I was inspired by Greg Smedley of The Kindergarten Smorgasbord to
get a trampoline for my classroom. I wasn't sure that it would be approved
because... Well come on.... It's a TRAMPOLINE for Pete’s sake.
But, there has been a very big push for Kindergarten this year and
"thinking outside the box" styles of learning so I asked and
well.....
Ask and you shall receive! Not only did it get approved but our whole
grade level got them and I didn't have to purchase it myself.
Because we got the so late in the year, the main use for them was
behavior management. We use a clip chart at our school (I know the ooooole
dreaded clip chart.) Well, I rewarded my silver and gold students with 20 jumps
for silver and 100 jumps for gold! It was great because all the kids would
count together and watch. It was extremely positive motivation.
I would also give students 10 jumps if I just caught them doing
something extra special. If they were nice, or being perfect in the all when
others were pressuring them to do the wrong thing, then I would say, “Great job
on staying quiet when your neighbors where trying to talk to you. You can have
10 jumps when we get back to class.” It
was a great way to give a reward to a student that may not have been a
"silver" that day but certainly had moments deserving of a reward. It
was fantastic!
I can't wait to think of other uses for the trampoline next year
when I have more time with it.
I didn’t have very many students trying to mess with it or catapult
off of it. I was a little worried that may happen but my kids were definitely more
mature at the end of the year so this wasn’t an issue.
The beginning of year may be different. I will probably not take
out the trampoline until we have our routines and procedures down for moving around
the room so that this doesn’t become an issue.
Do you have a trampoline in your classroom? Any ideas on how to
use it or how you implement it from the beginning? I'd love to know!
Hi I use the mini tramp to teach counting to in my special class. At the same time as they jump we do alternating hi 5 s. The kids love it and even the kids who find jumping difficult will hold my hands and jump.
ReplyDeleteThey also use it for an in the class movement break which one of my students really needs regularly.
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ReplyDeleteI'm curious...how did you get the use of a trampoline approved by your district? My organization is asking me to provide research as to why a trampoline would be beneficial.
ReplyDelete