WTS Three and Five page 1

Brain and Body Transitions

Tammie J.S. Zentgraf

Saint Marys University of Minnesota

Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs

Portfolio Entry for Wisconsin Teacher Standards Three and Five

EDUW 694 Classroom Environment

Instructor: Catherine Anderson

August 1, 2015
 WTS Three and Five page 2

Wisconsin Teaching Standard #3: Teachers understand that children learn differently. The

teacher understands how pupils differ in their approaches to learning and the barriers that impede

learning and can adapt instruction to meet the diverse needs of pupils, including those with

disabilities and exceptionalities

Knowledge The teacher knows how to enhance learning through the use of a wide variety of

materials as well as human and technological resources (e. g. computers, audio-visual

technologies, videotapes and discs, local experts, primary documents and artifacts, texts,

reference books, literature, and other print resources).

Dispositions The teacher values flexibility and reciprocity in the teaching process as necessary

for adapting instruction to student responses, ideas, and needs.

Performances The teacher carefully evaluates how to achieve learning goals, choosing

alternative teaching strategies and materials to achieve different instructional purposes and to

meet student needs (e.g. developmental stages, prior knowledge, learning styles, learning

differences, and interests).

Wisconsin Teaching Standard #5: Teachers know how to manage a classroom. The teacher

uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning

environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and

self-motivation.

Knowledge The teacher recognizes factors and situations that are likely to promote or diminish

intrinsic motivation, and knows how to help students become self-motivated.

Dispositions The teacher takes responsibility for establishing a positive climate in the classroom

and participates in maintaining such a climate in the school as a whole.

 WTS Three and Five page 3

Performances The teacher maximizes the amount of class time spent in learning by creating

expectations and processes for communication and behavior along with a physical setting

conducive to classroom goals. The teacher analyzes the classroom environment and makes

decisions and adjustments to enhance social relationships, student motivation and engagement,

and productive work.

Danielson Framework for Teaching

Domain 2: The Classroom Environment

Component Establishing a Culture for Learning

Element Expectations for learning and achievement

 WTS Three and Five page 4

Pre-Assessment

I am currently in a year of transition working in a paraprofessional position. This

reflection will be based on the classroom I had in Texas. I taught middle school mathematics at

Roma Middle School (RMS), Roma, Texas. I taught one year of seventh grade followed by three

years of sixth grade. Roma Texas is a community of approximately 10,000 people. It is located

on the Rio Grande River, which is the border between the United States and Mexico.

My students were almost exclusively Hispanic, mostly bilingual and at a very low

socioeconomic level. Many of my students had a U.S. mailing address, but in reality were

crossing the international bridge from Mexico to attend school in Roma. The primary language

for over 70% of my students was Spanish. Over eighty-five percent of our student body was

identified as English Language Learners (ELL), still under the category of Limited English

Proficient (LEP). When I joined the teaching team at RMS, our school was in academic

probation for failure to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) in mathematics.

The range of abilities in the classroom varied significantly as we had students who were

attending school for the first time as middle school aged children all the way to students who

were bright and needed to be challenged to achieve academic growth, The parents were overall

supportive, but largely struggling just to provide financially for their families.

Multigenerational family living was a common practice, and very much a part of the

Hispanic culture. There wasnt necessarily a high divorce rate, but a high rate of never married,

single mothers. Many of my students were not being raised by their parents but lived with

relatives. It was a culturally accepted practice for young girls to be married at very young ages,

sometimes as young as 14, but very commonly by 16. While this did not always mean the girls
 WTS Three and Five page 5

dropped out of school, it often led to that as they would typically have their first child within the

first year of marriage, shortly before or around the time of entering high school. This created a

cycle of broken education that seemed destined to be repeated.

As a seasoned adult, but a brand new teacher, I had a typical first year teaching

experience of having a lot of challenges, learning important lessons about what I would repeat

and what I would do differently. Overall, I had a good year. My second and subsequent years

brought continuous evolution of my classroom environment and elevated the experience for

myself, and more importantly, for my students. Each of the factors in Charlotte Danielss

Framework For Teaching, Domain 2: The Classroom Environment are areas I continue to

develop and build in my classroom.

Creating an environment of respect and rapport was to me a natural exchange. I find that

if you offer respect and acceptance, you are usually greeted with respect and acceptance. I was

definitely an outsider coming into this community, a white gringa from the north. Because I

was open to immersing myself into my students culture and practices, they were open to me.

