Brain Breaks Breakdown!

It is that time of year again! Whether you’re in elementary, middle, or high school, students are spending more time inside and less time moving. In elementary school, a lot of students are missing outdoor recess due to cold temperatures or bad weather. Middle and high school students often feel sluggish or tried from lack of sleep and less movement throughout their day. We as educators can do something about this by incorporating brain breaks into our classrooms!

     Brain breaks are kind of my thing. I have worked as a summer camp counselor or director for seven summers after attending camps as a child for 10 years. I teach physical education and I coach… I HAVE A TON OF BRAIN BREAK MATERIAL.

     Before we dive in I have what I believe is an important question… WHY do teachers think brain breaks will only benefit elementary students?! Do not get me wrong, brain breaks are perfect for elementary students, but they are just as beneficial for middle and high school students! I am a middle school educator myself and when I’m in a 90 minute health class, I try to incorporate at least three five minute brain breaks. My students tell me all the time how much they enjoy them and how their other teachers don’t perform them. Middle school teachers listen up, YOUR STUDENTS WANT BRAIN BREAKS.

Let’s get started with some of my favorite web-based brain breaks! Some of these are pretty standard, especially at the elementary level, but you can incorporate them into middle school too.

1. Go Noodle – My adapted PE students LOVE using this website. They have so much variety! This is also a huge hit with many of my elementary teacher friends. It offers guided dance, sing-a-long, fitness, sport skills review, silly random videos, and so much more!
   
2. Brain Pop – When limited on space due to larger class sizes or being crammed into a space that doesn't allow for a ton of movement, Brain Pop is a great review tool and helps kids have fun while learning. While not a true brain break, it does still offer many tools that make students feel like they're taking a breather.
   
3. Just Dance YouTube Chanel – I was surprised to learn that middle school students can still love Just Dance! They love requesting songs, getting up and moving, while singing along. I have had this work really well in sixth grade, while seventh is hit or miss, and eighth graders are typically past it.

Let's get into the fun part... Brain Break ideas to implement in your classroom! Below is a detailed list of brain breaks I use (and my students love) on a regular basis {in middle school}:

1. Yoga – What I love about yoga as a brain break is the calming effect it has on students, while challenging them to build strength in different poses. While this isn't a huge movement activity, it helps students refocus to improve classroom work and effectiveness. Being a Pinterest queen, there is an excellent resource here on yoga poses for younger students. Middle and high schools students can easily perform more advanced yoga poses which can be found here.
   
2. Meet Me in the Middle  – Have students pair up with a partner and stand on opposite sides of the room. Call out an activity to do (i.e. meet in the middle and give your partner a high five with your right hand). Students walk to the center and meet their partner to do the activity. After completing the activity, students turn and walk back to their original places. Add one activity each round. {For example: 1st time – meet partner in the middle and do a right-handed high five. 2nd time – right-handed high five, add left-handed high five. 3rd time – right-handed high five, left-handed high five, call out favorite physical activity}. Adjust this activity to fit your needs and what your students enjoy. I will often add things like, "meet in the middle and perform five body squats" to make the activity more challenging.
   
3. 10 Second Fitness  –  Students pair up with a partner and perform the teacher-designated fitness activity (see examples below) for 10 seconds. As one student performs the activity, the other partner counts the number of repetitions. The students switch, and partner two does the activity. Ask students to do the activity as quickly as they can. Exercise examples include:
   
             Forward straddle jump
             Side straddle jump
             Side jumps
             Front and back jumps
             Right foot jump
             Left foot jump
             Scissor jump
             Alternating Lunges
             Body Squats
   
4. Group Juggle  –  Students should group up in table groups of 4-5 members and each group should have a small ball or object to throw and catch. On the signal, groups must work together to pass the ball to every member of their group without repeating. Once they complete the task, they should jump up and say "finished." Alternate this activity by having groups throw in the same pattern backwards, repeat the forward pattern for time, add a second object to throw, etc.
   
5. Trainwreck  –  Have the entire class sit in a circle with one student in the middle. The student in the middle can either say a fun fact about themselves or a fun fact they learned in class. Students who agree or like the same thing will stand up and find a new place to sit. They cannot move directly next to their current seat or return to the same seat. The last student left is the new middle man. Repeat rounds as needed.
   
6. Hot Tamale  –  One student exits the classroom. The rest of the class watches the teacher hide the “hot tamale” (can be any object) somewhere in the classroom. The student who exited the classroom re-enters. The rest of the class tries to guide him or her to the hidden tamale by performing various physical activities {listed below}, with each activity corresponding to a different direction. Students are not allowed to talk. Once the student locates the hidden “hot tamale,” another student is selected to exit the classroom, and the “hot tamale” is hidden in another location so that the game can be repeated.
   
