The Love Hate-Relationship and 10 Types to Use Effectively
9/8/2017
Now that we are back to school, have you noticed that even on Day 3 those fidget tools have started turning up in your classrooms? How could they already need a tool, you are asking. It is only the third day of school, how could they possibly need a break? We have not even done anything yet. The truth is change can create an increased level of anxiety or send a sensory system out of whack. As kids come back to school they are experiencing a change in their routine. (Remember saying in the middle of the year last year, these students cannot handle transitions?) Think of all the transitions they have already gone through by day 3. A structured time schedule, a new classroom, a new teacher to get used to, and for some, a new school altogether. They are having to learn a whole new set of procedures. For some, it was not a pleasant summer--they may have experienced trauma, abuse, neglect, exposure to drugs, to violence, or lack of sleep. Now they are asked to be at school by a specific time with a whole room full of other students. At home, they might have been able to catch up on sleep during the day and now they are asked to stay engaged for over 6 hours and be responsible for their learning. They are exposed to so many commands throughout the day, come to the carpet, work quietly, choose your lunch, pick a learning spot, a learning goal, and now learn what the PE, Library and Music teacher expectations are as well. There is so much information to hold in one's head that it can be overwhelming immediately. Without loosening the steam on the pressure cooker, the results can result in power struggles, meltdowns, shut downs, headaches, tears, over excited behaviors, or student push back. How does one balance the barrage of new information a new school year brings with settling overwhelmed and stressed students--AND does not involve the use of a fidget spinner?
One must use brain research to pair tools that most effectively meet the needs of students to keep them working and learning effectively. Ten of my favorite tools are outlined below.
The Tangle
In schools, we are constantly helping children perform activities that allow the use of both sides of the brain. Communication between the right and left hemisphere is still developing and it is not until between the ages of 10-12 that the brain begins to fully communicate between the two hemispheres. Movement is critical for cognition and using both sides helps whole brain usage. The Tangle is a quiet tool (which can make it a teacher's favorite) whose shape, texture, and color are made to stimulate the brain and allows a student to use movement, engage both hemispheres, and engage in crossing the mid-line. All of this is helpful to maintain attention because of the sensory and motor stimulation Tangles provide. Tangles are one of the most widely recommended educational and therapeutic tools for a wide range of Special Needs populations including ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, Depression, and Bipolar disorders. The brain stem could be called the "switch" that triggers attention. If the brain stem is the organ through which most of the sensory-motor information flows, and sensory experiences enhance or activate attention, Tangles not only encourage movement, but also contains sensory information that sends impulses to the brain that helps the learner stay alert (tanglecreations.com) I have used Tangles with many students who need support to get to that relaxed state of alertness. In other words, they are ready to learn because they are feeling calm, not anxious. The brain learns best in this state and students report that it helps when they need sustained stamina for studying and test taking. Movement also stimulates the release of neurotransmitters; such as serotonin and dopamine. Neurotransmitters carry chemical messages in the brain. Both chemicals are associated with attention, processing, motivation, concentration memory, and an elevated mood
Movement Brain Breaks
When our bodies are in motion, it stimulates the release of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. These carry chemical messages that are associated with attention, processing, motivation, concentration, and elevated mood to the brain. This is why brain breaks involving movement have become so important. These types of brain breaks also signal to the brain that a change is here and it needs to do a shift in thinking as well. These brain breaks help our brain transition from one activity to another. If you have a student who is not transitioning very well, a shift in their thinking has not occurred. Prep them for the upcoming change (Jonny, in two minutes you will hear the chimes and we will be moving to the carpet). They know what to expect when the sound occurs. It might be helpful if they can transition and become a job person. They become the one to signal the transition or brain break so their brain has more time to shift thinking and be more successful in the process.
Klix
These are tools that help stimulate two modalities--the auditory and the kinesthetic. It is effective for situations where a student needs to move and experience noise but cannot move about the room or use their voice (humming, noises, etc). The Klix is an interlocking loop that makes little clicking noises as the person manipulates the sections. Some Klix have sections that are tighter than others. I have had students who prefer the "softer" clicks and some that need the "harder" clickers. These are tools students can use without looking at them, thus allowing for more attention in the classroom. This type of tool works well for students with ADD or anxiety issues who need movement to help them engage in cognitively demanding tasks. It allows them to focus for longer periods of time because the brain is triggered by both modalities and sends the message that it is in movement. This creates a state of relaxed alertness for these students. The hard part is if you are triggered by the noise of the Klix. I have had teachers say, I cannot stand these in my class. My response has been, these are creating a more successful learner in your classroom and in such cases, we have set up a compromise. A student might work in another part of the classroom to use the Klix without being so close to the teacher to trigger her.
