researchers found young adults were twice as likely to find the hidden shortcut to a math problem if they were given a 10-minute break. In another, breaks consisting of a simple task helped participants think up novel uses for ordinary objects. Compared to people who rested or who didn't get a break at all, the people in this group reported their minds wandered more and that seemed to support creative insight.

Developing the default mode network and cultivating creative thought requires time and space children don't often get in the classroom.

Traditional schooling often "overtaxes and over-privileges the development of ... task-oriented productivity," says Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, a neuroscientist and developmental psychologist at the University of Southern California. It prioritizes the concrete, the here and now. But this might backfire. Brain networks develop through lived experience. Keeping kids in a state of focused productivity may limit opportunities to develop their default mode mental capacities. We may be inadvertently "undermining their ability to become agentic, curious lifelong learners," Immordino-Yang says.
Additional reporting and writing by Alexis Wnuk
About the Author

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Kids Need Brain Breaks - And So Do Adults

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Brain breaks help children by replenishing attention, improving learning, and boosting creativity. But, it turns out we might all benefit from giving our brains more downtime. Here's why.

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When you're creating a lesson plan or reviewing student work, do you often need a break? Do you take a walk or listen to your favorite song to get your mind refocused? Your students need these "brain breaks," too.

In the classroom, brain breaks are quick, structured breaks using physical movement, mindfulness exercises, or sensory activities. Brain breaks can be done individually (like deep breathing) or as a whole class (like a round of Simon Says). No matter what the form, brain breaks take only a few minutes of instructional time. They give your students a brief rest from what they're doing to help their brains shift focus and return ready to work and learn.

You can use different types of brain breaks depending on what a student needs at a given time. Remember that different brains need different kinds of breaks. For example, although it may seem counterintuitive, students who struggle with focus, attention, and hyperactivity may need more energizing breaks. Other students may need to quiet their minds. Here's a look at three examples of brain breaks.

Mindfulness brain break: Watch how students at the Momentous School take a break with "flower and candle" breathing. (If students are wearing masks in school, this brain break can be a good one to try at home.)

Sensory brain break: See the sensory path special education teacher Holly Barker Clay created to provide her students with a self-directed brain break.

Download: Brain breaks bank

Looking for brain break ideas? Check out this printable list of brain breaks organized by type and time of day. It was created by Understood Teacher Fellow TJ Thornton.

Create a list of brain breaks. Make sure to include independent, whole class, and self-directed breaks. Collect tools students can use for these breaks, like stress balls.

You may have planned for an energizing break. But if your students are overly energetic, you may switch to a calming break instead.

If a few students are having trouble with the brain break, use a prompt to get them back on track or model the activity by doing it near the students.

Some students will need modifications. For instance, students who have motor skills challenges may not be able to hop on one foot. Instead, have them jump on two feet, working their way toward hopping.

Some students might feel uncomfortable participating in group brain breaks. Decide on a nonverbal signal that students can use to subtly let you know they're opting out.

4. Talk about the experience. If this is the first time your students used a brain break, encourage them to talk about how the break helped. Explain that you'll introduce different kinds of brain breaks over time so they can learn the types of breaks that are most helpful for them. You can also talk about how students might take these breaks on their own, like when they're getting frustrated or distracted. Have self-directed activities available, such as sensory tools and a timer, so students can take individual breaks without disturbing others. You can even make self-directed brain break activity cards.

Understand: Why this strategy works

Students who learn and think differently sometimes get tired easily, have a low tolerance for frustration, or have trouble figuring out how to approach their work. Switching up what they're doing for a few minutes can help break those patterns. Research shows that brain breaks can serve that purpose and help refresh the mind.

For many students, movement is an ideal brain break. That's because exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which helps with focus and attention. In fact, research has shown that students learn more quickly after they've exercised. In one study, students learned vocabulary words 20 percent faster after exercising. Exercise also reduces stress and anxiety, making it easier to focus on important tasks.

Relaxing brain breaks have similar benefits. They help calm students and allow their minds to settle enough to shift focus. For students who get overexcited or who have a hard time self-regulating, relaxing brain breaks may be more beneficial than energizing ones. After these quieter breaks, students are able to return to work because they've given the overworked areas of the brain time to recharge.

Brain breaks benefit not only students but teachers, too. They help improve the pacing of your lesson while keeping you and your students refreshed, focused, and engaged.

Adapt: Use for distance learning

Build brain breaks into your distance learning lesson plans, including your synchronous online lessons. For example, breathing exercises may help students who are anxious about live video lessons.

Brain breaks can give students a chance to socialize during distance learning. You can use a fun discussion-based brain break in the middle of the lesson to get students engaged.

Encourage families to have their kids take breaks while they learn at home. To do this, you can add brain breaks to assignment directions. Give families the printable list of brain breaks or links to your students' favorite breaks on sites like GoNoodle.

