Newsletter – N27 26 August 22 JNR & SNR

Junior Newsletter

Chores, few of us enjoy doing them, but for a household to run
smoothly these tedious and time-consuming tasks must get done.
It’s a given that as adults and parents, they will do their part around
the house, but when it comes to assigning housework or chores to
children, there’s some debate on which tasks are age-appropriate.
Many times we want to preserve their childhood for as long as
possible and “let kids be kids” however the benefits of assigning
chores cannot be overlooked! Such as teaching your child basic life
skills, for example laundry and washing the dishes, teamwork,
responsibility and self-reliance, time management skills and most
importantly helps to develop a strong work ethic.

This week the Grade 3s have been hard at work learning all about
the wonders of outer space! From moons and stars to satellites and
asteroids, it has been great fun sharing and expanding our
knowledge. We have been discussing the different planets and even
made our own rocket ships in Creative Art!

[read more]

 

Senior Newsletter

The Rock, Pebble and Sand story
There once was a philosophy professor who was giving a lecture. In front of him, he had a big glass jar,
a pile of rocks, a bag of small pebbles, a tub of sand and a bottle of water. He started off by filling up the
jar with the big rocks and when they reached the rim of the jar he held it up to the students and asked
them if the jar was full. They all agreed, there was no more room to put the rocks in, it was full. “Is it full?”
he asked. He then picked up the bag of small pebbles and poured these in jar. He shook the jar so that
the pebbles filled the space around the big rocks. “Is the jar full now?” he asked. The group of students
all looked at each other and agreed that the jar was now completely full. “Is it really full?” he asked. The
professor then picked up the tub of sand. He poured the sand in between the pebbles and the rocks and
once again he held up the jar to his class and asked if it was full. Once again, the students agreed that
the jar was full and he agreed.

What does this mean?
The jar represents your life. The rocks represent the most important things that have real value – your
health, your family, your partner. Those things that if everything else (the pebbles and the sand) was lost
and only they remained, your life would still have meaning.
The pebbles represent the things in your life that matter, but that you could live without. The pebbles are
certainly things that give your life meaning (such as your job, house, hobbies and friendships), but they
are not critical for you to have a meaningful life. These things often come and go and are not permanent
or essential to your overall well-being.

The sand represents everything else – the small stuff. Material possessions, chores and filler things such
as watching television or browsing social media sites. These things don’t mean much to your life as a
whole and are likely only done to get small tasks accomplished or even to fill time.
The metaphor here is that if you start with putting sand into the jar, you will not have room for rocks or
pebbles. This holds true with the things you let into your life. If you spend all of your time on the small and
insignificant things, you will run out of room for the things that are actually important. A. Edwards

What can we learn?
Make room for what’s important.
Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter and are critical to your long-term wellbeing and
happiness. If you deal with the big issues first by putting the rocks in the jar first, the small issues can still
fall into place. However, the reverse is not true

[read more]

Newsletter – N26 19 August 22 JNR & SNR

Junior Newsletter

This week in assembly we were dazzled by a magic show from Teacher Gabby. Her magic show was the
basis of magic which we use every day. Those special magic words, like ‘please’, ‘thank you’, ‘sorry’ and
‘pardon me’. These are words of good manners and good etiquette. Being kind and having these magic
words on your side lights a tunnel to build relationships with others. We hope that our learners will
remember the magic they saw and will spread their magic going forward.

The Grade 2’s have been learning all about transport. We have been discussing the
different types of transportation in Life Skills and learning the different transport in
Afrikaans. The Grade 2’s has done a wonderful oral presentation on the different
transportations and how it has changed over the years. We heard some very
interesting facts during the presentations. Well done Grade 2’s!

