GoNoodle Is Changing Our Classroom

I absolutely had to stop by and chat with you a little bit about GoNoodle!  This little gem of a find houses interactive brain breaks, kid friendly graphics, and it's FREE to sign up. I played around with it myself a little first before introducing it to my crew. I knew they were going to like it, but I was honest to goodness BLOWN AWAY but how it has transformed our afternoons. GoNoodle has helped me channel the energy in the room like none other!

Building rainbows in the sky with "Flow" on GoNoodle

Starting this year we only get one recess in our school. One lonely little recess. It's not enough. After lunch we have just short of a 3 hour stretch to tackle before dismissal. Little brains and bodies are just not meant to sustain stamina for that long without some kind of a brain break. (The same can also be said for this 28 year old brain and body, just sayin.) Enter GoNoodle. I introduced it on a Friday afternoon...bless it. This little guy showed up on the screen. And I had em, hook line and sinker!

Only he didn't look like this quite yet. He looked like the guy on the far left. The more we move and groove the quicker we fill up the purple tube on the right. And when it reaches the top...BAM!  Freckles gets bigger. Stronger. Just like we do when we exercise. Ya see what they did there? ;) I'm not kidding when I tell you these kids are obsessed with filling up that purple tube, because they want to see what Freckles is going to look like next. 

GoNoodle has all the brain breaks I used to go hunting for on YouTube in one spot. My personal favorite thing about this is there are NO MORE COMMERCIALS like I always used to get when I was pulling them off of YouTube. Not all those commercials were appropriate for little eyes, so I'm happy to be rid of that inconvenience.

A few of the choices that pop up.

Everybody up and grooving. Nobody wanted to sit out.

I wish you could see the big smiles on their faces!!

I'm not even kidding when I tell you these guys beg for a GoNoodle fix everyday. We made a deal. They give me their very best brains and bodies during our math block and they can earn GoNoodle minutes. {Right where our second recess would have gone. Shhh!!}

 And after we do 2-3 of the fast ones, we do a calm down video. This is what took it to the next level for me. After they help you rev em' up, they help you calm them back down.  

We vote on attitude or stress and then pick a video from there.

"Airtime" and "Flow" are de-stressing videos. Here we are watching the bubble and taking deep breaths as a calm down. The bubble landed on a city in our state and gave us some fun facts about Boulder, CO. So then they were taking in some new info.

Here they are using their arms and breathing to create rainbows. This picture is dark because we almost always do the calm down video with the light off. 

However, this one is by far the class favorite! They go nuts for the "Happy Song".

So how exactly has GoNoodle changed my classroom? This is the first time we've ever not had a second recess in the day. The afternoon block is looong. But I know that it's precious time and I can't afford to waste it. There is such a noticeable difference in the flow of that last hour of the day after the kids have gotten their brain break in. Engagement goes up and they charge back up again. In just a few days I feel like GoNoodle has helped me take back our afternoons!!

Sounds like it's something worth trying? It's absolutely FREE, with no hidden costs- I checked. You don't have to sign over your first born or spend 30 minutes answering questions to get started. My account was up and running in less than five minutes. Make a demo account and explore on your own. It's super user friendly, but I know it always helps to get your feet wet solo before taking it into your room. They're continuously adding new activities to keep the site exciting!!! I promise you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain!! Click on the graphic below to get started today or you can sign up here. 

Then once you see the magic happen, shout it from the rooftops like I am doing right now. Tell all your teacher friends!! They will owe you big time...tell em' they can thank you in cash, check, or chocolate! :)

Alright, I'm off to finish up a unit over here and maybe even squeeze in a workout. I've got a new slogan...#gettingitdone ;)