My typical student group was between 120-130 students. I taught six, forty-five minute class

periods with an advisory support class starting out the day. My individual classes ranged from

16-26 students per class. Greeting students at the door to make them feel welcome and to get a

pulse on the attitudes and energy of the students was a helpful practice to increase awareness of

the needs of my classes throughout the day. It was also a great way to hear their conversations

and learn about significant events they had going on. This made it easy to comment or inquire

about their interests.

 WTS Three and Five page 6

I had a group of students with special needs in my last year at the middle school. I had

three students who had in-class support with modifications as well as several students who had

accommodations to assist their success in the classroom. For the students with in-class support,

one was visually impaired, with the other two having a learning disability. The vision impaired

student was academically very successful, but needed text to be enlarged and used assistive

reading devices to help him in class. The two with learning disabilities were both academically

struggling in reading and math. They were hard working students and made academic progress

at a different pace than their classmates. I had a Special Education teacher in my classroom

during the in-class support time for these three students. Unfortunately, that was not always a

positive addition to my classroom, as the teacher who was assigned to these students was very

inconsistent in his ability to be in the classroom. That left the students and me frustrated.

I also had an advanced class who had a number of very high academic achievers who

needed to be challenged and stretched beyond what their peers could tackle. These students were

often able to extend their knowledge into their own applications and hypothesize different what

if scenarios of the concepts they were learning. They are the students who were also very

critical of themselves if they had an error. I found myself having to play the role of consoling

and praising their attempts when they made an unsuccessful effort. Failure was an unfamiliar

and difficult thing for them to recover from.

A factor in Danielsons Framework that has been a challenge area for me is establishing

and keeping strong classroom procedures. I definitely improved on this, but still have a long

way to go. I have a tendency to be inconsistent in some situations. I have a good process for

students entering the classroom as I have an immediate task to get binders and start their do
 WTS Three and Five page 7

now. I also have a good ending procedure for putting binders away and having an exit ticket.

However, some of the transition pieces during the class need further development. Often class

time was lost in transition when we moved from an activity back to independent work or other

structured learning time. I believe these transitions would be a natural place to utilize a brain

break to help refocus students for the next learning task. I will be implementing that when I am

in a classroom again.

In managing student behavior, another of Danielsons components, I found it important to

make a comfortable and safe environment. I always had high expectations of my students. I

asked for self-monitoring and peer monitoring to reduce the amount of preventive action needed

to be taken in the classroom. In my second year of teaching, I read Teaching With Love and

Logic by Jim Fay and David Funk. These concepts really resonated with me personally and

became the foundation of how I maintained a positive classroom environment even when

misbehavior occurred. I asked students to take ownership of any problem they had created for

self or others in the classroom. Most of the time, a very simple whisper of Theres a problem in

the classroom, can you help fix it?, was enough to allow students to correct behavior without

being in trouble or having it pointed out in front of their peers. When a repeated disruption or

inappropriate communication occurred in the classroom, it was an opportunity to speak privately

with a student and ask them for a written plan on how they were going to correct the situation

and clarification as to why their choice was not acceptable in our classroom. We would check

back in at an agreed time and determine if their plan was being successful or if it needed some

adjusting. If an adjustment was still needed and not corrected, we would involve the parents to

evaluate what worked and what might still be needed to get the problem fixed. These
 WTS Three and Five page 8

interactions were tracked in a communication log where I had informational sheets on each

student. This was effective in making students feel valued and safe in my classroom. It made

each student accountable to each member of the class. Their responses could make or break

how our classroom functioned and what could be accomplished in our short learning periods.

Taking into consideration the physical setup of my classroom, I found it important to

make a comfortable and safe environment. I changed seating arrangements as needed throughout

the year, but had the most success with an arrangement found in Frederic Jones, Tools for

Teaching. I had three rows grouped in the following pattern: two desks, four desks, and two

desks. This gave me enough classroom space to have a big aisle and enough space between

groups and rows to give me great movement throughout the classroom. With this arrangement, I

was never any more than six steps away from the furthest student should I need to attend to

them. The flexibility to move toward the distracted or distracting learner was easy to achieve

and it naturally paired students for simple practice groupings during class. I used this set up

most frequently, as I found it very student friendly and teacher efficient.

