Essentials Magazine Essentials Spring 2019 | Page 22

Special Needs Classrooms ADHD to attempt to sit still while they are learning. It becomes clear that it is more counterintuitive to ask a child to sit still to learn. However, despite this growing body of research, our schools and classrooms have yet to catch up. Aside from innova- tive schools like SOAR, it appears that we have been doing ADHD students, and all students for that matter, a dis- service throughout their education by failing to link physical movement to the learning process. Changing the Culture While the relationship between movement and learning is strong, it’s hard to change the pattern of behavior of a whole culture addict- ed to sitting. Research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2017 followed 8000 middle-aged and older adults in the United States for four years. They concluded that the average American is sedentary for 12.3 hours for every 16 waking hours in a day. It also found that those with the highest cumulative hours of sed- entariness had higher incidences of all-cause mortality. Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic suggests that there are over 30 chronic diseases attached to sedentary behavior. 22 essentials | spring 2019 Unfortunately, this pattern of sedentary behavior begins early in life...in kin- dergarten where kids spend 6-8 hours per day sitting still. It appears that our schools have unwittingly become the training ground for sedentariness in adulthood. Takeaways During the several hours that I spent at SOAR, it became abundantly clear to me that all students — not just those with ADHD — could benefit from rethinking the layout and function of the classroom. As a kine- siologist, I cling to the research and suggest that we celebrate and encour- age movement throughout the day. Now that we can prove how detrimen- tal sitting still is to both health and learning outcomes, we can no longer expect our children to sit still and stop fidgeting in school. Instead, we are left with the task of teaching ourselves and our students that movement is good, vital to learning, and vital to a long, healthy life. Children seem to know this innate- ly, so I encourage parents, teachers, and administrators to get on board to celebrate movement in the classroom and find ways to work with the stu- dents’ natural tendencies rather than trying to contain them. SOAR Acade- my is an example of how busy, moving, normal kids can peacefully coexist with, and even enhance, the learning process. If you have an interest in learning more, this EDmarket webinar might be a good place to start. You can also explore movement options for your school, classroom, or workspace by contacting me directly at stevyn. [email protected] or call [phone]. n STEVYN GUINNIP, MSEd, helps organi- zations rethink traditional concepts about how workplaces and schools should func- tion in a modern, health-conscious society. She has a master’s degree in kinesiology and over 20 years of experience including research for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), corporate wellness, cardiac rehab, business consulting, and launch- ing fitness programs in both the US and Australia. Currently, Stevyn is the Corporate Kinesiologist for FFL Brands® in Boulder, Colorado.