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253. Can’t Miss Classic: Stop Fighting the Wiggles and Do This Instead · Teacher Approved: Elementary Teacher Tips & Strategies

• 0:00
  Heidi: This is episode 253 of Teacher Approved.
• 0:04
  Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us. We are so busy right
• 0:08
  now wrapping up edits to our upcoming book, Structure and
• 0:12
  Spark, that's coming out this summer.
• 0:14
  Heidi: And we are getting so close, hopefully, hopefully by
• 0:19
  the time you hear this, we will be done.
• 0:21
  Emily: Yeah, if not, the publisher is going to be very
• 0:23
  unhappy with us.
• 0:24
  Heidi: Yeah, a little bit. But I think we can do it, right,
• 0:28
  Emily?
• 0:28
  Emily: We can, we can. But that is why we did not have time to
• 0:31
  get you a new episode this week. But we don't want to leave you
• 0:34
  hanging without our company for a whole week.
• 0:37
  Heidi: No, we could never do that to you.
• 0:39
  Emily: No, we could never. So we are sharing one of our most
• 0:42
  timely episodes, how to add movement to your lessons.
• 0:47
  Heidi: This is so important in spring, when your students
• 0:50
  energy is at its highest and your energy is quickly receding,
• 0:55
  like the tide on the beach. The more you can do to productively
• 0:59
  channel your students overflowing enthusiasm, the
• 1:02
  happier everyone will be.
• 1:04
  Emily: Oh yes, so let's dive in.
• 1:08
  Heidi: You're listening to Teacher Approved, the podcast
• 1:11
  helping educators elevate what matters and simplify the rest.
• 1:15
  I'm Heidi.
• 1:16
  Emily: And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
• 1:19
  Window, where we give research based and teacher approved
• 1:22
  strategies that make teaching less stressful and more
• 1:24
  effective. You can check out the show notes and resources from
• 1:28
  each episode at secondstorywindow.net.
• 1:30
  Heidi: We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
• 1:33
  the show.
• 1:39
  Emily: Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
• 1:42
  episode, we're sharing five simple ways to add movement to
• 1:45
  your lessons without losing instructional time, and a
• 1:49
  teacher approved tip for managing wiggly students right
• 1:51
  before lunch.
• 1:53
  Heidi: Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
• 1:55
  win that you can try in your classroom right away. Emily,
• 1:58
  what is our prompt for this week?
• 2:00
  Emily: This week, try adding sparkle fingers to your
• 2:04
  transition routine.
• 2:05
  Heidi: I love this so much.
• 2:07
  Emily: I know. Okay. So when you need students to stop what
• 2:10
  they're doing and listen for directions, have them raise
• 2:13
  their hands and wiggle their fingers silently while they wait
• 2:15
  for everyone to get ready.
• 2:17
  Heidi: This is so fun. It's so cute. It gives those fidgety
• 2:21
  bodies something to do with their hands without making
• 2:23
  noise. And bonus, you can easily see who's ready. And when all of
• 2:27
  those little fingers are wiggling in the air, it actually
• 2:30
  creates a pretty magical moment in your classroom.
• 2:33
  Emily: I can picture it right now. It's so cute. If you like
• 2:35
  this idea, or anything else we share here on the podcast, would
• 2:38
  you take a second and give us a five star rating on Apple
• 2:41
  podcasts? Ratings and reviews are one way that new listeners
• 2:44
  find us. So every rating and review really is a huge help to
• 2:48
  us.
• 2:49
  Heidi: All right, Emily, why do we need to talk about movement
• 2:52
  in the classroom?
• 2:53
  Emily: Well, think about how you feel after sitting through a
• 2:56
  long staff meeting. I can hear the groans. Your back starts to
• 3:01
  ache, your mind wanders, and you're counting down the minutes
• 3:04
  until you can get up and move around and get the heck out of
• 3:07
  there, right?
• 3:08
  Heidi: Exactly. And now imagine being seven years old and trying
• 3:12
  to sit still for hours at a time. The reality is that kids
• 3:16
  are designed to move. Their growing bodies actually need
• 3:19
  movement, not just for physical development, but for cognitive
• 3:23
  development too.