[read more]

Senior Newsletter

Who’s packing your parachute?
This last story proving the importance of teamwork is about a US jet fighter pilot in Vietnam – Charles
Plumb. He had completed 75 combat missions when he was shot down. Plumb was ejected and
parachuted into enemy hands, where he spent six years in a Vietnamese prison. One day, a man came
up to him and said, “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.
You were shot down!” Plumb was confused and asked how the man knew about that. “I packed your
parachute,” the man replied. The man then shook his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” Plumb assured
him it had and said, “If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.” Plumb thought a lot about that
man who held the fate of someone he did not even know, in his hands. He kept pondering how many
times he might have seen the guy, and not even said anything because he was a fighter pilot, and the
stranger was just a sailor.” Charles Plumb is now a motivational speaker telling this story to hundreds.
After telling it, he always asks his audiences, “Who’s packing your parachute?” In our life, be it personal
or work related, many people have a hand in our parachutes. Are you taking the time to acknowledge,
thank, and reward them? It is very easy to overlook the work of many. It takes a lot of people to create a
team. C. Cronjé

NETBALL
Netball on 15th August will be moved to the 22nd of August at Montague Arena. The friendly game will start
at 18:00. The fee per game is R60 per player. Learners must be at the arena 30 minutes before the game.

INSPECTION:
Please ensure that you child is dressed in full winter attire, in line with the code of contact. Inspections
are done daily to ensure that the learners are always neat and tidy, this also includes the sport uniform.

TEDDY BEAR DRIVE FOR RED CROSS HOSPITAL
We will be collecting new teddy bears (small to medium) to donate to the Children’s Hospital Trust at the
Red Cross Hospital. A date will be set when learners can start bringing their donated teddy bears to
school.

[read more]

Newsletter – N25 12 August 22 JNR & SNR

Junior Newsletter

Women’s Day is a day that we celebrate it is a day that commemorates the 1956 march of 20,000 women
to the Union Buildings to petition the country’s pass laws. Today it draws attention to significant issues
that many women still face today. “Strong Women – may we raise them, may we know them, may we be
them. I am lucky to know many strong women – including you. Happy Women’s Day”

The Grade 000/00’s had a lovely and fun filled week last week. We learnt all about how many different
things sink and float when we put them in water. We had lots of fun learning! We have been doing make
and bake and science experiments for our minds to grow stronger and knowledge to be soaked up!

[read more]

 

Senior Newsletter

Four Lessons from the Philosophy of Stoicism:
Live Every Day As If It Were Your Last
Death doesn’t make life pointless, death makes life worth living. The world keeps spinning when you’re
gone and so many of us live life with an attitude which represents the arrogant thought that we are
destined to live forever.

Your life is in an hour glass and the hole which that sand is pouring through could widen or break at any
moment.
Failure Is Natural, Regret Is Foolish
Everything, no matter whether it is good or bad is an opportunity to practice virtue.
Don’t be surprised by failure, expect it, in fact, embrace it and seek after obstacles in your life which seem
uncomfortable.

It is here where your character will be tested and most importantly molded and developed.
The moment you start to regret something in the past you’re fundamentally acting against something
which is out of your control thus there’s no practical reward from doing so, only frustration and anger.
We should learn from the past and our failures, but to regret, to ponder and to revisit our previous attempts
and then look at present with disdain is a crime to your character.

Focus On The Small Things
One must never underestimate the small things in life, because who’s to say that the small things don’t
define the larger, more important parts of life? They do. Everything is worth paying attention to for all
experiences and outcomes in life are interlinked in the rational system we call the universe.
It’s easy to look at other people’s successes and pin them down to luck or good fortuna

[read more]

Newsletter – N24 5 August 22 JNR & SNR

Junior Newsletter 

Dear Parents,

In assembly this week Miss Barton spoke about setting goals and that a goal without a plan is just a wish.
If we set goals, we need to take initiative even if it is just taking one small step towards it, at the end of
the day it’s one step closer to filling our goals. We need to put in work and effort into the goals that we
want to achieve. If we get stuck or need assistance, there is always someone in our life who can help us.
All we need to do it ask.

Grade R news

The Grade R’s have settled nicely back into the school routine and are ecstatic to be reunited with their
friends. They have definitely grown taller over the holidays and louder too. 😊 The Gr R’s have been very
busy. From making dinosaur feet, to doing science experiments, to doing make and bake and Show &
Tell. They are having a load of fun!