Research behind this strategy

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Brain breaks: An evidence-based behavior strategy

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Brain breaks give students a chance to shift their focus and return ready to work and learn.

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Practice makes perfect. To become ambidextrous in basketball, dribble with your left hand, switch to your right, and repeat the process again and again. Likewise, to solve differential equations in math, pile them up and work your way through them diligently.

According to one popular school of thought, it's this active, repeated manipulation of material that lays the neural foundations for skill development. All too often, time away from the basketball court-or the math books-is seen as a break in the learning process, a way to cool off, reenergize, and then return to the vital work of actual practice.

But for Leonardo Cohen, a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health and the senior author of a June 2021 study published in the journal Cell, the idea that breaks are a cooling-off period is a misconception.

Cohen and his colleagues used magnetoencephalography-a highly sensitive brain-scanning technique-to observe the neural activity of young adults as they learned how to type with their nondominant hand. After a practice session, the study participants were given a short break and then continued practicing for a total of 35 sessions.

When analyzing the data, Cohen's team made an intriguing discovery: They observed a spike in brain activity, mimicking the neural pattern seen during the practice session, but compressed by twentyfold. Rather than being idle, the brain was replaying the practice session over and over at an astonishingly high rate of speed-flipping the material from the neocortex, where sensory and motor skills are processed, to the hippocampus, the brain's memory center, over two dozen times in the span of 10 seconds. Stepping away from the activity, it turns out, is not stepping away from the activity at all.

The findings echo the groundbreaking discovery in 2001 that after successfully running through a maze, rats replayed those memories repeatedly during REM sleep, with the same spatial circuitry flickering to life as they slept.

An Inside Look

When we learn a new skill, we need to connect it to previous memories, explains Cohen, a process called "binding." For example, when learning how to play piano, our brains need to link a simple action-pressing a piano key-with a larger, more complex skill, such as playing a song. Until now, scientists have been unable to decipher how the brain connects these two discrete actions into a consolidated skill.

Cohen's team discovered that after learning new information, our brains continue to whir, using cognitive downtime as a virtual staging ground to process, organize, and integrate learned information. The key, they believe, lies in neural replay, the "temporally compressed reactivation of neural activity patterns representing behavioral sequences during rest." In other words, after practicing a skill, our brains rapidly cycle through the experience, compressing and imprinting the material to optimize storage and recall.

We greatly underestimate the value of breaks when learning, Cohen and his colleagues assert, commonly opting for an approach that views active practice as the only way to advance. But that's a mistake, because incorporating breaks into learning "plays just as important a role as practice in learning a new skill. It appears to be the period when our brains compress and consolidate memories of what we just practiced."

Brain Breaks During School

In the classroom, "brain breaks should take place before fatigue, boredom, distraction, and inattention set in," writes neurologist and classroom teacher Judy Willis, and that means they should be far more frequent. "As a general rule," Willis continues, basing her conclusions on decades of research, "concentrated study of 10 to 15 minutes for elementary school and 20 to 30 minutes for middle and high school students calls for a three- to five-minute break."

You don't have to overthink it, or add to your workload by planning entertaining activities. Willis recommends simple techniques, such as a stretch break, moving to a different part of the room, or singing a song to give students time to "replay" what they've learned and to prepare them for more practice or new material. Letting students chat informally for a few minutes should also work well.

As the school day progresses, there's evidence that brain breaks become increasingly important. A 2016 study found that "cognitive fatigue" sets in toward the end of the day, leading to a notable drop in test performance: For every hour later in the day, test performance decreased by 0.9 percent of a standard deviation, the researchers found-roughly the equivalent of losing 10 school days' worth of learning. Incorporating breaks, however, not only eliminated the decrease but actually increased performance. "Importantly, a break causes an improvement in test scores that is larger than the hourly deterioration," the researchers discovered. "Breaks, it appears, recharge students' cognitive energy, thus leading to better test scores."

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We Drastically Underestimate the Importance of Brain Breaks

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When it comes to optimizing learning, we don't value breaks enough, neuroscientists suggest in a new study.

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This is one of my favorite ways to manage Brain Breaks during the school day. Not only does it add a degree of mystery your students will love, but it also encourages good behavior as they are working for their Bonus Brain Break all day long.

Before the school day begins, choose as many Brain Breaks as you think you will need throughout the day. Put them on your white board in a place where they are easily seen, but not easily reached. Make sure to place them face-down so your students cannot see which Brain Breaks you have selected. Number each one and then choose one more to be the Bonus Brain Break. This should be one that you know your students love - one of their favorites. Put it face-down on the board too, and make it look special.

When you need a brain break, either go in order, starting with number 1, or for an extra bit of randomness, let a student select a number and do that one. By the end of the day, you should have all of your Brain Breaks done except the bonus one.