Stress Balls
There are so many types, styles, materials, textures, and sizes for stress balls that they really are personal preference for students. These provide tactile stimulation that allows a student to use without looking at it making it a successful therapeutic and educational tool. They can serve the same purpose as a spinner but are more classroom friendly, do not require hand eye coordination, and are less distracting than the spinners making them a good choice for a quiet tool to use in class. Stress balls allow students who need fine and gross motor strengthening to work on that without others necessarily knowing what they are doing. When we get stressed out, our brain has two channels. A sensory channel (sight, sound, feel, and smell) and an intellectual channel that tries to makes sense of how we feel and put it into context. If one of these channels are blocked or occupied with whatever is stressing a student out, one cannot be very efficient in learning. By squeezing a stress ball, the brain becomes focused on the act of squeezing and the energy is redirected into taking it out on the stress ball. David Posen, author of Is Work Killing You?: A Doctor's Prescription for Treating Workplace Stress describes this act of squeezing as muscular relaxation. He states that, "the benefit of squeezing is that it releases some kind of energy - it also induces you to relax."
Theraputty
According to Roland Rotz and Sarah D. Wright, authors of Fidget To Focus: Outwit Your Boredom: Sensory Strategies For Living With ADHD: "If something we are engaged in is not interesting enough to sustain our focus, the additional sensory-motor input that is mildly stimulating, interesting, or entertaining allows our brains to become fully engaged and allows us to sustain focus on the primary activity in which we are participating." Putty is a quiet tool for students to use to create this sensory input. My favorite, classroom-friendly type of putty is Silly Putty because it is small, contained in an egg, and does not stick, stain, or ruin carpet and clothing. Research shows a correlation between working with our hands and increased memory and creativity. Karen Pine with the University of Hertfordshire found in a study done in 2005 that students who were allowed to fidget during class, learn more quickly than those who were not. Putty allows students to stretch, press, pull and squeeze which works fine motor skills, and creates a distraction for our brains that will result in not having room to hold the thought in our brain that was giving us stress.
Sequined Pillows
There are pillows with rows and rows of sequins that when you run your hand over them, can reveal different colors, create patterns and words, and stimulate texture and touch sensations that are soothing and relaxing. The power behind the pillow is that it creates a nurturing object to cuddle and it allows students to engage in a repeated pattern of activity, which is a critical characteristic to calm and sooth an anxious and elevated student. These pillows come in many colors and some are stuffed and some just need to be stuffed. I currently have three in my fifth grade classroom and could use fifteen more. I also just gave one to my 20 year old son who uses it while studying for tests in college.
Kinetic Sand
This is a sand-like substance that is easily moldable. It hardens when squeezed and "melts" when released. It doesn't not leave granules behind on your hands making it a successful calming tool to use in the classroom. Not only does it allow students to work on their fine motor development, it allows students who either crave or are sensitive to tactile input have a successful experience. Kids who need input, will squeeze, press, and push providing input that is calming and organizing to sensory seekers. Those who are sensitive to any "messy play" will also engage because of its soft and non-sticky texture. Kids experiencing anxiety can run their fingers through the sand and as it rolls and "melts" over their fingers, it encourages students to slowly repeat and this instinctively slows breathing and calms the body. I like it in the classroom because when sand ends up on the floor, carpet, etc., one simply makes a small ball and presses it on top of the "mess" and it instantly is picked up and becomes part of the ball.
Chewy Tubing
As babies, we learned about our environment through our mouths, sucking and chewing on everything. They sucked their thumbs or a pacifier to soothe and calm themselves. Chewing is activated by the largest cranial nerve (trigeminal nerve). This nerve has projections that are connected to the parasympathetic nervous system which is the place where we conserve and restore energy to the body. It causes the heart rate to slow, and it is responsible for alertness and attention. Chewing on the tubing is a great way to improve alertness and concentration. If you are a classroom that is okay with certain kinds of snacks or foods, consider those that encourage activating this nerve. Crunchy foods such as pretzels, carrot or celery sticks, or ice chips are great choices to improve alertness and concentration. In addition, drinking from a straw (think sucking motion) will also help control levels of alertness.
Rocking Chairs
Movement in a rocking chair can provide the needed stimulation for kinesthetic input to allow for increased attention, improved active listening and stronger studying behaviors in a classroom. The repeated motions also create a calming effect for those who are experiencing anxiety and trauma. Rocking for those of us with positive experiences when we were infants will be activated when performing the rocking motions in a classroom. This rocking allows us to associate the activity or school task with a positive, emotional trigger. Rocking also taps into the parasympathetic nervous system and as students rock, it releases endorphins that help relieve stress. It proves to be relaxing, rejuvenating and calming all at once.
Doodling
When a student is bored, the fight-or-flight system will do all that it can to rally and stay alert. A positive choice would be doodling to help the brain stay awake and attentive. The permission to "free-draw" keeps your brain alert just a little while longer. Paying continuous attention can stress the brain and doodling can provide the break the brain needs to be able to keep attending without losing total interest. According to psychologist Jackie Andrade, "a simple act of doodling helps them (students) remember information, fills in gaps in their thinking, and provides a much-needed reprieve from the loads of information they must wade through."
By incorporating these tools purposefully into your classroom, you are creating a learning environment that will allow students the best circumstances to extend and deepen their acquisition of skills. In addition, after proper modeling and explicit expectations for usage, teachers will notice a calmer, more engaged classroom that is fun for both teachers and students.
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