[read more]

Senior Newsletter

Dear Parents

The following story that I’ll be sharing with you is about the importance of being different.
Gillian is a seven-year-old girl who cannot sit in school. She continually gets up, gets distracted, flies
with thoughts, and doesn’t follow lessons. Her teachers worry about her, punish her, scold her, reward
the few times that she is attentive, but nothing. Gillian does not know how to sit and cannot be attentive.
When she comes home, her mother punishes her too. So not only does she Gillian have bad grades
and punishment at school, but she also suffers from them at home.
One day, Gillian’s mother is called to the school. The teachers speak of illness, of an obvious disorder,
“Maybe it is hyperactivity” or “maybe she needs a medication?”
During the interview an older teacher arrives who knows the little girl. He asks all the adults, other and
colleagues to follow him into the adjoining room from where she can still be seen. As he leaves, he tells
Gillian that they will be back soon and turns on an old radio with music.
As the girl is alone in the room, she immediately gets up and begins to move up and down chasing the
music in the air with her feet and her heart. The teacher smiles as the colleagues and the mother look at
him between confusion and compassion, as is often done with the old. So, he says: “See? Gillian is not
sick; Gillian is a dancer!” He recommends that her mother take her to a dance class and that her
colleagues make her dance from time to time.
She attends her first lesson and when she gets home, she tells her mother: “Everyone is like me, no
one can sit there!”
In 1981, after a career as a dancer, owner of her own dance academy and receiving international
recognition for her art, Gillian Lynne became the choreographer of the musical “Cats”.
Hopefully all “different” children find adults capable of welcoming them for who they are and not for what
they lack.

[read more]

Newsletter – N23 29 July22 JNR & SNR

Junior Newsletter – N23 29 July22 JNR

This week in Assembly Miss Rossouw spoke about Self-Discipline. This is a difficult concept for many people to achieve. Most of us cannot control our emotions in difficult situations or control our impulsive nature, but our learners understood that we all must try. That we should have the self-discipline to finish a task so that we can achieve our goals, that obtaining high marks or sports trophies involves hard work and dedication and without self-discipline this will be hard to achieve. [read more]

 

Senior Newsletter – N23 29 July22 SNR

I have recently rediscovered the history of the Spartans. The Spartans are well remembered for a battle that took place about 480 BC where 300 men held back a Persian army of over 100 000 for three days. This was known as The battle of Thermopylae.
A closer look at Spartan society teaches us valuable life lessons.

1. Not into riches

Spartans were not particularly interested in riches. They believed that a rich and flamboyant lifestyle did not necessarily lead to a good life. Laws were introduced to limit the gathering of wealth at the expense of others. The lesson learnt is that there is no connection between buying things and happiness. Happiness comes from inside.

2. Learn one thing and learn it well

Spartans spent all day training to be the best soldiers they could possibly be. We do that in education when we learn something in high school, continue at university and fine tune it with a master’s degree. Social media has however filled us with bits and pieces of information that results in us loosing focus on the goals we want to achieve.

3. Live with honor

For a Spartan, shame was one of the worse punishments one could suffer. To dishonor your family name was a humiliation. These days we live in a society that does not value honor as it should. We actually expect people not to do the right thing.

4. Spartans ate together

In Ancient Greece, there was a tradition know as Syssitia. Men both young and old trained together, fought together and ate together. This helped build strong bonds amongst them. In modern society, families have become more disconnected. Cellphones have replaced face to face conversation around a dinner table. The Spartans teach us to disconnect from technology and reconnect with each other.