   Write the following motions on the board for all students to see:
             Move backwards - back stroke (swimming motion)
             Move forward - march in place
             Move to either side - side stretch in the direction of the hot tamale
             Up higher - climbing ladder motion
             Down lower - squats
             Within 1 foot of the tamale - students pretend they are stepping on hot coals (in place) 

These examples are just a few of the brain breaks I have done with middle school students and they are also some of their favorites as well! Brain breaks don't have to be limited to elementary students. Many middle schools and most high schools operate on block schedules that keep kids in one class for a longer period of time. Taking five to 10 minutes out of our class period to get them moving and refocused will help us as educators in the long run with behavior management and it will help students be more focused and attentive. 

Do you have any go-to brain breaks that you use in your classroom!? Share your ideas in the comment section below!

Valentine's Link Up: All Subjects Welcome!

I'm not sure about y'all, but this school year is flying by! I cannot believe we are less than a month away from celebrating Valentine's Day! After a successful Christmas product link up, I want to continue the trend this week by hosting my second link up with a Valentine's Day product theme!

All you have to do is find your favorite Valentine's Day products, copy the link to your store, and share below! Share as many links as you'd like, but I humbly ask that you share at least one freebie so we can promote our stores while saving other teachers some green.

Please feel free to share my blog link with other TpT sellers or teachers who are looking for awesome Valentine's Day classroom resources! I hope each of you find resources you can utilize in your classrooms! You can follow me on twitter and instagram @sassypeteach for my latest product updates! You can also check out my store in the top banner for some awesome Valentine's Day resources (with more coming soon)! Have an amazing week teacher friends!

How to Teach a Middle School Bowling Unit

Bowling is an excellent indoor recreation sport that allows students to learn more about skill-related fitness components, as well as etiquette, sportsmanship, and cooperative skills! There is no better time to teach bowling than right now in the cold of winter. Your classes are already indoors and in most cases, you're forced to combine with other classes due to limited space. Bowling is a wonderful sport that can accommodate each of these circumstances while still getting students moving and grooving! So if you're looking for advice on how to start your own bowling unit or if you're looking for new ideas to spice up your existing unit, then keep reading! If you're looking for an awesome freebie, you'll find access to my manual scoring assessment at the end of this post!

Before Getting Started:

It's important to analyze your equipment and potential equipment needs before beginning any unit in your classroom. It's also essential to be creative, especially if you don't have "real" bowling equipment. My school is very fortunate to have access to authentic bowling pins for 10 lanes, 10 rubber or plastic bowling balls {I do not recommend purchasing plastic bowling balls - more on that later}, and mats that act as bumpers at the far end of each lane. Your school may not have this equipment (and I've been there before) so you may need to be more creative.

If you have bowling equipment already, fantastic! If you don't currently have bowling equipment, but you have the resources to purchase equipment, here are my top recommendations for bowling equipment:

Pins:

• Hollow Bowling Pins from Flag House | $44.50 per 10 piece set.
• Weighted Bowling Pins from Flag House | $52.00 per 10 piece set.

Balls:

• Polyvinyl 5lb from Flag House | $44.50 per ball
• Polyvinyl 2.5lb from Flag House | $27.75
• Weighted 2.5lb Foam from Flag House | $16.50
• Rainbow Striker Rubber Bowling Ball by Gopher  | $34.95 - $54.95 (individual) or $199 (set of six)

Complete Sets:

• 10 Pin 5lb Ball Set from Flag House | $89.00
• UltraPin Bowling Sets from Gopher | $69.95 - $135.00

You can certainly find cheaper options, but what I love about Gopher is their lifetime replacement guarantee. When an item breaks or wears down, they will replace it, no questions asked. My department chair and I do this frequently. Flag House also has the widest variety of options.

I'm sure some of you are looking at these prices and thinking, "Wow, these all look great, but I simply don't have the budget to purchase these items!" You're in luck because there are a ton of items you probably already have in your storage closet that can be just as effective!

