From Burpees to Breath- 10 Years Later

 In 2016, I wrote about my busy classroom. I knew kids needed to move, so naturally I was doing burpees in my classroom. At the time,  I was deep into my own fitness journey, and that translated directly into my classroom as a gymnastics mat in the corner and children jumping between lessons.    

Looking back, I wasn't thinking about regulation, I was trying to have them expel excess energy hoping for calmer and more focused students. 

Movement was a strategy. 

Through my own journey with movement, I started to view movement as more than just burning calories or building endurance. I began using movement to calm anxiety, to shift my mood, and build my own confidence. Movement wasn't just about exercise anymore it was about awareness.

This raised different questions for me as a teacher. 

 What if my students used movement in the same way? What if they need more than just moving their bodies? 

Those questions led me to breath. Not fitness. Not more movement- breath.  

Through my personal experience with embodied movement a major focus of that was breathing. I discovered first hand what intentional breathing could do for my mood and my energy. So I started there with my class.

Over the last five years, I experimented. Each new year came different groups of students who needed different things. Some ideas landed, some flopped, some were awkward at first, and some became "Mastro Class" staples. We take a few intentional breaths together every morning. 

I don't regret the burpees. I still offer students opportunities to move in that way when they need to. But today I teach from a different understanding. Movement still belongs in my classroom, but now it is paired with breath and reflection.

Seeds were always there, I just understand them differently now. 

Unpopular opinion, I gave up on quiet transitions.

When I first started teaching, I would insist on silent transitions. I would ask students to go back to their desk in silence, and then repeat the process if it wasn't silent the first time.  Over time, I realized transitions are naturally activating — movement and social energy.

Over the past two years, I decided that quiet transitions are not where my energy needed to go. Transitions are movement and with that comes noise and chatter. Silent and uninterrupted instruction time IS where this regulation matters.  Quiet instruction time is gold. So that is where I started putting my energy. 

How I do it. 

I set a timer. They have about two minutes to get their materials and settle in. If they are talking, humming, or even singing - that's okay!  When the timer goes off we begin. 

Now it's time for silent and uninterrupted instruction. This is where my energy and attention needs to be. 

1. I let them know how much time I need. 

2. I remind them of my expectation for uninterrupted instruction. 

3. I set a timer. 

Yes, every single time. 

What do I do when I get interrupted. Originally I gave out sticks, but their desk quickly became a drum. Now I have a card that gives them three chances to use self control. When those three chances are crossed out, we shift to a consequence for accountability. Based on your class and your student consequences vary. My consequence was an email home. 

Let's dive into WHY. 

1.  Predictability reduces anxiety

Knowing how long I need helps students who feel overwhelmed by “forever.” This isn't forever. It's only a set amount of time. Which you can adjust on the needs of the type of instruction and your class. 

2. The timer regulates the room

I set a time to keep myself accountable and so students have a clear boundary. 

3. The interruption card builds awareness

I give three chances because most students have no idea how often they have interrupt. The card is a visible pattern . I will say- almost always I don't have anyone who interrupts more than once.

We move. We settle. We learn. 

Embodied teaching is recognizing where my energy should be spent. It's not about control, but about deciding where regulation matters most.

If you tried this shift, let me know how it goes in the comments. 

   

   

What are One Chapter Readings?

I was once subbing in a 8th grade classroom, and the teacher was doing something she called ¨One Chapter¨ Readings. Every Morning she would read the first chapter of different books to spark interest in books for her students.  I thought this was a great way to introduce books to her students. I adapted this for my fourth graders, and then my second graders once I had my own classroom. 

Now as the Creative Literacy teacher, I feel it is important for me to be able to suggest books to students. In order to do that I need to read. I´ve always made staying up to date on good literature important, however recently I´ve been reading much more than usual. 

Here are some of my One Chapter Book Readings: 

Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol by Andres Miedoso 

Ling and Ting by Grace Lin 

Barkus by Patricia Maclachlan 

King and Kayla by Dori Hillestad Butler 

Franny K Stein: Mad Scientist by Jim Benton 

Bink and Gollie by Kate Dicamillo

  

Mighty Meg and the Magical Ring by Sammy Griffin

 

Book 1 is an action packed introduction to this series. It would be hard to read Book 1 without getting hooked and wanting more of Mighty Meg. Meg is turning eight and things are about to get interesting. She receives a magical ring from her aunt that gives Meg superpowers. 

Here are a couple things I like about the book:

1. This series has a relatable main character. I really like the contrast the author creates in Meg´s personality. She is shy, yet brave. This first book is about how she gets her super powers, and decides to use them. I feel like there will be a lot of growth through the series as she becomes who she is meant to be.   

