Self Regulation Techniques featured in CBC article.

When I teach as a TTOC in different classes, I notice a variety of strategies used for DPA (Daily Physical Activity) and also Self Regulation. This article looks a bit at both and I love some of the ideas teachers are using in their classrooms.

I have tried some of the ideas like childrens yoga cards to go to use on the quiet carpet to stretch out, or a bell that signals "leaping lizards" or some other energetic exercise.

One school has "pole to pole" runs where students can go run from one end of the school to the other when they need a break. Another class I was in had regular "brain breaks" with choices of activities such as chair aerobics.

At Cindrich elementary school in Surrey, B.C., 10-year-old boys are putting themselves to bed earlier, an enthusiastic girl in Grade 6 takes herself for a run when she’s feeling hyper, and a diminutive boy who is still learning English tells his teacher he will do better work if he sits on a special cushion. 

It is all part of self-regulation, a philosophy of education that is moving into public schools in British Columbia.

Self-regulation ultimately hands the job of taking charge of their learning and their behaviour back to the kids. Teachers look for what is stressing a child and making them unable to  pay attention, lethargic, or hyper sometimes to the point where they are out of control. It might be too much noise in the classroom, too little sleep or too much junk food in their lunch. Then the teachers help the child recognize what they need to do to make themselves calm and productive in class.

Stuart Shanker, a distinguished research professor of philosophy and psychology at York University, is the pied piper of self-regulation in the schools. He maintains that Canadian kids do not know what it is to feel calm any more. There is too much stimulation in their lives. 

Read the rest of the article here

Gym Game: Fruit Basket

As a TTOC, it is important to have some gym games in your 'bag of tricks' a variety of tag games and activities that require little (or no) equipment is best, just in case you don't have access to, or can't find certain equipment in the gym storage.



A student favourite I play is with them is 'fruit basket'

1. I have kids all line up on one side of the gym, with one or two people "it" in the middle.
2. I name them off with a fruit name (like numbering them off, but with fruit names not numbers)EX: apple, orange, watermelon, grape, apple, orange, watermelon, grape. (You can, of course, use any fruits you wish)
3. The "it" person(s) yell a fruit and all the kids named that fruit, must run to the otherside of the gym. The "it" person(s) may also yell "fruit basket" to have everyone run.
4. If the "it" person(s) tag a fruit, they now join them to be "it"

This game is great fun and you can change the fruits you use, or how many of each fruits there are and so on.

Yesterday, I TTOCd in a Montessori grade 4/5 class and learned their version of fruit basket which involved pinnies.

The game was essentially the same with a few exceptions:

1. All students had a pinnie that hung out of their pocket or belt like a "flag" Students chose red, yellow, green or blue pinnies (as that is what this school had in stock)
2. The "it" person yelled out a colour (or "fruit basket" for everyone to run) and the people would run across the gym
3. If the "it" person grabbed the pinnies/flags from the runner, the runner joined them to be "it"

What I liked about this was that it wasn't just "tag" but like "capture the flag" in that the "it" person(s) had to retrieve a runners flag/pinnie not just tag them. Of course, you had a few runners that rigged the pinnie/flag to be harder to get (or held it as they ran) but those incidents were quickly corrected.

Their teacher had obviously encountered this as well because the students informed me (after the gae of course) the class rules were 9" or more hanging, no holding, no tying, no cheating.

Action Schools! BC Resources for TTOCs

Action Schools! BC has a lot to offer teachers and some great things for TTOCs who wish to include some Daily Physical Activity or healthy lessons into their days with different classes.

The first cool thing I discovered was that they have established really cool activity Circuits for most schools in BC here. You can click your district, find a school, and load the map of the schools playground/field area for suggested activities/circuits to do with classes.

Besides that, they offer many FREE workshops. At the BCTF New Teacher's Conference, a rep told me they could do one for TTOCs and everyone gets some super handy supplies and lessons they can take with them into the classroom!
Their website has Tons of Resources including downloadable worksheets, handouts, posters, and activities about healthy eating, excersize, and more.

I always love the resources the schools have from Action Schools! BC - but was thrilled to see all the online resources and workshops available for teachers not attached to a school. I hope to book a workshop for our TTOCs next year!