Courtesy of Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/285204588875182233/

Creative Pin Suggestions:

• Empty 2-Liter Bottles
• Paper Towel Rolls (glue three together to help them stand better)
• PVC Pipe (cut in 10-15 inch lengths)
• Wide Pool Noodles (cut in 10-15 inch lengths)

Courtesy of S&S Worldwide
www.ssww.com

Creative Ball Suggestions:

• Traditional Foam Balls (best suggestion)
• Soccer Balls (size four works best)
• Basketball (not ideal as they can be too big for students hands)

Setting Up Your Bowling Unit:

This will vary based on your school, your PE/Health rotations and other factors, but my department works in a two week block schedule format. This allows me to teach five 90-minute lessons during each PE rotation. I breakdown my skill development into each of the five days:

• Day 1: Introduction to Basic Skills & Vocabulary, Peer Evaluation
• Day 2: Review Basic Skills, Station Skills, Self-Assessment
• Day 3: Station Skills, Introduce Manual Scoring, Peer Assessment
• Day 4: Traditional Bowling, Manual Scoring Skills, Self-Assessment
• Day 5: Summative Skill Assessment, Summative Manual Scoring Assessment

In my 90-minute class periods, I eliminate 14-20 total minutes (before and after class) for changing and instant activity (before class only). I also include a 10-20 minute fitness activity before getting into the main topic, in this case bowling, which gives me about 50 minutes to teach content. You can easily manipulate these times to work with your own schedule. At my former school, I had 50 minute class periods. I eliminated 12 minutes for students to change (includes before class - 6 min - and after class - 6 min) and that left approximately 38 minutes for content. If your schedule is closer to this time frame, I eliminate a fitness activity when bowling because it requires so much setup throughout the activity. 

Day One | Introduction to Basic Skills

I focus on ball grip and a three step approach during day one. Educators differ on the type of approach taught, but as long as students are releasing the ball with the opposite (or non-dominant) foot in front, the number of steps in the approach can vary. After brief instruction and demonstration, I break students into groups of four.

To the left is the setup I use in my own classroom. We have 10 lanes set up in our gym with four students at each lane. Two students begin at the top of the lane as the bowlers, while the other two begin at the bottom of the lane . (1) Bowler one rolls their first bowl, with bower two providing verbal feedback on hand grip and three step approach. (2) The two team members on the bottom of the lane, move pins that have been knocked over to the side. (3) Bowler one then bowls their second ball, with bowler two again providing verbal feedback. (4) The two team members reset the pins so all ten are standing. (5) Bowler two now takes their turn, with all other steps repeating. (6) Once bowler two has finished, they move to the bottom of the lane for pin setup, while the previous team members move to the top of the lane to bowl their turns.

As the instructor, I am moving around with each group to fix form, provide formative feedback, and check for understanding. If I see a pattern of errors or misunderstanding, I will stop the group, briefly explain the issue, get them working again, and then go back to working with students one on one. 

I also have a peer evaluation form. Each student fills out a form about the partner they observed bowling with helpful, respectful, and constructive feedback.

Day Two | Review Basic Skills, Station Skills, Self-Assessment

Prior to class, I would have reviewed peer feedback. After my students have completed the instant activity and fitness activity for the day, I quickly review and demonstrate the basic skill learned in day one and hand back their peer feedback from the previous class. On day two, I add station task cards to each lane. Students work through various setups throughout class and track their progress. For example, a station task card looks like:

Each student is given a worksheet to track which stations they have visited and how they did. Students think it's fun to work on different shots. This worksheet becomes their self-assessment later on when they review it before turn in. I grade the sheet for completion, provide feedback, and give it back during the next class period.

Day 3 | Station Skills, Introduce Manual Scoring, Peer Assessment

Students continue to work on stations, often returning to station they've struggled with. There is a station for every group and the general rule is that if a station is occupied, they must select another station. This is also the day I introduce manual scoring. Students often have no idea how scoring in this sport works because they've never had to track it themselves. I start by teaching basic frames and continuous scoring.

Introducing spares and strikes is often a skill I wait to introduce until seventh or eighth grade, but only you know your classes! If you think they can take those skills on sooner, I have this visual to assist students with understanding them.

Day 4 | Traditional Bowling, Manual Scoring Skills, Self-Assessment

On day four of my bowling unit, I take away the stations and let students practice their new skills in a traditional bowling environment. Students also keep track of their own scores and apply their scoring knowledge in a formative setting. 

My role on day three is to facilitate feedback, assist with scoring, provide opportunities to challenge students, and collect/review bowling score cards. I print my scorecards from Print Your Brackets. They are easy to print and perfect for classroom use!

Day 5 | Summative Skill Assessment, Summative Manual Scoring Assessment

Day five is assessment day and I have been notifying my students about this every day leading up to it. My assessment style is informative and, in my opinion, always students to test in a comfortable environment without fear of making mistakes. 

Skill Assessment: I allow students to pick their own groups and lane. I move to the students lane, inform them that I will be assessing their next bowl, notify them what I am looking for, and allow them two opportunities to find success. I place my criteria on an Excel Spread sheet with each students name pre-entered and fill in their results as I record them. I assess with a simple yes or no system. The individual skill is either present or not. If the skill is present, it is marked with a Y and if it is not present or incomplete, it is marked with a N.