Another physical set up of my classroom was displaying examples of what excellent

work looked like as a goal for students to achieve. It was important that students understood

what a complete assignment showing work looked like so they could emulate it. A word wall

was expanded as we moved through different learning objectives and made seamless connections

between what was new in this concept and what was stemming from prior knowledge. This

helped students see how their foundational knowledge was being expanded.

Technology integration is a growth area for me. We did have a nice amount of

technology in our classroom, with sole use of a SMART board, a shared SMART response
 WTS Three and Five page 9

system, access to a classroom set of iPADs and a computer lab for our grade level that could be

reserved. I really loved the SMART response system. It was essentially a personalized remote

control answering device students could use to give live responses to questions. This enabled me

to do formative assessment on a regular basis and to have immediate results during a lesson as to

who understood and who needed additional support or a re-teach. I could track student progress

by learning objectives and this data guided the allocation of time to particular learning

objectives. The technology allowed me to serve students right where they needed it and give

them immediate feedback during instruction. This data also provided valuable information when

it came time to review for end of course summative assessments.

Where I need to grow is in creating technology based lessons that were more student

involved. The SMART board has so many capabilities that I did not use. I largely used it as

much as a display for my document camera as I did for its genuine abilities. The same could be

said with the iPAD. There are so many great web resources for supporting student learning that

it would be beneficial to integrate that as a stronger classroom component.

I believe I had developed a great classroom environment in my classroom as described in

Danielsons Framework. Making mathematics relevant to students, and showing how and why it

is beneficial for students to learn, was an important element in their motivation to learn. I am

also excited and enthused about the subject of mathematics. My students knew that I genuinely

desired for them to be successful. We celebrated success and developed a confidence as their

skills became stronger.

Our curriculum was specific to the state-wide student learning objectives and was a

dynamic tool that would have been more effective if we would have had a block schedule instead
 WTS Three and Five page 10

of our short forty-five minute class periods. The curriculum had so much to both enrich the

advanced student with higher order thinking questions, as well as intervention suggestions for

our struggling students. In Texas, our mandated state testing was called the STAAR test and was

the tool used to determine students AYP. It was treated as the document that determined your

success from a purely statistical standpoint. It was counted as a significant score in students

year-end grade. Even so, we were still using a percent based, electronic report card system,

Overall, I believe I have been able to create a classroom environment where students

were welcomed, felt safe and were encouraged so they could then focus on learning. I am

looking forward to gleaning more from this class to integrate and continuously improve the

learning experience of my students.

Essential Question to Guide Learning Process and Growth

Synthesis of Research

I am choosing Emotional Behavioral Disorder (EBD) to research as an exceptional

condition as it is an area I desire to know more about and it is a population I seek to work more

closely with. I worked with several students with EBD this school year as a regular education

paraprofessional and found that transitions were often challenging. I would like to be more

cognizant of how I can help these students move into different environments more effectively.

Students with this exceptional condition are prone to behaviors such as being disruptive, easily

distracted, speaking out with random or inappropriate information, and resisting change or

transitions.

The antagonizing child, the child who shuts down at the first sign of challenge in his work

or the child who displays socially inappropriate behaviors, are all examples of the EBD students
 WTS Three and Five page 11

we have all had and will continue to have in some form in our classroom. In searching for ways to

help EBD students, I first believed that observational charts would be helpful to modify behaviors

needing adjustment. I have discovered in practice that while charts may be a helpful tool in

modifying behavior, it is primarily their awareness and sharing that will elicit real change.

Self-monitoring charts that make students aware of their behaviors and alerted to their choices for

responding are more likely to bring positive changes in student behavior.

Self-monitoring is sometimes referred to as self-management interventions in Farley et al.

(2012). Evidence-Based Practices for Students with EBD. With these self-management

interventions students both observe and record targeted behaviors. They evaluate their behavior

compared to established criteria; then instruct themselves through the use of self-statements to

reach established behavior goals. This serves the overall purpose of reaching a specific goal or of

solving a problem.

Self-monitoring takes advantage of a behavioral principle: the simple acts of measuring

ones target behavior and comparing it to an external standard or goal can result in lasting

improvements to that behavior. Self-monitoring is sometimes described as having reactive

effects (Kazdin, 1989), because students who measure and pay close attention to selected

behaviors often react to this monitoring information by changing those target behaviors in the

desired direction.

Research repeatedly demonstrates that the process of working with students to develop a

self-monitoring system can bring about real behavioral changes. The key factors in a successful

process is to work with the student to establish what behavior needs to change, how it should

change and when it is occurring so it can be changed. There are a variety of models that lay this
 WTS Three and Five page 12

process out in a step-by-step manner. One process that I found that has this laid out well is in the

paragraphs below.

