EP 314 How you–and your students–can use movement to increase work quality, focus, and creativity

Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers

There’s a powerful connection between movement and cognitive performance. Standing up and moving around can both foster diffuse thinking—the kind of relaxed mental state that encourages breakthroughs and innovative ideas.

In this episode, I’ll share Cal Newport’s research on training the brain for deep work through “productive meditation”, a practice that involves focusing on a specific problem while engaged in physical movement. I’ll then share 4 practical ways to incorporate productive movement into your instruction, not as a break from learning but as a critical component of it:

Standing meetings and discussions to increase engagement and collaboration. Dictation while walking, allowing students to process and express ideas on the move. Using audio learning while students walk, so they can absorb information away from their desks. Encouraging walking brainstorming sessions to help students collaborate and generate new ideas.

I’ll also share how to extend these strategies to outdoor environments for an even greater cognitive boost, even if you don’t have a large, quiet school campus.

Finally, I’ll talk about handling off-task behavior and off-topic conversations you observe during productive moment activities, and offer a mental reframing you can use to determine when you should (and shouldn’t) use these movement activities.

Discover how simple shifts in how we think about movement can unlock deeper thinking and more focused learning for both you and your students!

Get the shareable article/transcript for this episode here.