This is the one they need to earn. You have left a few minutes at the end of the day to do this last Brain Break. If your students have had a good day, they have earned their Bonus Brain Break and you can tell them exactly how awesome they were. "Wow, you were amazing today! You were quiet during work times. I heard some amazing discussions during literature circles, and Mrs. Kelso told me that you were great in music today. You have certainly earned today's Bonus Brain Break!" Alternatively, if you are working on a specific behavior, you can set that up at the start of the day. "Today we are going to work on walking quietly and orderly through the halls. If I see good line behavior, we will earn our Bonus Brain Break today." You might also want to review exactly what that behavior entails so everyone is clear.

Now, what if your students did not have a good day? They were dreadful and there is no way you are going to reward them with a Brain Break. In this case, you can use the few minutes you would have spent doing the Brain Break to discuss what went wrong. Why didn't we get our Bonus Brain Break and what can we do differently tomorrow? Leave that Bonus Brain Break on the board so that your students have another chance to earn it the next day.

How do you manage your Brain Breaks? Please share with a comment.

And if you would like to try the Brain Breaks featured in this post with your students, you can find them here.

Happy Teaching!

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Try Mystery Brain Breaks - Minds in Bloom

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This is one of my favorite ways to manage Brain Breaks during the school day. Not only does it add a degree of mystery your students will love, but it also encourages good behavior as they are working for their Bonus Brain Break all day long.

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Put your DIY skills to use! This video shows you how to make a brain break spinner your kiddos will L-O-V-E. Pair it with our fitBoost to get your students up and moving.

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Ready for Launch (Jaime's Brain Breaks) | Cosmic Kids

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Brain breaks are short, simple activities that teachers can do during transitions, when their class is not 100% present, and as a regular part of the schedule. Throughout a school day, there are a lot of demands on students to stay in control of their behavior, complete their work, focus on instruction, and participate. That's a lot of self-regulation for students. It can be very helpful for teachers to use activities and strategies throughout the day that help students regulate.

Beyond just simple brain breaks, we can differentiate brain breaks to be more responsive to your students needs. Let's check out some ways to begin to incorporate brain breaks into your day and how to have them support students to self-regulate.

Differentiating Brain Breaks

Not all brain breaks are created equal. They should be responsive to the students. Some times you need activities that will help students wake up after they have been sitting for too long. Other times, you need something to bring everyone back down to Earth after an exciting activity. Or sometimes you just need to get everyone back in the learning and thinking mindset.

On your schedule for a week, note how students are doing before, during, and after different activities. Are they sleepy or super active or scattered? Once you have a good feel for the flow of the class during the day, note an activity you can do that will bring the class back to just right.

Tips for Brain Breaks

Consider the age of your students. Younger students need more frequent breaks. That doesn't mean 5 minutes activities. It just means they need some help getting refocused and back to work. Think about how you can build regular and natural breaks into your day that give your students a minute to take a breath and dive back in.

Plan transitions like you do lessons. Transitions are great opportunities to help students regulate themselves. They can be more than just getting students from one activity to another. Instead they can set students up to be focused when the next activity begins.

Like any other routine in your class, Brain Breaks need to be taught. Introduce a few at a time and practice them. Organize the breaks, deliver clear instructions and do a practice round.

Give brain breaks an academic and fun focus. There is not reason not to integrate math problems in or weekly spelling.

Use the breaks that correspond to your students' activity level. Have some wiggle worms? Use the calming or focusing exercises. Have a half asleep class? Use the energizing or focusing exercises.

Brain Breaks to Try

Energizing Brain Breaks

Wiggle Down: Have students stand up behind their desks with their chairs pushed in. They are going to wiggle their arms and legs. Have students wiggle their right arm for 5 seconds, their left arm for 5 seconds, their right leg for 5 seconds, and their left leg for 5 seconds. Then do the same for 4 seconds, 3 seconds, and so on.

Dance Like: Students will dance based on the descriptor you call out. Every 30 seconds or so, stop the music and call out another. Here are some examples: Dance like ... you have sore foot, just woke up, are dizzy, are in jelly, are 90 years old.

Name Jam: Students say their name and do a move (e.g., clap, wiggle, snap). The class repeats their name and the move.

Focusing Brain Breaks

I Spy: Find something in the room and tell the students "I spy with my little eye, something _____________". Describe it based on one dimension (e.g, color, height, age, etc). Students can also take turns.

Start with a Line: Have students take out a piece of paper and draw a line. You can also photo copy paper with a line on it already. Students then draw an object with the line at the center. You can give them a theme like animals, plants, robots, food, houses, etc.

Alliteration: Students have to write a sentence with all the words starting with the same letter. It is fun to choose a relevant theme (e.g., Spring, sports, breakfast). Example: Pam picks pineapples.

Calming Brain Breaks

Time to bring that energy level down a bit.