• 3:24
  Emily: Yeah, because movement increases blood flow to the
• 3:27
  brain, which means more oxygen and nutrients are getting
• 3:30
  delivered to those adorable little brain cells, and that
• 3:34
  translates to better focus, improved learning and, dare I
• 3:37
  say it, fewer behavior issues.
• 3:41
  Heidi: But I know, I know the resistance that teachers have to
• 3:44
  this. I know you're thinking, I have standards to cover and not
• 3:48
  enough time as it is. How am I supposed to add movement without
• 3:51
  falling even more behind?
• 3:53
  Emily: So that's the beauty of what we're sharing today. These
• 3:56
  are not separate activities that take time away from your
• 3:59
  curriculum. We're going to share some ways to integrate movement
• 4:02
  into your existing lessons.
• 4:05
  Heidi: So this isn't about choosing between movement or
• 4:07
  instruction. You're enhancing your instruction with movement.
• 4:11
  And you know, for those of you teaching upper elementary, don't
• 4:14
  click away.
• 4:15
  Emily: No, these strategies work for big kids too. They might
• 4:18
  roll their eyes at first, but trust me, they need the movement
• 4:21
  just as much as the little ones, though you might have to work
• 4:24
  really hard to get them on board with the sparkle fingers idea,
• 4:27
  just saying.
• 4:29
  Heidi: But it would be worth it.
• 4:30
  Emily: Yes, if you could do it, I'd love to see a picture.
• 4:34
  Heidi: All right, let's jump into our five ways to add
• 4:36
  movement to your lessons. Strategy number one is act it
• 4:39
  out. Can you tell us about this one, Emily?
• 4:42
  Emily: When your students can become the learning, they're
• 4:45
  going to remember it so much better. This works especially
• 4:48
  well in subjects like reading, science, and social studies.
• 4:52
  It's about getting their whole bodies involved in understanding
• 4:55
  a concept.
• 4:56
  Heidi: I used to do this with vocabulary words all the time.
• 4:59
  If we were learning a word like collapse, I'd have the kids
• 5:01
  stand up and, you know, literally collapse to the floor
• 5:04
  like a pile of blocks, and then we'd use it in a sentence as we
• 5:07
  stood back up.
• 5:08
  Emily: I love that because you know they never forgot that word
• 5:11
  after doing it like that. Our brains are wired to remember
• 5:15
  things that involve movement and emotion, so this strategy really
• 5:18
  locks in the learning, which is our goal, right?
• 5:21
  Heidi: And this strategy works for sequencing too. If you're
• 5:24
  teaching the water cycle, for example, you can have your kids
• 5:27
  move around the room pretending to be water droplets. They
• 5:30
  evaporate by rising on their toes, condense by huddling
• 5:33
  together, and fall down as precipitation.
• 5:36
  Emily: Oh, it's so cute. And you'll hear some giggles, for
• 5:40
  sure, but you'll also see the learning in action. I have found
• 5:43
  this approach particularly powerful for visual and
• 5:47
  kinesthetic learners who might struggle with just hearing or
• 5:50
  reading information.
• 5:51
  Heidi: And the great thing about acting it out is that it creates
• 5:54
  these strong mental images that students can recall later. When
• 5:58
  test time comes and they are trying to remember the water
• 6:00
  cycle, they'll easily remember physically moving through it.
• 6:04
  Emily: Exactly. So you can create movement anchors for
• 6:07
  almost any subject. Just think about the key vocabulary or
• 6:10
  concepts you want students to remember and brainstorm some
• 6:14
  simple movements to go with them.
• 6:15
  Heidi: All right, let's move on to strategy number two, stand if
• 6:20
  statements.
• 6:21
  Emily: I love this. It's such a simple way to get kids moving
• 6:24
  and get some sneaky checks for understanding at the same time.
• 6:29
  So you make a statement and students stand if it applies to
• 6:32
  them.
• 6:33
  Heidi: So for example, in a science lesson about habitats,
• 6:35
  you might say, stand if a fish would live in the desert. Then
• 6:39
  students have to process that information and decide to stand
• 6:42
  or, you know, stay seated.