2. The reading level is a little higher than some of the other books I have suggested so far, however with a bit of a higher level comes some really great vocabulary. There are some words you may have to define for your young reader, for example relented. Also with a bit of a higher level comes more figurative language. Sammy Griffin uses metaphor and simile to begin this character and story to life. 

3. Another chapter book full of awesome illustrations to not only add to the exciting story, but also help readers with comprehension and decoding. 

4. I love a book that opens a door to something students may not have had experience with. For example, Aunt Nikki´s adventure. In the book, Meg´s aunt Nikki is recently back from a scientific dig in Sweden. She tells Meg about finding an ancient viking burial ground, and uncovering a female viking warrior. 

I would recommend this series for students who like superhero books/comics and action. I´m actually excited to read about Meg´s next adventure.      

       

Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol

Moving along with my Summer Reading, I read the first book in the series: Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. I really like this series. Here are a few reasons I think it makes a great summer reading series:

1. Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol appears as a full grown chapter book from the outside. However inside, it is an easy to read book with high interest content. This book is written in easy to understand language, perfect for a chapter book beginner. 

2. It´s a ghost story, but a silly one. Andres Miedoso (the author and one of the main characters, we will get to that later) does an awesome job making the book both funny and suspenseful.

3. The book is full of great illustrations that help the reader understand the story. Along with illustrations on each page, the print is nice and big. I love big-ish print in a chapter book. It feels good as a reader to keep flipping those pages. It also helps with tracking the words for students who are easily distracted or dyslexic. 

4. Andres Miedoso is the author and stars in the book. I love the idea of a book written from childhood experience. There is even a note about Andres still being scared of everything and how he remains friends with Desmond.

I definitely give this book all the thumbs up for your struggling- not interested reader. Picking up this book and devouring the pages will give your reader confidences and hopefully light a fire for reading. 

Review for Jasper John Dooley by Caroline Adderson

Guided Reading Level M

I read Book One in the series: Star of the Week. This is a great introduction to the quirky main character, Jasper John. He is the Star of the Week and this presents some challenges. To start his show and tell is a bit unusual. He collects lint, even of the belly variety. As you can imagine his classmate don´t quite get it. To make matters more complicated his best friend Ori´s baby sister has arrived and the announcement of that news derails his show and tell presentation.  

Speaking of Ori, he is an interesting character as well. He has a unique speech quirk. Ori starts most things he says with ¨The thing is¨.  There are plenty of opportunities to infer what is going on in Ori´s life in the wake of a new baby. For a children´s book, the character have pretty deep personality traits. This would be an excellent pick for character analysis projects.  

One small hiccup for me with the book is the fact that Jasper decided he wants a baby. Its quite cute the way it plays out as far as where babies come from. However in class I´m not sure that is a can of worms I would want to open. 

Another theme worth exploring in this chapter book is lying. As Ori makes it through the week he creatively solves problems as they come. One such problem leads to a fib about having a brother. He recovers from his lie with the creation of a wooden brother. It takes an interesting turn as Jasper Jacob´s imagination gets the best of him and his wooden brother turns out to be a bit of a trouble maker. 

Over all, I think this book makes an excellent read aloud with caution around the whole ¨where do babies come from¨ thing. Or a great addition to a summer reading list. :)             

Review for Franny K. Stein

As you may already know, I am now the Creative Literacy teacher at Mountain Way. Part of my job description is library book circulation, so I feel like keeping up with children's book is important when recommending books to teachers and students. I also like to keep the books I read to students current and fresh.

*Spoilers Included* 

Franny K. Stein Mad Scientist: Lunch Walks Among Us 

I love a good series! I like that you can get a student hooked, and then they have a list of books to read. I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter book. Franny is not your usual little girl. She likes all things gruesome, but not too gruesome! It´s a children's book. She starts a new school and quickly realizes that she is very different from the other kids. It portrays different in a fun spooky way. For example, the other little girls play with dolls while Franny prefers bats and ooze.  

In an effort to be more like the other kids, Franny changes everything about herself until she is unrecognizable. Everything seems to be going according to plan until a ¨lunch garbage can¨ mishap creates a monster that kidnaps the teacher. Franny has to go back to her spooky self in order to save the day. 

Saving everyone comes with a price the kids seem to be afraid of Fanny, and that makes her sad. Feeling like pretending to be something she isn't is a lost cause, she returns to school the next day back to Spooky Odd Franny. And to her surprise the other kids are excited and happy to see her. 

This book is great for themes like friendship and being yourself. I could see a bunch of great conversations coming from this as a Read Aloud. I will be using it as part of a unit I do before summer to get students thinking about summer reading. I read the first few chapters of a books in a series as a taste of many options for summer reading.