5. Never give up

The Spartans had a never give up never surrender attitude. There are times in our lives when things get difficult and giving up could be the easy way out. Many of us don’t like the pains of failure or rejection, which is a common reason not to see things through. Like the Spartans, we should always try our best. Achieving our goals despite the many obstacles is much more rewarding than just to give up. l.Ortell

SPORT

We are pleased to announce that football will be coming to Riverside College. There is a lot of excitement in the air regarding the up-and-coming events regarding football. We will be introducing the sport on Mondays as an official school sport in PE, where practice will be taking place for now. We will be playing a few friendlies this year, but the aim is to enter a team into league to play weekly and represent RSC. This only concerns the high school for now while we iron out a few of the details regarding coaches, practice, equipment and infrastructure. We will also be introducing an internal in-house league to start competing against each other and improve match fitness. [read more]

Newsletter – N22 22 July22 JNR

Welcome back to all our learners, parents and teachers. We hope you all had a great holiday and a good rest. We have started Term 3 which means we are halfway through 2022! With this in mind, we should stay positive and not lose focus as we continue to give our best until the end of this year. Let us all be winners! May this term be a successful one for everybody.

Grade 6 news

The grade six class will be studying some interesting topics this term. In Natural Sciences, they will learn about electricity and work with simple electric circuits. They will also do research projects on some of South Africa’s greatest leaders, as well as finding out more about climates around the world. Apart from academics, I’m sure they are mostly looking forward to camp at the end of the term. All the best for term 3, boys and girls!

Nala Testing Feedback:

Feedback for grade 4 to grade 10 will commence from the 25th of July, the office will contact parents to set up appointments.
I look forward to these feedback sessions and to sharing with all of you the insights that we have gained through the process as well as how we are going to assist and support each one of our learners during the new term. [read more]

Newsletter – N22 22 JUN 22 SNR

Happiness comes from solving problems

If there is anything guaranteed in life, it would be problems. Problems are a constant in life, and they never stop, they merely get exchanged or upgraded to a bigger problem. Example, you have a health problem, you get a gym membership, but now your problem upgraded to having to wake up earlier, do a complete workout and then shower and get ready for work.

Happiness comes from solving problems. Happiness is a form of action; it is an activity. It does not magically appear when you make enough money.
Happiness is a constant work-in-progress; same as how solving problems are a constant work-in-progress. The solutions to today’s problems are in the foundations for tomorrow’s problems.

True happiness comes from finding problems you enjoy having and solving. Sometimes these problems are simple such as eating good food or winning the new video game you just bought. Other times these problems are complicated and somewhat abstract, such as fixing a relationship with a family member or finding a career you can feel good about.

Whatsoever the problem may be, the concept stays the same: Solve problems = be happy.
Adapted from the chapter Happiness is a problem by Mark Manson [read more]

2023 Term Dates

Term Dates 2023

Term 1:

Start Date:

Teachers – 11 January 2023

Learners – 12 January 2023

20 March school holiday (long weekend)

Learners writing until 27 March 2023

End Date:

Teachers – 31 March 2023

Learners – 29 March 2023

Term 2:

Start Date:

Teachers – 11 April 2023

Learners – 12 April 2023

26,28 April school mid term

End Date:

Teachers – 23 June 2023

Learners – 21 June 2023

Term 3:

Start Date:

Teachers – 18 July 2023

Learners – 19 July 2023

10, 11 Aug mid term

End Date:

Teachers – 29 September 2023

Learners - 28 September 2023

Term 4:

Start Date:

Teachers – 10 October 2023

Learners – 11 October 2023

End Date:

Teachers- 15 December 2023

Learners- 13 December 2023

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Positive Classroom Learning Environment

Strategies to Create A Productive, Positive Classroom Learning Environment

Strategies to Create A Productive, Positive Classroom Learning Environment

Positive learning environments are essential for students’ academic, social and emotional success. It is not enough to create positive learning environments. Positive classroom learning environments are made up of many components. Positive classroom  learning environments should foster safety and trust, encourage taking risks, foster open and authentic conversations, trust and respect, and foster positive interaction.

Your students should feel happy and engaged from the start of every school year. It’s not too late. We will be talking about positive action strategies and tips that educators can use to create a positive classroom learning environment for students. These strategies will help you create learning environments that encourage academic success as well as social and emotional well being for your students.

What makes a classroom a positive environment?

