I provide my students with frequent breaks throughout the day. Either they become distracted, need to release energy, become frustrated, and more. I can read my students very well and can almost tell before they need a break. However, I like when they are self aware and have the language to request a break knowing it would help them.
I personally like when they take a movement break, but this year many of my students just wanted to play. They did not want to engage in movements they weren’t interested in. I tried to come up with new, fun ways to engage them or get their interest, but it did not work. One day, I gave up and decided they should be able to pick what they wanted to do on their break that they deserved. They were in first grade at the time, so I felt play was very appropriate. One student cleaned up very well most times, but I have difficulty with another student who could not get back on task. I was becoming to feel defeated, but then I thought of some new ways to help with this issue. I started setting a visual timer for him and he was able to see how much time he had remaining. This helped, but other times he wanted an hour glass to see how much time was left. I thought this was a great idea and because he was taking iniative, I was so happy.
Any job can be stressful, but not giving up and thinking of new strategies really helped me this part year.
nicolew 