Deep Dive: This is a classic deep breath. You can change the amount of time for each, but the key is to slowly inhale and exhale, and to hold the breath for a certain amount of time. In this one, they inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds, and exhale for 5 seconds.

Superhero Pose: Students stand up, feet shoulder width apart, shoulders back, chest out, hands on hips. Tell them to take a deep breath in, letting it fill up their chest. Stand tall and proud. Then breath out slowly letting their chest come down inch by inch. Still keeping their head held high. Repeat 5 times.

Stretch It: Have students do a series of stretches. Do whichever are familiar or simple. Hold each stretch for 15-20 seconds. Stretches: reach for the sky, touch your toes, arm circles, neck circles.

Take a look at your schedule and think about when you could add in brain breaks that are responsive and differentiated for your students. Do you want to start the day with a focusing exercise? Do a calming break after recess? Start with one time a day and expand from there.

Looking for more ideas for self regulation activities?
Using Yoga in Schools or Calming Tools for the Classroom may be just what you are looking for.

Pin for Later!

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Brain breaks are short, simple activities that teachers can do during transitions, when their class is not 100% present, and as a regular part of the schedule. Throughout a school day, there are a lot of demands on students to stay in control of their behavior, complete their work, focus on instruction, and participate.

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🗣 If you've got an Echo device or the Alexa app, kids can play games and get moving. #homeschooling

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🗣 If you've got an Echo device or the Alexa app, kids can play games and get moving. #homeschooling https://t.co/3G8N2TEBkH

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🗣 If you've got an Echo device or the Alexa app, kids can play games and get moving. #homeschooling pic.twitter.com/3G8N2TEBkH
— Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent) March 20, 2020

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🗣 If you've got an Echo device or the Alexa app, kids can play games and get moving. #homeschooling https://t.co/3G8N2TEBkH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
🗣 If you've got an Echo device or the Alexa app, kids can play games and get moving. #homeschooling https://t.co/3G8N2TEBkH

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🗣 If you've got an Echo device or the Alexa app, kids can play games and get moving. #homeschooling

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I don't know about you, but when I sit through a faculty meeting or professional development session of any sort, I start getting antsy by the 30-minute mark. If you can relate, just imagine how your students must feel when they've been sitting for too long. Educational brain breaks are the perfect way to help your students redirect their energy and focus when they start to fade.

I find it super-beneficial to incorporate quick mindful, physical, and mental check-ins with my students as a regular part of my classroom routine. These breaks include all types of movement, yoga and breathing exercises, as well as jokes, quick videos, and more. The activities I use have helped me throughout my lifetime, so I love sharing them with my students. Here are my favorite educational brain breaks that are sure to increase productivity and give your kids a much-needed way to unwind before the next lesson.

Mindful Educational Brain Breaks

1. Use transition times for mental check-ins

Transitions are a big part of the elementary school day. When I first started teaching 19 years ago, I was surprised by just how much time it takes to get ready for specials or to bring students back from centers. It's hard not to feel like that's lost time. That's why using transition time for mental health check-ins is such a game changer. Mental health check-ins can help students get in touch with their emotions, refresh and recharge, acknowledge and cope with negative thoughts and overwhelming feelings, and be more focused throughout the day.

2. Pretend to breathe like an animal

Source: Stephanie Sanders

This video shows students how to pretend to breath like some of their favorite animals. The snake breath involves hissing while slithering from side to side, while the whale breath has students pretend to breathe out through a blowhole! Tap into creativity by picking other interesting animals and acting them out through breath.

3. Do a 10-minute guided meditation

These guided meditations are educational and are perfect to use as brain breaks whenever you and your students just need to breathe. Catch your breath with any of these 20 guided video meditations.

4. Practice "focus ball" breathing

Walk your kids through the following exercise: Stand or sit with legs and feet together. Bring your palms together in front of your chest. Keep your fingertips touching as you pull your palms apart, forming a ball with your fingers. Press your fingertips together until you feel the muscles in your hands and arms activating. See if you feel your core tighten too. Now close your eyes and as you breathe in, inflate your ball, and as you breathe out, flatten the ball by pushing your palms together. (Repeat these instructions for 60 seconds).

Learn more: Mindful.org

5. Try the old ear-nose switcheroo

This is a quick and easy challenge to reset the brain. Instruct kids to touch their left ear with their right hand and at the same time touch their nose with their left hand. Then have them switch their hands and touch their right ear with their left hand and their nose with their right hand. Switch back and forth a few times. Then have them close their eyes, take a deep breath, and blow it all out.

Learn more: YouTube: Ear-Nose Switch

6. Take a yoga break

Source: The Pyjama Foundation

Inspire kids to move, stretch, and practice mindfulness with yoga. These printable yoga cards make it easy to incorporate yoga into your educational brain breaks. Each page includes a picture and description of the pose, and each page includes poses of increasing difficulty from level 1 to level 5. And don't worry, it's not a huge time commitment. The sequence on each card is designed to take only a few minutes.