Positive classroom environments are one where students feel safe sharing their thoughts, taking chances, asking questions, and tackling challenges in learning. This type of classroom environment can be created by educators who set clear expectations and provide opportunities for students to develop social skills, build relationships with them, and offer relevant content. Students feel valued when educators create this kind of environment in the classroom. This allows students to become more involved in the learning process and creates a more productive learning environment.

Our Vision

To provide a platform for independent schools to learn and become pillars in their community. We aim to instill strong morals, values and education ….

Step 1 – Make learning relevant

Students will be more engaged in learning if they feel the subject or topic is important to their happiness and success. When teaching history, science and social studies, it is important that lectures are adapted to the students’ interests. It’s a smart idea to discover the learning styles and talents of students if you can. If you have the resources, students will be more engaged and attentive.

Step 2 – Develop a Code of Conduct

If students aren’t in agreement on the positive and negative behaviors, it’s difficult to create a positive learning environment at school or in the classroom. Students must first consider how they feel about being treated in order to establish a code. Then, students should be able to brainstorm acceptable behaviors they consider appropriate, respectful, kind, fair, and appropriate. Teachers and students can then agree on how to treat other people. This will set the tone in the classroom.

Step 3 – Use a Positive Actions Curriculum

While it would be great for students to all have the same understanding of positive behavior, that is not possible. Children come from many cultural, socioeconomic, and familial backgrounds. These influences, along with many others, influence students’ perceptions about what is acceptable and unacceptable. Positive behavior should be taught in a consistent and systematic way at school and in the classroom. The best way to instill positive behavior is with a Positive Action curriculum. Positive action is something students should be taught.

  • Positive actions can result in positive feelings and a positive self image.

  • A healthier body can be achieved by taking positive actions such as exercise, nutrition, and sleep.

  • Positive actions such as problem-solving or decision-making can help our brains become smarter and more efficient.

  • Positive actions such as kindness, respect and living by the Golden Rule allow us to be kind and helpful to others.

  • Positive actions such as managing your time well and managing your emotions can help you manage your affairs better.

  • Positivity is the ability to admit our mistakes and take responsibility for them. This allows us and others to be more open with each other.

  • Setting goals and taking positive actions can help you grow.

Positive things make children feel better about themselves.

Our Mission

By instilling excellence, perseverance and hard work, we can leave a lasting legacy.

positive classroom learning environment education, learning environment

Engaged Learning Environment – How Important Is It?

Research has shown that interactive learning environments increase students’ attention, focus, motivation. The School of Rose Valley employs a student-centered teaching approach. Active learning encourages engagement and creates a learning environment that is fun. Instead of sitting still and listening, students are encouraged to engage in class. In order to meet individual learners’ needs, class time is used to ask, apply, and evaluate.

What benefits can an engaged learning environment bring?

Engaged learning environment

  • Students have more interaction with their teachers and peers

  • Students get frequent feedback

  • Tasks take more effort, time and money.

  • Students can apply their knowledge to different situations

  • You can have many experiences with it

What makes an environment for learning engaging?

Engaged learning is based on students’ motivation and active learning. Motivation is dependent on students’ desire to learn and expectations. Students who believe they can succeed and are excited about learning will be motivated. Students who are eager to learn and gain insight will benefit from positive learning experiences and influence.

Active learning does not require physical movement. Active learning is about student involvement in the learning process. Students can become active participants in their learning. Students are offered the opportunity to connect previous learning with new discoveries. This helps them to make deeper connections and retain the information. Many modern teaching methods are heavily based on PowerPoint presentations and lectures. This makes students passive recipients of information rather than active learners.

When students are connected, classrooms can be transformed into learning communities. Students can feel connected to their teachers, and engage in collaborative, active learning. Students learn not just through logic, but also by exploring the learning process in a way that appeals and feels to them. This allows students to learn at their own pace and allows them to be more personalized.

Our Philosophy

We believe that sharing knowledge and learning is possible through exploration, investigation and discussion.

Positive Classroom Learning Environment

Ways To Foster A Positive Classroom Environment

Educational strategies today emphasize that classrooms can be more than just a place to learn. Teachers know that students are more motivated and safe when they have a positive learning environment. The importance of fostering a positive classroom atmosphere and offer suggestions on how to do it is so essential.

