Burpees don't like you either.

It dawned me. When I was younger I would do three math problems, and then do three cartwheels. That is how I did my homework every afternoon. I would recite spelling words while standing on my head. I had so much pent up energy by the time I got out of school, my mom would literally make me run laps. I'm still very active. I'm currently obsessed with Obstacle Course Racing. I fell in love with running, swinging, and crawling through mud for a t-shirt and medal.

But enough about me.

It dawned on me.  My students cannot sit still, and I had a brilliant idea: a burpee station. Why not? Every time I fail an obstacle at a Spartan Race I do 30 burpees. Why not bring that into the classroom?  Not as a consequence, but rather in a "get up and move if you need to" way. So I set out on a mission. First, clear it with the principal. I mean she will be walking by while my students are jumping around like frogs. This needs to look like I meant to do it. As long as it was safe, I was in the clear. So I grabbed a mat from the gym and a couple cones, so no one trips,and I was ready to make some rules.

1. One person on the mat at a time.

2. The mat is only for the exercise of the week.

3. Be responsible.

I showed them how to do a burpee. The plan was for them to be able to time how many they can do in a minute. Occasionally, switching up the exercise. This thought was to limit the amount of time they spent on the mat, and give it some type of purpose. The first day I introduced the station there was a line to do burpees. Clearly we had to give this novel concept a try.  I could hear the thought running through their heads, "She is going to let us jump around when ever we feel like it." Well it's not whenever they feel like it, but pretty close. I told them we couldn't wait in line, and they would have to manage turns another way.

By day three no line, and the students who I could have predicted needed to move the most use it in moderation. I like the idea of exercise in the classroom so much I incorporated exercise into a spelling center. Each letter is a movement, and they need to spell their words out by completing the corresponding workout.

Today, some of us did 30 lunges after reading groups. I guess, like everything we implement in the classroom, only time will tell. I'm curious to see if the focus and attention improves in some of my students.

Stay tuned.