In their article entitled, "Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Can Manage

Their Own Behavior," authors Beverly Patton, Kristine Jolivette, and Michelle Ramsey outline the

five main steps in creating self-management plans with students:

1. Identify and define the behavior that needs to change: What do inappropriate behaviors look

like? What do appropriate ones look like?

2. Determine baseline behaviors and reasonable growth to expect: How regularly are these

problem behaviors happening? What level of growth does the student need to show in order for the

behavior to be considered under control?

3. Discuss the reasons for adopting the plan: Assist the student in coming up with intrinsic

reasons why modifying this behavior would be advantageous to them.

4. Share the plan with student.

5. Discuss the particulars of its implementation: This is particularly important because the

student will be directly involved in the plan's implementation. For example, a behavior chart may

have areas for both the student and the teacher to evaluate how well the student exhibited

appropriate behaviors in a class period.

These plans should engage and invest the student with the responsibility for recognizing

when inappropriate behavior has occurred and then recognizing their choices to adjust it. This
 WTS Three and Five page 13

creates a self-awareness that the behavior is occurring as the student is not always as aware of their

behavior as we might think (Patton et al.).

In using these five steps, students can identify behavior, then gain self-confidence and

social acceptance as their behaviors become more in line with their peers. This strategy in working

through challenging behaviors is a tool designed to get the students thinking about their

decision-making process and responses to situations. Following is an example of a self-monitoring

chart that could guide an EBD student through improved behaviors during transition times.

Figure 1:

Name: ____________________________________

Date: _________________

Traveling reminders:

I will keep an elbows width between the person I am walking with and me.

I will keep an arms length between a person I am talking to and me, using a level 1 or 2 voice.

I will keep ask permission if I wish to look at something that another person is using.
 WTS Three and Five page 14

Traveling I had to think I had a chance to I caught myself I had a good

Times... about my make a better before I made a travel to my next

choices choice bad choice place

Bus to school

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

4th period

lunch

5th period

6th period

7th period

8th period

Bus to home

Give this to Ms Zentgraf as part of your daily check-in check-out procedure.

 WTS Three and Five page 15

Self-Management Interventions: Alternate behaviors to substitute extinguishing behavior

Self-monitoring: Students both observe and record targeted behaviors.

Self-evaluation: A student compares his or her performance to established criteria.

Self-instruction: Student-directed behavior is guided through the use of self-statements.

Goal-setting: Students select a goal and create personal guidelines for commitment and

progress toward that goal.

Strategy instruction: Students are taught steps that will be followed independently with the

overall purpose of solving a problem or reaching a goal. Source: Farley et al. (2012).

Evidence-Based Practices for Students with EBD. This is essentially another source

confirming the effectiveness of self-management or self-monitoring for behavior

change. Research supports this will be an opportunity for T. to have success in those

transition times and enable him to recognize, adjust and execute appropriate social

interactions during these transition times.

 WTS Three and Five page 16

Artifacts

The brain and body work together to allow for integration of new information and the learning of

new behaviors. This journey will discuss the importance of down time needed for information to

be assimilated as demonstrated through Eric Jensens Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm

for Teaching. Additionally the importance of the brain to identify behaviors that need changing

and using self-monitoring techniques to evaluate and redirect these behaviors. I will discuss

self-monitoring specific to physical transition times when a student is moving from one class to

another in the school setting.

The need for transition activities to refocus students and integrate new knowledge is revealed as

Chapter 16 of Eric Jensens Brain-Based Learning The New Paradigm of Teaching. This chapter

focuses on the value and significance of the type of attention students are engaged in and how

the key elements of attention shifts, learning states and balancing challenge with the ability for

students to master their information.

The text describes paying attention as a neural network that must be engaged, maintained and

oriented in order for this to occur. Attention is required for explicit learning to occur. However,

it is neither plausible nor advisable to expect long periods of focused attention because students

need time to integrate new knowledge. In this summary, the focus is on the mechanisms and

boundaries of the attentional system of the brain and how to utilize that information to establish

optimal learning environments for student attention and integration.

 WTS Three and Five page 17

Making Meaning

When in a classroom, students can give you their attention or they can be making meaning, it is

not possible to do both simultaneously. Making meaning takes downtime for the brain to

generate this internally, having excessive input can cause conflict and interfere with the process.

