GoNoodle: Saving Teachers’ Sanity One Brain Break at a Time

Share this post:

Do you have High Stakes Testing in your state?

Yeahโ€ฆ it makes me shutter tooโ€ฆ #teacherproblems

My kiddos just finished our SAT-10 testing a few weeks ago and now its the big kidsโ€™ turn to take FCAT. ย FCAT testing means quiet campus, and quiet campus means- at least for this teacher and her students- absolute torture! Do you know how hard it is to keep 19 eight year olds (and one almost 30 year old teacher) quietโ€ฆ ALL morning?! Challenging to say the least. ;)So how have Iโ€™ve been surviving these past few grueling daysโ€ฆ?

I *may* be bribing my kiddos with sweet treats and brain breaks from GoNoodle.com! LOL!

Sign up to snag these!

Receive all these classroom management tools right to your inbox!

Powered by Kit
I am not a huge fan of using sweets to get kids to do what you wantโ€ฆ but these are desperate times and that calls for desperate measures. As I catch kiddos making an awesome choice (like trying to be REALLY quiet or reminding their buddies to be quiet) ย I give them one little treat. That of course starts a domino effect, and BOOM, Iโ€™ve got my entire class working to be quiet.
Iโ€™ve also been using the brain-break website, GoNoodle.com
As soon as my 4th/5th grade neighbor gives us the green light (We share a chalkboard wall), ย I power up the website and we dance/run/breathe our wiggles out from the morning!
Here we are doing the โ€œWipe Out!โ€ Zumba activity. This is quickly becoming one of my classes faves! What kid doesnโ€™t like to pretend theyโ€™re riding a surf board? LOL!
Iโ€™m sure youโ€™ve heard of GoNoodle and it seriously lives up to all the hype! Oh, and did I mention itโ€™s FREE!? Yeahโ€ฆ. ย SCORE!
ย Iโ€™ve been having my kiddos earn brain breaks through out the morning by working as a class to keep quiet. As we go through our activities, if I catch them making good choices, I put a letter on the board. If we spell GoNoodle by lunch time, then the kiddos earn a โ€œstudent choiceโ€ activity from the website. They LOVE it!
Iโ€™ve also been using this website to break up our subsequently SUPER long afternoon. I just keep the website minimized on my lap top and as we move from one subject to the next, Iโ€™ll throw a little activity up. I really like the โ€œrunningโ€ activities for those transition because I tell the kiddos we need to work on our transition speed!
Want to try GoNoodle for yourself and help your kiddos get their wiggles out or relax before the BIG test? Oh and save your sanity in the process?! ย It is super easy to sign up!
Hereโ€™s What to Do:
ย 
2. Sign-up and create your class.
3. Then choose your little โ€œClass Chompโ€!
We chose McPufferson.
Now youโ€™re ready to get movinโ€™ and shakin!
4. Just click โ€œPLAYโ€
and choose an activity to complete!
That is NOT all of them eitherโ€ฆ
5. Now watch as your kiddos get their wiggles out and you regain your sanity and peace because youโ€™ll actually be able to teach after this!
No searching YouTube, or worrying that the video you chose is super grainy, or worst not age appropriate! Youโ€™re also guaranteed to not curse under your breathe when that AWESOME video you pinned last night isnโ€™t accessable because Pinterest is blocked at schoolโ€ฆ #canyourelate #teacherproblems #grumble
Be sure to check out GoNoodle and wish me luck as we jelly bean and GoNoodle our way through the rest of the week!

Hi, I'm Leigh.

The Applicious Teacher is all about creating hands-on and engaging lessons that align with the standards while still having time for your life. This is your place for ideas, tips, and resources for the REAL teacher!

Categories

Recent Posts

Popular in the Store