7. Stretch it out

It's never a good idea to spend too much time sitting in one position. Allow kids to take a break and bring some flexibility back into their spines. Have them stand with their feet shoulder-distance apart. Put their left hand on their hip and raise their right hand overhead. Lean to the left and stretch their arm as far as they can to the left. Repeat on the right side. Then stand tall and slowly roll down one vertebra at a time until their hands reach the floor (or at least their shins). Have them take a deep breath then slowly roll back up. Repeat as necessary.

Learn more: Mom Junction

8. Focus on sound

Have kids sit quietly with their eyes closed. Ring a chime or gong. Have them listen carefully to the chime, feeling the vibration in their body as the sound reverberates and then slowly fades. Tell them to breathe slowly and deeply as they focus on the sound.

9. Do a quick mindfulness activity

Mindfulness activity cards provide great educational brain breaks. Stash a pack in your desk and pull them out whenever you need them. Each card will give a prompt for kids to try that will let them refocus and recharge. Perfect for moments when you need to bring down the energy in the room.

Buy it: Mindfulness Cards for Kids at Amazon

10. Chill out with this cross-body exercise

Have kids stand tall and cross one leg in front of the other while pressing the outsides of their feet together. Now have them cross their arms over each other at the wrists. Clasp their hands and curl their arms into their chest. Take a few breaths, and uncross and cross the opposite way for a few more breaths.

11. Float with jellyfish

When you really need to take the energy in your room down a notch, turn off the lights, set a timer, and put on a calming video. For example, Cat Trumpet put together a jellyfish aquarium video where kids will find themselves under the brilliant blue sea in the middle of a swarm of jellyfish. They'll be mesmerized by the slow, fluid motions and lulled into calmness by the soothing music.

12. Break out the hot hands

This is a good break when you sense a weariness in the air. Have kids rub their hands together vigorously until they warm up. Tell them to close their eyes and place their hands over their eyes. Instruct them to breathe deeply as they clear their minds and refocus.

13. Try cat and cow poses

Source: Flow and Grow Kids Yoga

Have kids start on all fours and then give them the following instructions to complete the cat and cow yoga poses: Place your shoulders over your wrists and hips over your knees. Arch your back to the sky and tuck in the tailbone (cat pose). Let your head fall between your arms. From there, sink the belly towards the ground, and lift the chest and chin (cow pose). Gently alternate between the two poses while breathing deeply.

14. Do nothing for two minutes

Never underestimate the power of stillness. When the energy gets a little ramped up, and it's time for the entire class to take a pause, have them drop everything and glue their eyes to the screen as you show this countdown. The gentle lulling of the waves and the sight of the sun sparkling off the water will reset their nervous system in a jiffy.

Learn More: Calm

15. Spread your wings (in slow motion)

Walk your kids through this winged movement: Sit cross-legged on the floor. Stretch your arms down by your sides with your palms facing inward toward your body. Slowly raise both arms while rotating hands forward. When your arms reach shoulder level, your hands should be facing forward. Continue raising arms, slowly rotating palms so that by the time hands are overhead, palms are facing each other. Slowly lower arms, repeating the rotation (palms facing each other, palms facing forward, palms facing sides) until they are once again resting at your sides. As you raise and lower your arms, stretch them as long as you can, as if you are scraping the sides of the room and the ceiling. Repeat slowly three times, breathing deeply.

Physical Education Brain Breaks

16. Play Silent Ball when you have downtime

You can play a quick game of Silent Ball anytime, anywhere. Play a quick three-minute game right before dismissal or before transitioning to a new activity. All you need is a small squishy ball. The rules are simple: 1) stay quiet and 2) don't drop the ball when passing it around. This activity is one of those educational brain breaks that builds a positive classroom community, fosters friendly competition, and boosts nonverbal communication. Enjoy the silence.

17. Line up in unique ways

Kids are very social and curious beings. Most of them love to chat with one another at any chance they can get. Lining up to leave the room for anything is the perfect chance for them to mix and mingle. Make a more productive use of this time by having students line up in special ways. Some fun ideas include lining up in alphabetical order by name, by birth date, or by height order.

18. Just jump!

Sometimes kids just need to bounce their energy out. Have them pretend they are bouncing on a mini-trampoline (this will keep their movement on a vertical plane instead of all over the room), and give them a couple of minutes to let loose!

19. Take a cue from the stadium

Here's one for a group of kids-start the wave! Beginning at one end of the room, kids stand up and throw their arms overhead, bringing them back down as they return to their seats. Each row follows until you reach the other end of the room. Amp it up by encouraging your kids to tap their feet or tap their hands on their legs so that they are in constant motion. This activity works great on Zoom too!

