From January to June 2018 I had the opportunity to move to Finland as part of the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program. My goal was to learn about their national program, Liikkuva Koulu, Schools That Move, and how movement in the classroom supported students with ADHD. In the end, my project focus shifted to be how movement supported on task behavior for all students. ​

​

Schools that I have worked in have been supportive about adding more movement in the classroom. Many practices in the US already encourage movement. The workshop model in reading and writing promotes mini lessons (less time sitting) and peer to peer collaboration and sharing (moving to small groups). The Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD) practices encourage movement throughout the classroom and heavily use total physical response (TPR) motions to learn vocabulary. If someone comes into my classroom, students are often scattered around the space, doing jumping jacks to practice their spelling words, or hunting around the classroom in search of math facts. My desire to learn more about how to best support students with focusing challenges, who need to move to stay focused, inspired me to find a way I could pursue a research opportunity. While I was learning a lot at home, I was curious to learn from Finland too.

​

Congratulations on taking the leap to add more movement into your classroom! Wherever you are in the process of becoming an active class, this guide will provide some strategies and tips for you to try. These suggestions are based upon and borrowed from my experience in Finland. Educators, researchers, and students all contributed to my deeper understanding of the Liikkuva Koulu program. I am excited to share my findings with you. Together we can all work to create learning environments that support all learners through motion. Let’s move!

​

​

 

​