Meadowlark School is a collaborative learning community providing an innovative, meaningful, and engaging student-led educational experience. This school in Boulder Valley School District inspires their students to pursue their passions and develop 21st century skills including communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity to solve authentic, real-world problems and to make positive, meaningful contributions in our global community.
Exergame Fitness was honored to recently do a training for the teachers on implementing interactive fitness equipment within these new exercise learning communities. While each area was split for the children into sections like Kindergarten, Grades 1-2, Grades 3-4, and Grades 5-6; each learning area will now be outfitted with a few exergame pieces. This area will be used not only specifically for learning, but for students who need an “active” break from their learning and engage their bodies in exercise. Not only for the average student, exergaming can be beneficial for those students with specific needs.
Any teacher will tell you that, for an ADD/ADHD student, sitting in the classroom can be incredibly difficult. They are the students that daydream, intrude, interrupt, blurt out, and have a difficult time in social situations.
Knowing that research supports exercise as an intervention to decrease behavior issues, increase focus, and increase learning, this school can now optimize the learning experience for our ADD/ADHD students. At Meadowlark from the teachers first experience with Exergaming equipment they could tell how this interactive equipment could be used in a Time-In/Time-Out intervention for students with ADD/ADHD.
The results at other schools who have done something similar have been remarkable. First, the students loved working out on the Exergaming equipment, even arriving early to school to exercise. Second, we have observed what the research had indicated–students went back to the classroom less impulsive and more ready to learn.
The intervention had a positive impact on the students, promoting academic success and increasing self-esteem.
Certainly, Exergaming as an intervention is a very powerful and proactive strategy that will help ADD/ADHD students be more successful in school. The initial key was the students’ motivation to use the Exergaming equipment. Eventually, the students will be able to understand and correlate how a “turned on brain” improves focus and attention. Students will be excited to conduct their workouts and always look forward to their experience. That is why every school should have a lab or mini-lab to support these students who, for so long, have had such a difficult time succeeding in our schools. Your parents, teachers, and students will applaud you for your new intervention and the positive effects it will have for these students.
To learn more about the success of Exergaming in Schools like Boulder Valley School District, contact Exergame Fitness.