20. Stir the pot

Have kids visualize they are standing in front of an enormous cauldron. Inside the cauldron is an ooey-gooey pot of caramel. Take hold of a large stirrer and plunge it to the bottom of the pot. Slowly begin to stir in a clockwise direction. Have them use their whole body to help get a full range of motion in their wrists and shoulders. Instruct them to throw their hips into the action. After a minute or two, reverse the direction.

21. Make it rain

Conjure up a rainstorm! Sitting or standing at a desk or table, have kids tap one finger on the desk, then two, then three, then four, then their whole hand until you all feel like you're in the middle of a deluge. Work your way backward from five down to one as the storm ebbs away.

22. Energize with these

First, instruct kids to touch their left elbow to their right knee, then touch their right elbow to their left knee. Switch back and forth, going slowly at first, building speed until they are going at a vigorous pace. Next, do some windmills by standing tall with their feet shoulder-width apart and their arms stretched out. Bend at the waist and touch their right hand to their left toes, then their left hand to their right toes. Switch back and forth.

23. Make X's and O's

Walk kids through the following exercise: Sitting in a chair with your feet on the ground and legs together, curl your body into your lap, folding yourself into a tiny O shape. Next, open your arms and legs wide, forming an X shape with your body. Pull back into an O shape, then back out to an X shape. Repeat three times.

24. Energize in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Get hearts pumping with a quick sequence of exercises. Call out five actions for your students to do as quickly as they can. For instance, five jumping jacks, four push-ups, three sit-ups, two squat jumps, and one tree pose.

25. Take a cruise on an imaginary skateboard

Have your kids line up next to a wall and place one hand on the wall. Tell them to plant the foot closest to the wall and swing the other leg, as if pushing off the ground on a skateboard. Start slowly, with tiny swings, moving up to power pushes. Repeat on the other side.

26. Take a break to groove

Music is a great way to reset the mood in a room and raise the energy level. Put on a fun song and have a 30-second freestyle dance party. Here's a big list of school-appropriate songs for kids.

27. Or take it to the next level

Teach your kids the steps to popular dances such as the Cha-Cha Slide, the Macarena, or the Kidz Bop Shuffle.

28. Ramp up with a round of cherry pickers

This easy activity will get your students' hearts pumping and give their brains a boost. Have them jump up off the ground, then down to the floor into a push-up position. From there, instruct them to hop their feet up into a frog position, then pop up to a standing position.

29. Clap on, clap off

When you say "clap on," kids clap their hands vigorously together. When you say "clap off," they stop as quickly as they can and freeze. Or follow along with this a fun video.

30. Skip it out

When the energy is fading and kids need to get their blood flowing, put on a peppy song and pull out the imaginary jump ropes. Have kids skip or jump rope in place until the song ends.

31. Make like a blender

Tell kids it's time to make fruit smoothies. Ask them to pretend they are in a blender and they are strawberries (or blueberries or bananas, etc.). Dramatically pour orange juice or yogurt into the air in front of you. Tell kids when you flip the switch that they need to wiggle and jiggle (separately, not together) until they are each individually blended up. Start with a slow speed, moving up to medium speed, fast speed, and finally turbo speed. And then reverse it! Start at turbo speed and go back to slow speed.

32. Celebrate with a silent cheer

This activity is perfect for the end of an activity or a sustained amount of work time-especially for kids who are learning remotely. Let kids stand up and silently cheer and gesture in celebration. How animated can they get?!

33. Do a full-body workout

This kid-friendly exercise video is great for your body and brain! Kids can follow along through a set of workout moves that will get their blood pumping.

34. Play popcorn

Students will all be sitting in their chairs, and at any time, a student can jump up and say, "Pop!" Once they do, that student remains standing. If two students pop up at the same time, everyone takes their seats, and the game starts over. How quickly can the entire class pop without having to start over?

35. Hit the wall

Pushing against a solid object is a good way to displace extra energy from your body. Have kids stand facing a wall with their arms stretched out in front of them, palms on the surface of the wall. Push the wall away with all their strength for a count of ten. Relax for five seconds, then push again. Other activities they can do at the wall include calf stretches and wall push-ups.

36. 3, 2, 1 blastoff!

Instruct kids to stand and then squat down with their hands on the ground in front of them. All together, count down 3, 2, 1. When you get to zero, they should push up like a rocket, jumping as high as they can-letting all of their energy burst from their center.

37. Quick as a snap, wink

This is a quick and easy refocusing activity. Tell kids to snap their left fingers while they wink their right eye. Switch to snapping their right fingers while winking their left eye. This activity is particularly effective for younger learners who may find both activities challenging.

38. Balance break

A great way to get kids out of their chairs is to practice balance. Have them hop on one foot. Then up the ante by having them stand on one foot and bend their other knee out in front of them.

39. Tabletop push-ups

Kids can use their desk, a chair, the side of their couch-anything really. Have them place their hands on the table and focus their eyes in the center, moving down slowly and pushing back up.