• 6:43
  Emily: Or in math, you could say stand if seven times eight is
• 6:47
  greater than 50. Or in reading, you could try stand if you think
• 6:51
  the main character made a good decision in chapter three.
• 6:55
  Heidi: What I love about this strategy is that it gives you,
• 6:58
  as the teacher, immediate visual feedback about student
• 7:00
  understanding. You know, if half of your class is standing when
• 7:04
  they shouldn't be, you know you need to revisit a concept.
• 7:08
  Emily: And it gives every student a chance to respond, not
• 7:11
  just the one who raised their hand, plus that simple act of
• 7:15
  standing and sitting is enough movement to help reset focus.
• 7:19
  Heidi: Just keep in mind that these movement-based checks are
• 7:22
  maybe not always reliable for deep assessment. Your students
• 7:25
  that are unsure will often look around and copy what their
• 7:28
  classmates are doing. So these type of strategies are best used
• 7:31
  for engagement and quick informal checks rather than
• 7:35
  truly measuring mastery.
• 7:37
  Emily: Yeah, that's a really good point. I always treated
• 7:40
  these as temperature checks. They give you a general sense of
• 7:43
  the room, but not precise data on each student. If I saw a lot
• 7:48
  of confusion, I'd follow up with more individual assessment
• 7:50
  later.
• 7:52
  Heidi: And building on this idea, we can also use movement
• 7:54
  to show understanding in other ways. This works great for true
• 7:58
  false questions, multiple choice, or even just, you know,
• 8:01
  general comprehension checks.
• 8:03
  Emily: For example, you might say, if the sentence is a
• 8:05
  statement, touch your head. If it's a question, touch your
• 8:07
  toes, or show me a right angle with your arms, or even hop once
• 8:14
  for each syllable in this word.
• 8:15
  Heidi: I like to think of these as human whiteboards. Instead of
• 8:19
  writing their answers, the students showed it with their
• 8:22
  body. It kept everyone engaged, and it, you know, gave me a fast
• 8:25
  way to kind of see who was getting it.
• 8:27
  Emily: For a little extra fun, you can mix in some personal
• 8:29
  stand if statements too. This would be really fun at morning
• 8:32
  meeting. You could do, stand if you have a pet, stand if you
• 8:36
  like pizza. It builds classroom community while giving kids more
• 8:39
  chances to move.
• 8:40
  Heidi: Now, let's talk about movement strategy number three,
• 8:44
  learning stations or rotations.
• 8:47
  Emily: Oh, yeah, moving between stations is such a natural way
• 8:50
  to incorporate movement. Instead of doing all your math
• 8:53
  activities at their desks, set up three to four different
• 8:55
  stations around the room and have students rotate around
• 8:58
  every 10 to 15 minutes.
• 9:00
  Heidi: Even just that short walk between stations gives kids a
• 9:03
  chance to move their bodies, and it naturally breaks up the
• 9:06
  learning into more manageable chunks.
• 9:08
  Emily: And remember, your stations don't have to be
• 9:10
  elaborate. One station might be a worksheet at their desks.
• 9:13
  Another might be a math game at the back table, and a third
• 9:16
  could be a problem solving activity on the carpet.
• 9:19
  Heidi: Or you could even designate different parts of the
• 9:21
  room for different types of thinking. Maybe the front carpet
• 9:24
  is for collaborative discussion and desks are for independent
• 9:27
  work, and you know, save the back table for your teacher led
• 9:30
  instruction.
• 9:31
  Emily: The beauty of this approach is that you're not
• 9:33
  adding any new activities to your day. You're just changing
• 9:36
  where students do the activities you've already planned.
• 9:40
  Heidi: And if you are worried about transitions, which can be
• 9:42
  tricky with this type of setting, we have got lots of
• 9:45
  tips for that. Go back and check out episodes 48, 49 and 50,
• 9:50
  where we deep dive into making transitions smoother.
• 9:53
  Emily: Yes, and there's great ideas in there for incorporating
• 9:56
  movement into the way you do your transitions. So that's a
• 9:59
  great series to check out if you haven't listened to it yet.
• 10:02
  Okay, now, strategy number four is one of my favorites. So tell
• 10:06
  us about this, Heidi, it's academic movement games.