It is important to provide opportunities with an incubation period so the brain can filter out new

incoming stimuli. The brain sifts through information seeking links, associations, uses and

procedures as it sorts and stores information.

To accomplish time for students to make meaning from their learning, provide settling time. The

best settling time is NOT seatwork or homework but more physical activities like taking a walk,

classroom chores, doodling, or even resting. Building brain breaks into your lesson plans at

intervals of determined by the volume and complexity of the information you are presenting to

students. As frequently as every 20 minutes is recommended. The intensity of the new learning

should be directly reflected in the duration of the reflection time given.

Attention Shifts

The brains E-I (external-internal) shift seems to be a critical element in 1) maintaining

understanding, 2) updating long-term memories, and 3) strengthening our neural networks. The

brain shifts between E and I often and needs the internal attention to go inside to connect the

past, present and potential of how information relates to the individual. Determining the length

of time students need for these shifts is largely determined by two primary factors; level of prior

knowledge student has, and the intensity of the new learning.

 WTS Three and Five page 18

This defies educations standard of total engagement all the time. It is not possible, but

counterproductive to have that expectation. Each day needs reflection and processing time for

students to integrate new information.

Optimal State for Learning

Students distractions and stress levels interfere with learning but when prompted into a positive

state for learning, they naturally do better. Research from Csikszentmihalyi, written in his book

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience reports that a state of consciousness (flow) is the

primary criterion for optimal learning. When a student can lose themselves in an activity they

become unaware of time passing and find themselves losing self-consciousness and what is then

left is absorption into the experience. Csikszentmihalyi defines flow as a pattern of activity in

which individual or group goals emerge (as opposed to being mandated) as a result of

pleasurable activities and interaction with the environment. Creating an equal balance of

challenge and mastery is when flow is most likely to emerge. This balance provides situations in

which the students skill levels match the challenge.

The Best State for Learning

intrinsically challenged with material that is not too easy or hard - relevant to learner is

best

low-to-moderate stress, general relaxation (this does not mean no stress)

 WTS Three and Five page 19

immersed flow state in which attention is focused on learning and doing (rather than

being self-conscious or evaluative)

curiosity and anticipation (when a learner discovers an interest in a particular subject,

build on it)

confusion (can be a motivator if its brief and doesnt continue)

Matching Challenge and Mastery

As viewed by sophisticated imaging devices, brain activity increases when mental tasks are

increased in complexity and difficulty. Even when learners are unsuccessful at very challenging

experiments, their brains continue to be actively engaged. When the challenge is greater than

your skills, thats anxiety: when your skills exceed the challenge, thats boredom. But when the

challenge and skill level are matched up, whammo! Youve hit the jackpot! It is fairly easy to

get learners into optimal learning states if you remember what gets you into that state.

Teaching in a way that encourages students to reach the flow state may be one of the most

important roles you have. In this state, learners are highly internally motivated, and learning

becomes enjoyable. By setting up favorable conditions for it, you can assist your students in

getting into the flow. Keep challenge high but stress low, let learners set the pace while you

provide the support. Have them design a complex project that is personally relevant, and then

vary the resources to keep the task appropriate to their ability levels. Make it exciting; use teams,

simulations, technology, and deadlines while maintaining appropriate levels of guidance and

control.
 WTS Three and Five page 20

What Brain Waves Can Tell Us

Studying brain wave patterns is another way to view states. Brain-wave patterns are defined by

the following categories:

Delta 0 to 4 Hz Deep sleep/no outer awareness

Theta 4 to 8 Hz Twilight/light sleep/meditative

Alpha 8 to 12 Hz Aware/relaxed/calm/attentive

Beta 16 to 30 Hz Normal waking consciousness

High Beta 16 to 30 Hz Intense outer-directed fous

K Complex 30 to 35 Hz The Aha! experience

Super Beta 35 to 150 Hz Extreme states (e.g., psychic, out of body)

Looking at this data, what would be best for learning? Beta is great for the typical thinking,

asking questions and problem solving, but High Beta is ideal for intense states such as debating

and performing. K Complex is difficult to orchestrate, but you can set up the circumstances for

it. Super Beta is such an intense state that it isnt appropriate for schools, classrooms, and formal

education. As we arent likely to be hooking our students up to an EEG to measure brain-wave

 WTS Three and Five page 21

activity in the classroom, it can be determined by simple observations to ascertain what state

students are in. Fear, anticipation, curiosity, apathy, frustration self-convincer are just some of

the feelings that can be displayed by students to help you evaluate their current state. Since all

behaviors are dependent upon state, if you help a student move into an optimal state, youll get

optimal results. But if you allow the learner to linger in an unproductive state, a negative

association may develop and eventually impact learning on a very deep level. You may have

only a few minutes to observe the problem and react. If you ignore it, a bigger problem is sure to

follow!