Always be there for them

Supporting your students in times of need is a simple but effective way to create a positive learning environment. Sometimes students need support for academic problems or to discuss personal situations at home. Students often find it helpful to have someone they trust listen to their concerns and offer advice when necessary. Many students feel reassured knowing that someone listens and comforts them.

Students have a right to a voice.

Students who feel that their opinions are valued in class discussions are more likely to be encouraged to speak before their peers. Students should be encouraged to voice their opinions, take chances and choose how they learn best. This promotes student empowerment. This encourages self-confidence, which in turn supports positive learning environments.

Students-centered learning encourages learners to participate in class decisions and allows them to learn in the way that is most comfortable for them. They will feel more involved in the decisions that affect their learning if they have more options. They may feel more connected if they feel their input is important and will put in more effort in classwork.

Establish a routine

Many children are able to thrive when they have a consistent daily routine. Students can feel more at ease if they know what to expect when entering your classroom. A classroom routine can include a bell ringer at the beginning of each day, reviewing the day’s objectives and ending each class with an exit ticket.

It may be worth considering doing the same activities every week. You could, for example, go to the library every Tuesday to use technology and then have a reading time in class on Friday. Students will be able to establish a routine so they know what to expect when they arrive in your classroom.

Establish rules and expectations

It is important to establish guidelines, such as classroom rules or expectations, so students are aware of what is acceptable behavior. You might consider asking your students to discuss the rules that they think should be added to your classroom rules. This will give them the opportunity to express their opinions on important aspects of your class.

Establishing expectations can help you manage your classroom better and maintain its daily structure. Students will behave better when they know you will follow through on your expectations and rules.

Provide positive reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is a great way to foster a positive classroom culture. Extrinsic motivators are one way to provide positive reinforcement. Extrinsic motivations are external stimuli that encourage students to be positive, such as candy for passing a test or five minutes of extra time at the end. A good extrinsic motivator is to praise students publicly. It is possible to compliment students’ academic performance or behavior in front of others. You may also contact parents to let them know about the positive actions their child has been showing.

Open post
movement education, physical

Movement Education improves student brain and physical health

Movement Education improves student brain and physical health

Research has shown that movement can be linked to certain brain functions in children. Cross lateral movement, for example, allows the right and left brains to work together. This helps to awaken different brain lobes.

Along with lateral movements, jumping, skipping, and hopping are all linked to cognitive activity in the brain. Because children who sit for more than 10 minutes are deprived of oxygen and glucose, movement can enhance learning. After a time, the brain becomes sleepy and switches off.

Including movement in education improves students’ morale and allows them to perform at a higher school level.

Students learn more and can stay focused by working at a higher level. It helps more children. Every educator will tell students that this is the most important thing.

Health and Physical Education: The Importance

Physical Education is an obligatory learning area within the school curriculum that provides students with opportunities to lead active and healthy lifestyles. Schools are the best place to learn and develop health-related skills. Students can improve their health and that of others by learning about physical and health education.

What does Movement Education mean?

Movement education is instruction that teaches children how to improve their motor skills by using physical movement. As part of physical therapy, movement education is often used to help students and children gain a better understanding of the body’s motion and improve their ability to move in daily activities. Movement education is designed to improve physical performance and health.

Benefits of Moving in Schools

Students who take regular, scheduled movement breaks throughout the day and use movement between and within lessons are more well-behaved and engaged and can focus more on what they are learning and retain it better.

movement education, physical, morals, values, learning

Here are some benefits movement breaks can offer:

Learning efficiency

  • Because it partially controls navigation and short-term memory, the hippocampus requires time to process information.

  • Students can refocus their brains when they return to the content.

  • Moving helps you develop social skills that are essential for comprehension and critical thinking.

  • Re-energizing learning is possible by realigning the brain/body connection

Stress Relief, Mood Elevation, and Social Perks

  • Students who are stressed or uncomfortable will have a difficult time learning new information, especially if they are using critical thinking skills or need to link new information with their own experiences, prior knowledge, or abstract thought.