• 10:09
  Heidi: I love using games to teach. So this is where you take
• 10:12
  a familiar game or activity and adapt it to reinforce academic
• 10:16
  content. These are so great to use near the end of the day, you
• 10:19
  know when the kids energy is maybe starting to fade a little
• 10:22
  bit.
• 10:22
  Emily: Yeah. So one example is sight word freeze dance. So you
• 10:26
  can play music and have students dance, and when the music stops,
• 10:29
  you hold up a sight word card, and then students have to read
• 10:32
  it correctly before the dancing continues.
• 10:35
  Heidi: Another fun one is vocabulary charades, where
• 10:38
  students act out vocabulary words while others guess. This
• 10:41
  was always a hit with my second graders when learning about
• 10:44
  science terminology.
• 10:45
  Emily: Or even something as simple as equation scavenger
• 10:48
  hunt. You can hide index cards with math problems around the
• 10:52
  room, and students find a card, solve the problem and bring it
• 10:55
  to you to check before finding another one.
• 10:57
  Heidi: Having kids hunt for their own work to do will get
• 11:00
  them to do way more work than just having a worksheet will.
• 11:02
  Emily: Ah, true story.
• 11:04
  Heidi: Another way to pair learning and movement is to just
• 11:09
  use the walls in your classroom. If your students are stuck in
• 11:10
  their seats, try turning your classroom into an interactive
• 11:13
  space. Post questions, vocabulary cards, math facts or
• 11:16
  even sentence strips around the room, if you still have sentence
• 11:19
  strips, and have your students walk around and respond.
• 11:22
  Emily: And we love to do this with an end of your cumulative
• 11:25
  review that we just call an around the room review activity,
• 11:29
  and we just stick up the questions around the room, and
• 11:31
  they walk around with clipboards and answer the questions, and
• 11:34
  suddenly, the exact same questions that they would groan
• 11:36
  through at their desk become an exciting adventure, because they
• 11:39
  got to stand up and use clipboards.
• 11:42
  Heidi: A similar idea is to do four corners questions. You
• 11:45
  label each corner of the room with a multiple choice answer,
• 11:48
  A, B, C and D, and then you have students walk to their answer.
• 11:51
  It's a quick way to gauge understanding and get some
• 11:54
  movement in. And it's even more fun if your question has more
• 11:57
  than one possible correct answer. So then you can have
• 11:59
  some discussion about why they chose corner A and why those
• 12:03
  kids chose corner C, and their different reasoning behind it.
• 12:06
  Emily: Yeah, that way you don't also have a stampede of all the
• 12:09
  kids just running to one corner.
• 12:11
  Heidi: Yes, also that.
• 12:13
  Emily: What's great about these games is that they don't feel
• 12:15
  like work to students. The movement makes the learning more
• 12:17
  engaging and memorable.
• 12:19
  Heidi: And they are perfect for those times when energy is low,
• 12:21
  you know, like after lunch or toward the end of the day.
• 12:24
  Instead of fighting the wiggles, you are channeling them into
• 12:27
  learning.
• 12:29
  Emily: Our fifth and final strategy is probably the
• 12:31
  simplest, use intentional brain breaks.
• 12:35
  Heidi: Brain breaks are short movement activities, usually one
• 12:38
  to three minutes that give students a chance to move,
• 12:40
  stretch and reset their focus. In my class, we needed these
• 12:44
  after any focused work, probably longer than about 20 minutes.
• 12:47
  Emily: Yep. And the key to making these brain breaks
• 12:50
  intentional is that, instead of waiting until the kids are
• 12:54
  climbing the walls, you plan for these brain breaks at natural
• 12:58
  transition points in your day.
• 12:59
  Heidi: Maybe that's between subjects, or after a time of
• 13:02
  focused work, or, you know, when you notice engagement starting
• 13:05
  to dip a little bit. This way you are being proactive instead
• 13:08
  of reactive.
• 13:09
  Emily: And as you know, there are tons of brain break ideas
• 13:12
  out there. You could do stretches or a quick game of
• 13:16
  Simon Says or follow along with a Go Noodle video.
