EP314 How you–and your students–can use movement to increase work quality, focus, and creativity
Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers
Angela Watson
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 10 November 2024
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There's a powerful connection between movement and cognitive performance. Standing up and moving around can both foster diffuse thinking—the kind of relaxed mental state that encourages breakthroughs and innovative ideas.
In this episode, I'll share Cal Newport's research on training the brain for deep work through "productive meditation", a practice that involves focusing on a specific problem while engaged in physical movement.
I'll then share 4 practical ways to incorporate productive movement into your instruction, not as a break from learning but as a critical component of it:
Standing meetings and discussions to increase engagement and collaboration.
Dictation while walking, allowing students to process and express ideas on the move.
Using audio learning while students walk, so they can absorb information away from their desks.
Encouraging walking brainstorming sessions to help students collaborate and generate new ideas.
I'll also share how to extend these strategies to outdoor environments for an even greater cognitive boost, even if you don't have a large, quiet school campus.
Finally, I'll talk about handling off-task behavior and off-topic conversations you observe during productive moment activities, and offer a mental reframing you can use to determine when you should (and shouldn't) use these movement activities.
Discover how simple shifts in how we think about movement can unlock deeper thinking and more focused learning for both you and your students!
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Episode 314 of Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers. |
| 0:07.0 | I'm your host, Angela Watson, and I'm here to speak encouragement into the hearts of educators |
| 0:12.0 | and get you informed and energized for the week ahead. |
| 0:16.0 | Today, I'm talking about how you and your students can use movement to increase work quality, |
| 0:22.9 | focus, and creativity. |
| 0:25.5 | Visit truthforteachers.com for an easy-to-read, easy-to-share version of this podcast episode. |
| 0:33.0 | This episode is brought to you in part by a podcast that's essential listening for anyone who works with or cares for kids. |
| 0:40.3 | It's called Opportunity Gap, How to Support Kids of Color Who Learned differently. |
| 0:45.3 | Hosted by Julian Savadra, an assistant principal in Philadelphia, with nearly 20 years of public school experience. |
| 0:52.3 | Julian dives deep into practical strategies with expert guests to help close the opportunity gap |
| 0:59.4 | for students who face both racial and learning challenges. |
| 1:03.7 | One of my favorite episodes is how to teach kids' independence and how to build a supportive |
| 1:09.2 | village for kids. Each episode is packed with insights that you can apply right away, both as an educator and as a parent. |
| 1:17.6 | This podcast is a powerful resource for you to share with students' families, helping you to partner together for student success. |
| 1:24.6 | There's an episode for parents on what to do after a parent |
| 1:28.4 | teacher conference and how to build a supportive village for kids. So you can |
| 1:33.6 | listen to this podcast yourself or pass it along to students' families by |
| 1:37.6 | searching for Opportunity Gap, how to support kids of color who learn |
| 1:42.1 | differently in your favorite podcast app. That's Opportunity Gap, how to Support Kids of Color who Learned differently in your favorite podcast app. |
| 1:45.5 | That's Opportunity Gap, How to Support Kids of Color who Learn differently. |
| 1:52.6 | Today we're talking about how you and your students can use movement to increase work quality, |
| 1:59.6 | focus, and creativity. I've talked before about Cal |
... |
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