  • Successful learning is based on student-to student and teacher-to-teacher relationships. Research has shown that students who are in safe, supportive environments and are kind to one another are more likely to succeed academically.

  • Modern life is more static, especially for children who are involved in P.E. Recess is being cut to make way for academic achievement.

  • We often get our best ideas when we’re having a break

  • This may help to reduce overwhelm by the content

Class Cohesion

  • Increases student participation and attendance in class

  • Building relationships and concern for others’ well-being

  • Increase self-esteem and sense of belonging

  • Enhances communication and listening skills

  • Encourages laughter, fun, and learning

  • Increases self-discipline, motivation

Ideas can be both fun and functional.

The movements can be short and easy. It takes only thirty seconds to two minutes to accomplish all this. Simple breaks include bending at the waist and touching your toes, marching around the room, jumping jacks five times, jumping up and down, jumping jacks, moving a piece paper in a figure-8 motion between your legs and around the floor, or clapping loudly at set intervals. Students can be asked to move and play with papers that teachers pass out. Students can make their own math quizzes or peer edits by putting their paper in a ball. The teacher can then tell the class to freeze the paper. All students will need to grab a piece of paper and flatten it. These ideas can be fun and functional.

Students love learning in environments that integrate movement. They perform better academically and retain information more efficiently. Creative teachers will see many ways to add excitement to their lessons, and students will love them for that. If you have any winning ideas, let us know.

When you think about the movement education model and the concepts it contains that you want students understand, consider the acronym B.E.R.S. It stands for body, effort and relationships. Each of these four concepts is an important part of the movement ed framework.

The Body: Understanding the body as an instrument

Your students should explore the body within the movement ed framework. You want them to see their body as an instrument and to be able to move in different ways. Their movement is a way for them to ask the question of what is happening and what it is actually doing.

We know that they can explore locomotor and non-locomotor actions. But there are other elements they may be able use to make those actions more creative or express themselves through different body shapes. Can they perform them in a wider-body shape or a narrower-body shape? They should be able to perform those actions in a circular shape or bent shape. Understanding the different body shapes can help them express their creativity.

Effort: What is the best way to take action?

As far as effort is concerned, a concept in the context of a movement or model or framework is considered a concept. Your students should be able answer the question “How is this action being done?” You want them to be able to use different adjectives to describe their movements. This is what you want them able to do in relation to effort. You can also have them explore time as a component of that concept. Speed is one example. They must be able to perform the different actions and movements of their local motor skills, as well as non-local motor skills, at a slower speed. They can do it even though they are speeding up and accelerating. They could also do it while decelerating, which would reduce their speed. They might also be able to explore the different actions and movements that they could make as a function force. They can do these things with either a lighter or stronger force.

Relationships: Who or what are you doing this action with?

You want your students to ask the question, “With whom or what are they doing their action?”. To better understand the concept of relationships, they will use their bodies to answer this question. That’s where propositions or even adverbs can come in to play. They will be able to describe and understand the connections they make to other objects and people through their movements. They can explore how they do things by themselves, in pairs, in groups or with partner pairs. Or they can explore how they do them together, mirroring each other’s movements, leading and following each other. They can contrast when they are doing something opposite, or in unison. They can also explore proposition words, where they might be able to explore moving over, under, around, through, and even on top of things. All that comes into play. They look at propositions and adverbs to see who or what their action is.

Space: Where are they taking action?

Your students can then look at the concept space in the context of the movement framework. This will enable them to ask the question, “Where is my action taking place?” They can then explore, what can they do in their personal space to make those movements and actions? Or can they do it in general space? Are they able to do these different actions or movements going forward or backward in directions, sideways or going to the left or right? They can also explore the different paths. They can do these different movements whether they are following a straight path, a curving pathway, or zigzag route. You can even do it at different levels. They can do these different movements whether they are at the top or bottom of a medium-level. As your students get more proficient in understanding these concepts, you can build on them and combine them so that your students can perform the movements in many ways that allow for creativity and individuality.

Okay, let’s move and learn!

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