40. Try some facial gymnastics

Have kids get their silly on for 30 seconds. Tell them to wiggle their eyebrows up and down as fast as they can. Then try to raise one eyebrow at a time.

Mental Brain Breaks That Are Educational

41. Take a comedy break

Comedy is a great release when the atmosphere is feeling a little intense. Show a funny video clip or have kids volunteer to tell a joke or pose a few silly riddles. We have compiled a number of jokes by theme on WeAreTeachers for kids of all ages for guaranteed laughs. For example, your students will love one of our most recent additions, 34 Cat Jokes for Kids. From there, you can find dog jokes, seasonal jokes, food jokes, and much more.

42. Share fun facts

In addition to joke compilations, we have plenty of fun fact lists on our site with themes that will thrill your students. Plus they're an educational way to teach your students new information during brain breaks. Get started with these fun feline facts to accompany the jokes above. Meow!

43. Practice another language

Source: startasl.com

Teach your kids the alphabet in sign language. Use brain breaks to practice by singing the ABCs while signing the letters. Then practice vocabulary words by spelling them out loud while signing the letters.

44. Find out how it's made

Remember that classic Sesame Street video about how crayons are made? We watched in awe as crayons rolled off the assembly line, wrapped in paper, and then slipped into those familiar cardboard boxes. Kids today are just as fascinated by how things are made! Here are our favorite videos about how things are made-from fireworks to LEGO.

45. Take a doodle break

According to researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, downtime is essential for brain health. Kids need time for their growing brains to integrate and process the vast amount of information they receive each day. In other words, it is actually beneficial to give our kids time to allow their minds to wander. Try this: Set a timer for three to five minutes and let kids silently doodle with pencil and paper or a dry-erase board and marker while soft, calming music plays in the background.

Learn more: Sage Journals

46. Try a directed-drawing activity

Directed drawing activities walk your students through the process step-by-step so anyone can create their very own masterpiece. Teachers can lead the session by drawing on the whiteboard or chart paper while students follow along. Even better, there are plenty of videos on YouTube that lead the lesson, giving you a little break too. We have done the work and gathered some our favorite free directed-drawing activities for kids. Grab your favorite art supplies and get creative!

47. Gather your favorite GIFs

Make a slideshow of your favorite GIFs and have your kids act them out. Funny animals are a good place to start!

48. Find the object

Kids don't even have to get out of their seats for this one, but they can! Have one student start by finding an object and saying, "I see something beginning with the letter [fill in the blank]." The first person to guess the item correctly gets to choose the next object. This can be a fun one to play on Zoom too! You can have kids add in additional clues to help.

49. Clap for a little call-and-response

Pep things up with a little call-and-response clapping. It's simple to do and is often used in the classroom to get students' attention. Simply clap out a pattern that your kids will repeat back to you. Switch out the pattern a few times until everyone is focused and engaged. Alternatively, try a vocal call-and-response. Sing out a few riffs and have kids echo the tune back to you.

50. Color yourself mellow

Even grown-ups have picked up on the coloring craze as an excellent way to calm down and zone out. Put on some nice mellow background music, set a timer, and pass out some of these free mandala coloring pages.

51. Try a brain-break spinner

One way to make sure educational brain breaks are effective is to change up activities. Check out these online movement spinners for Wheel of Fortune-type games that help you add variety to brain breaks!

53. Would You Rather?

Students of all ages love participating in Would You Rather? videos, which can be found all over YouTube these days. Each video is approximately 8 minutes long, and students are given two scenarios where they choose which one they would rather participate in. Topics range from food items to activity choices to places to visit and more. As students choose the scenario, they move to either the right or left side of the room. Students then perform 30-second rounds of a specified exercise before repeating the process with another choice. Some of our favorite Would You Rather? channels include PE with Mr. G, Phonics Man, and Fix and Play. Students love when their teacher participates with them in the fun!

Learn more: PE With Mr. G

52. Write it out

Don't underestimate the power of journaling or creative writing. Give your kids a 5- or 10-minute break to open up a page of their notebook and write about anything they'd like. They don't have to share it with the class or do anything else with it; just use the quiet time to focus on something they love and want to write about.

Educational Video Brain Breaks by Grade Level

54. Brain-break compilations by grade level

If you are looking for a sample of brain breaks suitable for your students by grade level, look no further. We have created separate links of 25 videos each for individual grades at the elementary level. Go down the list and find your favorite!
Kindergarten Brain Breaks First Grade Brain Breaks Second Grade Brain Breaks Third Grade Brain Breaks Fourth Grade Brain Breaks Fifth Grade Brain Breaks
What educational brain breaks do you love? Share them in the comments!

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Quick, easy educational brain breaks that will help students re-energize, refocus, and give their brains a much-needed boost.