Students go in and out of countless states every day, just as you do. Learning is not all in our

heads it is a mind-body experience. How you feel and how they feel is important. It influences

every single learning experience. Here are seven strategies for managing learning states:

1. Activities

2. Environment

3. Multimedia sources

4. People

5. Tone

6. Focusing

7. Choice

Youll get more adept at reading the states and managing them productively. Always ask

yourself: Whats the target state for this learning activity? Guide your students to that state by

using a transition that prepares them for that state.

 WTS Three and Five page 22

The most effective instructional leaders know how to recognize and manage learning states and

ultimately teach others how to do this for themselves. As learners begin to recognize their own

attentional rhythms, the reward is fewer classroom disturbances and more empowered learners.

This gives learners some control over their environment and facilitate a shift from mental or

cognitive activity to physical, creative, or reflection activity.

Dr. Lori Desautels, assistant professor at Marian University, speaks to the importance of brain

breaks in her article titled, Energy and Calm: Brain Breaks and Focused-Attention Practices.

She discusses the impact of providing a way to quiet and focus the mind. Brain breaks provide a

change in the routine that can either quiet or stimulate prefrontal cortex activity where emotional

regulation and problem solving occur.

The purpose of each of these brain breaks is to provide an activity that will focus the brain and

bring attention through synchronizing movement and rhythm. The focus on the rhythm helps the

brain release other distracting factors and prepares itself for focus on a new learning objective.

The following are two examples of how you can give the students that break from routine and

need to integrate information while being physically engaged in an activity that will help

students refocus.

Figure 1:

Brain Break #1
 WTS Three and Five page 23

Metronome Movement

Used with 4th grade but movement could be adjusted to any age

Time: 1-3 minutes

Materials: Metronome or Metronome App

Have students stand facing a partner, start the metronome and have students clap to the beat of

the metronome. After all students are clapping with the established beat you can have them do

additional movements to the beat either clap, knee slap, clap, double clap to partner hands,

repeat. Any combination of clapping by self or with partner works, be sure to include some criss

cross clapping with partner or self to get the movement across the body to awaken and focus the

brain. You can adjust the speed of the beat as their skills increase.

You can use the same principle with other body movements

like jumping jacks. squats, windmill toe touches or grape vine

movements. Again, lead with movements that require crossing

the body.
 WTS Three and Five page 24

Figure 2:

Brain Break #2

Dance Break with Will.I.Am

Elementary : First through Fifth

Internet Access to youtube or Pintrest on a screen students can see.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/39054721744975394/ This is the link from pintrest but it can not

be put to fullscreen mode. This has a fun colorful background that appeals more to upper

elementary then the Sesame Street Character version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyVzjoj96vs This is direct link from youtube but has

Will.I.Am only with Sesame Street Characters and would be great for a younger age group.

Time: 2 minutes

Launch this link to play the colorful video with printed lyrics for students to dance to. You can

either have them freestyle dance to it while singing the lyrics or you can have designated

movements to the lyrics. As long as they are moving I would allow them to freestyle dance but

have a few specific integrated movements like making muscles when the lyric says "I am

strong". This gives them specific moments they have to all focus on but also enables them to get

whatever moment they individually need while staying in their established personal space.
WTS Three and Five page 25
 WTS Three and Five page 26

Resources:

Desautels, Lori Dr. Energy and Calm: Brain Breaks and Focused-Attention Practices.

Farley, Cynthia, Caroline Torres, Cat-Uyen T. Wailehua, Lysandra Cook. (2006).

Evidence-Based Practices for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: Improving

Academic Achievement.

Jensen, Eric (2nd Edition, 2008) Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching.

Jolivette, K., B. Patton, & M. Ramsey. (2006). Students with emotional and behavioral

disorders can manage their own behavior. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39 (2), 14-21.

Lane, Kathleen L., Frank M. Gresham Ph. D, Tam E. OShaughnessey Ph.D. (2001).

Interventions for Children With or At-Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders 1st Edition.

ww.interventioncentral.org/blog/self-management-