Scoring Assessment: Students complete a pre-filled scoring sheet for four bowlers. I give my students the option on which scores they would like to tally. For example, in my assessment, I ask students to complete two of the four scores. They must score Corey or Emily as one of the two options and Michael or Patricia as the second option.

I also tell my students that if they want to work through all four, I will count their best two. I award one point per frame. I also grade based off the individual frames. 

For example, if a student is working on Corey and scores 9 on frame one (correct), 19 on frame two (incorrect), and 27 on the third frame (half correct), they would earn two total points. They answered frame one correctly (+1), but answered frame two incorrectly (+0). They technically answered frame three correctly as the frame score is 8, but now they've based it off their incorrect score in frame two. They receive a point because they scored that frame correctly. You can access a copy of my scoring assessment and answer key for free in my store! While you're there you can also see my Bowling Classroom Newsletter to help keep parents updated on the latest class events!

And there you have it! This is how I like to run my own middle school bowling unit. Tell me what you think or show me how you run your own bowling unit! I love to see how other physical educators are teaching in their classrooms. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to shoot me an e-mail at sassypeteach@gmail.com! Also be sure to follow me on twitter and instagram @sassypeteach as I'll be teaching my bowling unit over the next two weeks!

Athlete-Centered Coaching & Why It Matters for Our Student Athletes

Anyone who knows my educational background knows that I attended the University of Virginia for my graduate degree. While I was there I had the opportunity to meet many intelligent and talented individuals. I'm thankful to consider Marshall Milbrath a colleague, as well as a friend, and his latest research piece really spoke to me on multiple levels. In education, we hear about student-centered classrooms all the time. Many educators, especially at the middle and high school level, dedicate their after school time to impacting students in athletics as coaches. Too often I see this idea of student-based instruction and learning fade to the background when transitioning to the athletic field, but why? We know students are more engaged, enticed, and willing to learn when they have control of that learning, so why are we abandoning it on the sports field, especially when research is leading us to the same conclusion?

While it has been suggested that research must continue to develop a working definition of athlete-centered coaching, common methods recognized as athlete-centered practices have been identified. This review describes some of these approaches taking into account scientific findings from a multitude of sports contexts, rationales for why these should be considered by the track coach in her or his practice, and recommendations for its implementation.  - Milbrath (2017). 

If you really want to dive into the research behind athlete-centered coaching, I highly recommend reading Marshall's article (linked above), but for this post I want to talk about real athlete-centered strategies that middle and high school coaches can implement right now. Before we get there, it's important to understand what athlete-centered coaching is and Marshall summed it up like this, "The athlete-centered approach breaks away from negative articulations in coaching, while reducing the prevalence of autocratic, “win-at-all cost” mentalities common in many sporting contexts. Athlete-centered coaching adopts an attitude of facilitation and teaching. By focusing on teaching the mind, body, and spirit of the athlete, humanistic needs are fulfilled and athletes are empowered."

So how can we adjust our coaching styles to better our athletes in an athlete-centered environment right now?

1. Understand Your Audience: Our athletes, their goals, the team atmosphere, and so many other factors change every year. If we want our approach to be athlete-centered, we have to adapt how we lead our team each year. Even if our team has many returning players, those few loses or new additions make it a completely different team. This leads into...


2. Get to Know Your Athletes: Even at the middle school level, I use a short and simple personality test with each of my athletes. This accomplishes two major tasks, I get to know them and they get to know themselves. When athletes are more self-aware of their behaviors and goals, they can better advocate to us what they need. In the same token, it allows us as coaches to identify their strengths and weaknesses more efficiently, while gaining a better understanding of their learning styles.


3. Be Purposeful: Every coaching decision you make in practice or in a game should be made with a specific purpose. This sounds like common sense, but I'm not just referring to decisions based on strategy and how to win games. Being purposeful in athlete-centered coaching is understanding the implications that decisions have on athletes and their mental, physical, and social well-being. 


4. Create a Team Philosophy: A philosophy is more than just a simple mission statement or expectations list for players. A philosophy tells your athletes, parents, and administration why your team has value. You can find an awesome sample list of coaching philosophies here. You can also find a wonderful article with advice on how to create your own unique coaching philosophy here.


5. Set Goals: Perform this task on your own prior to the season and then sit down with your athletes to have them set their own. Be sure all goals are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound). Check in during set time frames to see how athletes are achieving goals and coach them through setbacks. 

As we enter the spring coaching season, make small steps to move toward an athlete-centered mindset. You won't change your coaching style immediately, but small changes can have a large impact over time.