10 Ways to Exercise During the School Week

January is almost over and if you’re like me those New Year’s Resolutions to workout more are quickly disappearing. So, I thought today I would write about a few ways to get to that workout during a busy school week.

1.) Try getting up 30 minutes early.  This one is difficult for me, because I LOVE to hit the snooze button.  But, when I do succeed to get up early and do a quick workout before work, the entire rest of the day runs better.  I have more energy and I’m much more alert.  Plus, I get to take a shower after my workout and end up feeling much more refreshed.
2.) Park 20 minutes away from your school.  If you can get up early, but don’t love to spend that time doing an aerobics video or crunches, leave for work early but park farther away from your school.  I tend to park in a grocery store parking lot or somewhere else where I feel my car will be okay during the day.  Then, walk or jog the rest of the distance to work.  The bonus to this technique is that you will have the same walk or jog at the end of the day, doubling your workout by default!
3.)  Start out your day with number aerobics.  Get your kids in the act!  When I taught first grade, we started out each day with number aerobics.  The kids worked on counting and groups of ten while getting their giggles out and waking up.  Meanwhile, I did all of the motions with them and raised my heartbeat a bit each morning.  Feel free to download my number aerobics poster for free from Google Docs.
  4.)  Use aerobics or yoga for brain breaks.  Kids stop and stretch or stomp to get their brains going, but do you?  Join in on those brain breaks and reap some of the workout benefits from it.  Some of my favorite brain breaks are 2 minutes worth of jumping jacks or seeing who can hold down dog or plank the longest.  Kids get some exercise and a bit of a break and guess what, so do you!
5.)  Play tag with the kids at recess.  I truly don’t know how kids play tag non-stop every day at recess. However, I do know that running around with them gets my heartbeat up and builds my stamina. I still can’t run for twenty minutes straight like my kids can, but exercise is exercise.  The kids also love having an involved teacher so this helps you to build relationships too.
6.)  Crunch after lunch.  Got a duty free lunch?  What does that really mean?  For me it was 10 minutes to eat, 5 minutes to go to the bathroom and 10 minutes to socialize or pretend I was going to get some work done.  In those final 10 minutes, you could get a lot of crunches in. Take 10 minutes and get in as many different crunches as you can.  Find a partner who wants to crunch with you, or just enjoy a quiet, dark classroom to get in a quick 10 minute crunch break.
7.)  Do a workout video in your classroom before heading home.  There are amazing videos out there to help you get a good workout.  Unfortunately, by the time I get home, the last thing I want to do after picking up kids and fighting traffic is start a workout.  So instead, take a half an hour to get that exercise out of the way – and increase your energy – as you walk out the door to go to your second job (wife, mother, housemaker, etc.)
8.)  Go running with friends directly after school.  Don’t like workout videos?  Get a friend and go out for a walk, jog or run as soon as your official duties have completed. 
9.)  Start a school running club.  Many kids need exercise as much as we do.  Start a running club for kids afterschool and have a great excuse to keep you – and your students – in shape.
10.)  Stretch while you cook.  Cooking dinner often takes up a bulk of my evening.  However, at least half of that time is downtime.  You’re waiting for something to boil, bake, brown, etc.  While I am waiting, I have taken to doing random yoga and aerobics moves: leg lifts, squats, standing yoga poses, etc.  I probably don’t get a full workout, but if I’ve done at least one other thing on this list, this makes me feel like I’ve had a complete workout.  It also keeps me from checking work e-mail while I cook, which is what I used to do with that downtime.
Hope some of these tips will help you to meet that New Year’s resolution of staying in shape while also keeping up with your busy life as a teacher (and possibly mother, wife, etc.).

Making Recess Fun and Safe

It’s time for recess!!!!  Time for a break!  Time to let the kids be kids!  Time to breath for a minute, maybe even get a word of adult conversation with another teacher.  Until the tattling and accidents start.  We’ve all been there, and it happens in every classroom, but there are some things you can do at the beginning of the year to make recess safer, and more fun – for you and the kids!

 

1.)  One of the best tips is to start out the year with double the normal recess time.  This additional time will give the kids an adjustment period to get used to being back in school, while giving you more time to teach recess rules.  It’s a win win situation.  Start out by being very clear that for the first two weeks of school (or 3 or 6, or however long you think will be best for your class) there will be additional recess.  Give students a specific date of when this extra privilege will go away, maybe even mark it on the calendar, because otherwise they will be quite upset when the schedule changes.  Don’t expect to get a break during this time, this is the time to set the tone for recess, help students solve their own problems instead of tattling, make it clear what is and isn’t safe etc.  Be on your toes now so that you can have a breather the rest of the year.

2.)  Before recess each day, go over the specific expectations of the recess, keeping it as simple and sweet as possible.  Another teacher I worked with used to sum it up with:

Have the students recite the expectations every day, so that you know they are internalizing (or at least memorizing) the expectations.  This way, when you have to have a discussion with someone who is not following expectations, you can go back to these expectations that have been clearly stated every day.

 

3.)  As the days go by, you may want to take that moment in the beginning to reflect on what happened yesterday, and how recess could go better today.  ie. “Yesterday, I noticed that some students were kicking rocks and making dust that made it hard for others to play.  Let’s make sure that today we don’t kick rocks and make dust.”  Let kids talk about problems they saw or had – they often see things that we don’t.  And let them help come up with solutions to class problems, as they often they can come up with solutions that are just as good, if not better than ours.

 

4.)  Split recess in half, with structured play in the beginning and free play in the end (or have two recess – one with structured play and one with free play).  This gives kids who have a hard time selecting a game a chance to play in one that has been pre-selected.  Often those students will continue the game into free play, while those who had another idea will switch games as soon as free play is announced.

During structured play time, introduce kids to playground games that everyone can participate in, like Duck Duck Goose, Four Square, different variations of Tag, Hot Potato etc.  Often kids have never learned these games and so when it’s time to play, they struggle to come up with a game.  If you introduce new games and their rules to the kids in the beginning of the year, you will often see these games come back later in the year during free play.  Take time to pair up unlikely pairs during this time, so that kids get used to playing with everyone in the class.

 

During free play time, allow it to be FREE play.  Students can play anything, with anyone, as long as they are being safe and kind.  We all need a little time each day to just be us.  This is a true brain break that can allow students’ minds to work better when returning to the classroom.

 

5.)  Don’t be afraid to play yourself!  I have gotten my best work outs by playing tag or jump rope with my students.  It lets them see you in a different light, builds morale, models the importance of physical exercise and is great cardio-vascular work! 

 

6.)  Pair up with another class.  If possible, have recess at a time when another class also goes.  Do both structured and free play together, giving students a chance to work, play and socialize with a new set of kids.  This also helps to reduce the “sibling squabbles” that happen later on in the school year, as kids get to know each other as well as they do their own siblings.

7.)  Have a unique line up signal.  I had a cowbell.  You could hear that thing for miles, and the kids always knew when it was time to line up.  One friend of mine had a duck call and another a train whistle.  Anything that helps extract your students from the sea of students on the playground without having to call their names or waste your voice.

 

8.)  If possible, schedule recess BEFORE lunch.  I learned this when my school did a book study on The First Six Weeks of School.  What an amazing difference – they get all their energy out before lunch, making for quieter, calmer lunch periods – and happier lunch ladies.  Then, they return to your classroom full, calm, happy and ready for work.  After lunch, plan something quiet and productive like Writing Journals or Silent reading with Reading Response Journals, and watch the amazing work that can be done in the afternoon!

 

What is your best recess management tip?