• 13:19
  Heidi: And we actually have our own set of printable brain
• 13:22
  breaks if you want something that doesn't require technology,
• 13:25
  which sometimes can be a real hassle if you're in a tight
• 13:27
  bind. Our brain breaks are print and go cards with three
• 13:31
  different types of activity styles to match whatever your
• 13:34
  class needs in the moment.
• 13:35
  Emily: Yep, we've got recharge activities for when kids need to
• 13:39
  get the wiggles out, refocus activities that help students
• 13:42
  calm down and prepare to concentrate again, and refresh
• 13:45
  activities that engage their minds in fun ways. You can find
• 13:49
  the brain breaks in our shop, and we will put a link to them
• 13:52
  in the show notes.
• 13:53
  Heidi: What I love about brain breaks is that they actually
• 13:56
  save you time in the long run. Yes, you know, you're spending a
• 13:59
  minute on movement, but you're gaining several minutes of
• 14:02
  improved focus afterward.
• 14:04
  Emily: It's like paying interest on an investment that one minute
• 14:08
  brings returns in the form of better behavior and more
• 14:11
  efficient learning, and it prevents that cycle where kids
• 14:14
  get wiggly, behavior deteriorates, you have to stop
• 14:17
  and redirect, and suddenly you've lost five minutes anyway.
• 14:21
  Heidi: It is definitely better to give them one minute of
• 14:23
  structured movement than to lose five minutes in the chaos. When
• 14:27
  I was a brand new baby teacher, I was really reluctant to waste
• 14:30
  time on something that felt as frivolous as movement.
• 14:33
  Emily: Oh, me too. I just thought movement was something
• 14:36
  extra, something I could only do if we had time. But now I can
• 14:40
  see that it's an essential part of effective teaching.
• 14:44
  Heidi: Movement isn't a distraction from learning. It's
• 14:46
  a catalyst for learning. When we work with children's natural
• 14:49
  need for movement instead of against it, everyone wins.
• 14:54
  Emily: Okay, so let's quickly recap our strategies for adding
• 14:57
  movement to your lessons. First, act it out. Out let students
• 15:01
  physically become the learning. Second, stand if statements. Get
• 15:06
  kids up and down while checking understanding. Third, learning
• 15:10
  stations or rotations. Change where students do their work.
• 15:14
  Fourth, academic movement games. Turn review into an active game.
• 15:18
  And finally, fifth, intentional brain breaks. Plan short
• 15:22
  movement activities between learning segments.
• 15:25
  Heidi: And remember you don't have to implement all of these
• 15:27
  at once. Please don't feel like that. Even adding one movement
• 15:31
  strategy to your day can make a big difference for your wiggly
• 15:33
  little learners.
• 15:35
  Emily: We'd love to hear which of these strategies you try in
• 15:37
  your classroom. Come join the conversation in our Teacher
• 15:40
  Approved Facebook group.
• 15:41
  Now let's talk about this week's teacher approved tip. Each week
• 15:46
  we leave you with a small actionable tip that you can
• 15:49
  apply in your classroom today. This week's teacher approved tip
• 15:52
  is manage those pre-lunch wiggles. Tell us about this one,
• 15:56
  Heidi.
• 15:57
  Heidi: Well we all know that right before lunch can be one of
• 15:59
  the wiggliest times of the day. Kids are hungry, they've been
• 16:02
  working hard all morning, and their focus is waning.
• 16:05
  Emily: Oh yes, I used to dread that 15 minutes right before
• 16:08
  lunch, because it was like herding cats no matter what.
• 16:11
  Heidi: So instead of fighting those wiggles, one thing you can
• 16:13
  try is a standing station for the last 10 minutes or so before
• 16:17
  lunch. Designate a few areas in your room where students can
• 16:21
  stand to complete their work.
• 16:23
  Emily: Okay, I love that idea. What does a standing station
• 16:26
  look like?
• 16:26
  Heidi: Well, it's really just anywhere kids can stand. It
• 16:29
  might be a counter or a shelf at standing height, or really even
• 16:32
  just a clipboard that they can use while standing at the wall.
• 16:36
  And then when you notice the wiggles are starting to ramp up
• 16:38
  before lunch, offer the option to move to a standing station to
• 16:42
  finish their work.
