In the middle of the first semester, I filled a need in our classroom by taking students on short body breaks. When they looked squirmy or excited, my co – teacher or I would offer a break. The break would often look like crab walks in the hallway, monster walking or pushing on the teacher’s hands to get some reverse pressure. These breaks helped students hit the reset button but were sometimes time consuming for teachers. This is when I contacted our physical therapist who offered me a list of gross motor activities to try with students. With this list, my students and I settled on 4 activities to help them regulate. We made a simple bulletin board in a common hallway.
This board has allowed our students and others in our community to take breaks independently. I have made a second bulletin board for other students to use. The break boards were so successful at helping students advocate for their body break needs that I decided to transform our space further. We now have a full choice of movement options in the hallway. Not only are students advocating for their needs and getting back to learning more quickly, they are also viewing gross motor, body breaks as something everyone can enjoy and participate in.
I look forward to building out our sensory hallway even more in the next year.
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