How to Stay Active in the 21st Century Classroom: GoNoodle

One of my friends who is a teacher, posted a really cool snapchat video of his students doing indoor recess. I was so intrigued by the fun application he had his students doing, that I asked him what the app was. He told me about Go Noodle, a website that provides free videos to get kids moving in the classroom or at home. Go Noodle has become such a sensation throughout classrooms that "more than 12 million kids get active with GoNoodle every month to become their strongest, smartest, bravest, bestest selves" ("GoNoodle"). Go Noodle is a very reputable and respected company, 1 in 3 teachers use it in their classroom ("GoNoodle").

By using GoNoodle in the classroom, your students will be able to focus on their work and pay attention better to class material. By giving students time to play and be active, you are letting their minds have a break from constant study. Students will be able to return to their studies refreshed after these built in "brain-breaks."

Another positive about GoNoodle, is it connects the class as a whole. You perform group dances that are fun, challenging and rewarding. You can all appreciate the success of completing an activity together. By performing a GoNoodle video together, you help create a sense of cohesion and togetherness amongst your classroom. I have inserted a GoNoodle video below, so you can get an idea about what the videos look like.

One of the best benefits of GoNoodle is it benefits those who are kinesthetic learners. While, we each may have different learning styles like visual, auditory, etc., some students learn best through movement. As the GoNoodle blog points out, "The best classroom methods for these students include movement breaks, role play, hands on experimentation, writing, STEM, real life examples, field trips, and any other hands on approach to understand material" (Eccher, 2017). GoNoodle brain breaks fit right in with this learning style. They will be able to give their minds a break from learning and focus on movement for a little. Then after the GoNoodle video, they can return to their studies better able to focus.

Another great benefit of GoNoodle to kinesthetic learners is that they may remember material better if they are learning it while moving. They could practice their math or spelling skills through GoNoolde Plus, which can be customized to fit a specific lesson plan. Additionally, there are videos on social studies, science, and many other topics to help learners who are both kinesthetic, auditory or visual pick up class material. Having them watch a video and perform movements with it is beneficial to a classroom and can help your students learn more effectively.

Overall, GoNoodle offers many different types of videos based on various categories. For example, there are videos for curriculum like math, reading, etc. Then, there are videos to practice mindfulness for students. These videos help students better focus, curb anxiety, and gain confidence. These videos are so fun and engaging. I think they teach valuable lessons to students on how to manage their stress and stay calm. There are also other great websites like The Calm Classroom Initiative, which provides free mindfulness training to teachers throughout the world. 

Next, there are videos that actually focus on improving or practicing motor skills. For example, there are videos on balance, coordination, gross motor skills and fine motor skills. They have fun Zumba videos for kids which is always exciting to learn a new dance. They have a great array of videos that help students get active and focus on their body for a break from the constant mind work.

Lastly, one of the categories is "school life," which provides a great categorization for teachers to pick videos to use for their classroom. There are videos for class transitions like warm-ups to the day and cool downs as the day ends. There are holiday themed videos for teachers to use in the classroom to promote certain holiday themed lesson plans. There are separate categories for "test-prep" and "indoor recess" as well. This further helps teachers to be able to pick videos that are already in press assigned categories for them. They can choose from an array of indoor recess videos and test-prep ones to add much needed brain-breaks to the classroom.

References
Eccher, J. (2017, April 6). Understanding your Kinesthetic Learners. Retrieved April 12, 2017, from http://blog.gonoodle.com/2017/04/understanding-your-kinesthetic-learners/

GoNoodle. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2017, from https://www.gonoodle.com/

Healthy Body and Mind [Google image], Retrieved from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ca/aa/79/caaa79c035cb8811aa985e3ecc18ba35.png

Henry, D. (Times Free Press, Photographer). (2015). GoNoodle at Harrison Elementary School [Online image], Retrieved from http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/jan/16/gonoodle-lets-students-take-brabreaks/282981/