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Shelly Terrel's Distance Learning Brain Breaks 

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Socially distant brain breaks are going to be a crucial part of healthy classrooms this year. Kids (and teachers) are overwhelmed and stressed. School looks a whole lot different this year, plus many kids (and teachers) have a lot of worries outside of school regarding the health and safety of loved ones. This makes concentrating in class a challenge. Brain breaks help with attention, focus, mood, and motivation. Many of the brain breaks teachers used in the past involved touching, close quarters, and sharing items, so those won't work this year. However, socially distant brain breaks can be just as effective - and can also be used with online learners.

Here are 25 socially distant brain breaks that follow CDC classroom guidelines:

1. Mini Criss-Cross Jacks

You might not have enough space to do full jumping jacks. However, criss-cross jacks allow kids to stay in their own space. Plus, the moves are different enough from what kids are familiar with to engage the brain in a new way. Have kids cross their legs like scissors instead of jumping out as they bring each hand to the opposite shoulder.

2. Handwriting Switcheroo

Writing with your non-dominant hand stimulates the brain. Have students write their spelling words or vocabulary list or math problems with their non-dominant hand.

3. You Spin Me Round

Spinning in circles is great for the sensory system and helps with impulse control. Have everyone stand up and slowly walk their bodies in a circle three times, then reverse the direction three times. Play with the speed and add on rotations (up to 10) as students get used to this activity.

4. Pipe Cleaner Fidget Sticks

Pipe cleaners are great fidget tools. Give each student a few to keep in their desk and encourage them to pull them out whenever they need to take their own socially distant brain breaks. If you're teaching remotely, encourage parents to add a pack to the supply list (they're available at Dollar Tree).

5. Virtual Band Class

Put on some music and have kids stand up and pretend to play different instruments. Need it to be a quiet activity? Instead of playing music, be a silent band!

6. Massage Your Ears

The ears are full of pressure points . Take a few minutes of quiet and have students massage their ears.

7. Snap & Blink Challenge

Challenge students to blink their left eye while snapping their right fingers. Do this five times and then switch to right eye and left fingers.

8. Clap It Out

Call out a word and have students clap out the letters or syllables when repeating it back to you. This also works with math concepts, such as counting by 2 or 5.

9. Be a Flamingo

Have students stand on one leg for 30 seconds. Then switch legs. Socially distant brain breaks can be adapted to meet the needs and abilities of your students, of course

10. Work Standing Up

Standing desks are shown to have many health benefits, including improved mood and energy.

11. Strike a Pose

Have students stand up and move at their desks. Call out "Freeze!" and then have them hold whatever pose they're in for 10 seconds. Unfreeze and repeat a few times.

12. Write in the Air

Instruct students to write their names, vocabulary words, or math problems in the air. You can also ask questions and have them write their answers in the air.

13. Take a Mindfulness Break

Mindfulness helps create a calm and peaceful classroom. Check out these mindfulness apps and work even a few minutes a day into your class routine.

14. Pat Your Head and Rub Your Belly

Some classics still work as socially distant brain breaks! Challenge students to pat their heads and rub their bellies at the same time.

15. Sudden 1-Minute Dance Party

Pick a song to use as a signal. Whenever you play it, everyone jumps up and dances in place.

16. Simon Says

Another classic! When the teacher is Simon, all the moves can be modified to meet social distancing guidelines.

17. Midline Moves

Crossing the midline (middle of body) improves brain function. Have kids stand and pretend they're washing windows. Get the whole body in on it by instructing students to touch their right elbow to their left knee and their left elbow to their right knee.

20. Shake It Off

Stand up and just shake - legs, arms, torso, head. Playing Taylor Swift is optional - but always a fun addition!

21. Stand Up, Sit Down

Instruct everyone to quickly stand up and then sit back down. Repeat 10 times.

22. Virtual Basketball Layups

Have everyone stand up and pretend to shoot basketball layups, alternating arms. Encourage victory dances for making their virtual shots.

23. Chair Yoga

Many yoga poses like seated cat and cow are perfect for socially distant brain breaks. Here is a great list of chair yoga poses for kids.

24. Do the Twist

Twisting is great for getting in some movement in a small place. Play the classic song or just have students stand up and twist their bodies to the left and right.

25. And the Cha-Cha Slide!

Teaching the Cha-Cha Slide should be on every teacher's 2020-2021 plan. The movements are perfect for socially distant brain breaks.

Kids who are learning behind a screen also need breaks. Fortunately, these socially distant brain breaks are also perfect for remote learning.

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25 Fun Classroom Brain Breaks That Maintain Social Distancing

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Socially distant brain breaks are going to be a crucial part of healthy classrooms this year. Kids (and teachers) are overwhelmed and stressed. School looks a whole lot different this year, plus many kids (and teachers) have a lot of worries outside of school regarding the health and safety of loved ones.