• 16:43
  Emily: Oh, this is brilliant, because it gives kids the
• 16:45
  movement they need without disrupting the flow of your
• 16:47
  lesson. And for some kids, standing actually helps them
• 16:50
  focus better than sitting.
• 16:52
  Heidi: Oh, exactly. And the beauty is that you don't need
• 16:55
  anything special or any extra planning. It's just offering an
• 16:59
  alternative workspace, assuming that you give them the
• 17:02
  consequence that if they can't handle making that choice,
• 17:05
  you'll have to choose where they stand or have to go back to
• 17:08
  their desks.
• 17:09
  Emily: Oh, for sure. This is an option that you would want to
• 17:11
  introduce with some expectations and practicing how they should
• 17:16
  behave there and letting them know what the consequences are
• 17:19
  if they don't follow those expectations, or this could turn
• 17:22
  into a nightmare.
• 17:23
  Heidi: Yeah, being clear about expectations is going to make or
• 17:26
  break this. Be clear that standing work is still work
• 17:29
  time. It's not a social break or a time to wander around the room
• 17:32
  and try out all of the different spots.
• 17:34
  Emily: Yeah, and you probably want to start small with this
• 17:37
  idea, with maybe just three to four standing spots at first,
• 17:40
  and then you could use a rotation system if lots of kids
• 17:43
  want to try it. And then if you find that it's popular and it's
• 17:47
  helping your students and you've established good expectations
• 17:50
  for it, it could become a more regular option in your
• 17:52
  classroom. But for sure, some kids are probably never going to
• 17:56
  want to stand there, and some will probably want to stand
• 17:57
  there a lot, because it helps them focus better. It just
• 17:59
  depends on the kids.
• 18:01
  Heidi: And really, this is such a simple adjustment, but it can
• 18:03
  make a big difference in managing that challenging time
• 18:06
  before lunch.
• 18:07
  To wrap up the show, we are sharing what we're giving extra
• 18:10
  credit to this week. Emily, what gets your extra credit?
• 18:13
  Emily: I'm giving extra credit to the TV show The Pit on Max.
• 18:17
  When this first came out, I didn't pay any attention to it,
• 18:20
  because I don't generally watch hospital things. I mean, okay, I
• 18:24
  was very into Grey's Anatomy in the original, in the original
• 18:28
  first few seasons, when it was so good. And I did watch the
• 18:31
  original seasons of ER as well, which also had Noah Wiley in it,
• 18:36
  who is in The Pit, yes. But somebody was raving enough about
• 18:40
  it that I'm like, I'll just give it a try.
• 18:42
  And guys, it is so good. It is set in this Pittsburgh ER, and
• 18:47
  each episode is one hour of one day, so the whole season is just
• 18:51
  like, one shift on one day. And it is so well done. Now, I will
• 18:56
  say, because it's on Max instead of like on NBC, there is a lot
• 19:00
  more gore. So just being prepared for that, I am a pro
• 19:04
  from my years of watching Grey's Anatomy, of just knowing when to
• 19:07
  look away.
• 19:10
  Or mute the squishy sounds.
• 19:13
  So I do tend to watch this when I'm doing something else, so
• 19:16
  that I can just look away when I don't want to watch what's going
• 19:19
  on. But like, the stories and the format is so interesting in
• 19:23
  the way that these stories build from episode to episode, since
• 19:27
  it's all in the same day, you're seeing patients over several
• 19:30
  hours, and I have just found it to be super captivating. I've
• 19:33
  totally binged it. There's like, one more episode coming out this
• 19:36
  week, and then I'm gonna be sad. But there is already a season
• 19:38
  two confirmed. So if you start this, you can know it's not
• 19:41
  going to disappear. You can it's worth committing to.
• 19:43
  Heidi: That's good. There's nothing worse than getting
• 19:45
  attached to a show only to have it cut and axed from your life.
• 19:49
  Emily: I know. So if you watch this, let me know what you
• 19:52
  think. Not you, Heidi, I mean you too, if you want to, not
• 19:55
  that I don't want your opinion, but I know you won't watch it.
• 19:59
  But if somebody else watches it, come and talk to me about it.
• 20:03
  What are you giving extra credit to, Heidi?
• 20:05
  Heidi: Well, how's this for a segue? I'm giving extra credit
• 20:08
  to magnesium threonate, because it did, it has saved my life. So
• 20:13
  like back in the fall, my doctor suggested I switch to that
• 20:16
  rather than whatever I was taking, citrate, whatever form
• 20:20
  of magnesium I was taking, because threonate crosses the
• 20:23
  blood brain barrier. That's a thing, right?
• 20:26
  Emily: So smart, you're so smart.
• 20:27
  Heidi: I know, I could work on that show, that medical show.
• 20:31
  Emily: You totally could.
• 20:33
  Heidi: And so I switched over, and I thought, like, I mean,
• 20:36
  yeah, I guess it seems fine. I'm not really noticing any, like, I
• 20:39
  didn't get any superpowers. I'm sure it's great, but it is a
• 20:42
  little bit expensive. I mean, it's not crazy, it's, you know,
• 20:45
  30 bucks for a month. It's not crazy, but when you could get
• 20:48
  magnesium a lot cheaper, it just seemed like someplace I could
• 20:52
  save money. So early in March, sorry, this is turning into
• 20:58
  story. Early in March, I just went back to the other magnesium
• 20:58
  I was using, and then I didn't notice that my restless legs
• 21:00
  started to ramp up, and then suddenly I was like up for hours
• 21:04
  and hours every night, and I couldn't figure out what's going
• 21:07
  on until I remembered that I had just switched over the
• 21:09
  magnesium. So I'm saying all that to say, if you also deal
• 21:13
  with restless legs, trying out magnesium threonate could be a
• 21:18
  game changer, because once I got back on that, it took a couple
• 21:21
  nights, but I have not had this problem since.
• 21:23
  Emily: Well, now you've done a perfect case study of one that
• 21:27
  this works great for restless legs. So if that applies to you
• 21:31
  out there, you should try it too.
• 21:32
  Heidi: And if you have been there, you know how desperate
• 21:34
  you are to try anything. I've tried it all because it's the
• 21:38
  worst feeling to just like be laying there and having your
• 21:41
  legs go on an adventure without you when you're trying sleep.
• 21:46
  Emily: And I've been taking this. I don't have restless
• 21:47
  legs, but I have been taking this, and I feel like I've been
• 21:50
  sleeping better too. But I don't have a perfect example like
• 21:53
  yours. It's one of those like, Well, I think I'll just keep
• 21:54
  taking it, because I think it's doing something. I guess if I
• 21:58
  wanted a case study of one for me, I could stop taking it. But
• 22:00
  I don't want to do that.
• 22:02
  Heidi: Because I didn't even think it was doing anything,
• 22:04
  because it took so, you know, it took a while, a couple weeks,
• 22:07
  probably, to kick in. And so I didn't make the connection. I
• 22:10
  just was like, Well, yeah, that problem suddenly fixed. I don't
• 22:14
  know what I did, but yay me. I learned, I love that stuff, now
• 22:20
  I've got bottles and bottles of it in my bathroom cabinet.
• 22:23
  Emily: We will link to it in the show notes.
• 22:26
  Heidi: That is it for today's episode. Remember adding
• 22:29
  movement to your lessons doesn't have to be complicated. Try one
• 22:32
  of our five strategies and see how your students respond.
• 22:35
  Emily: And don't forget our teacher approved tip for
• 22:38
  managing those pre-lunch wiggles with standing stations.
• 22:41
  Sometimes the simplest solutions make the biggest difference.
• 22:44
  Heidi: Thanks for listening to the Teacher Approved podcast. If
• 22:47
  you found this helpful, please share it with a teacher friend
• 22:49
  who might need these ideas too.
• 22:50
  We hope you enjoyed this episode of Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
• 22:57
  Emily: And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
• 23:00
  or subscribe in your podcast app so that you never miss an
• 23:03
  episode.
• 23:03
  Heidi: You can connect with us and other teachers in the
• 23:06
  Teacher Approved Facebook group, we'll see you here next week.
• 23:09
  Bye for now.
• 23:10
  Emily: Bye.