Tuesday, October 13, 2020

BRAIN BOOSTERS: Off the Bench Activities

What a great Zoom meeting we had today.  There was only one "down side" ~~ I forgot to hit the record button!!

It was wonderful to "see" so many of our chapter there!!  One of the great things about Covid19 is it has taught us the beauty of using technology to reach more of our chapter.  Many can't attend in person due to teaching in other places, but the Zoom option helps mitigate that problem.  We will definitely keep "Zooming" our meetings, even when we are able to be back in person!!

A few of the things Danielle Dallas, our fabulous presenter, touched on were:

  • Brain activity is benefitted when we move.
  • When we couple activity with music, it is even more beneficial
  • These activities can be done in very short bursts of time and can be accomplished with the student or the student following directions
  • Jumping jacks are great!  But so are "speed skater" movements, cross kicks and touching knees or toes...anything that gets the body moving!
  • The tennis ball review game!!  The student bounces a tennis ball and catches it.  For each bounce, he says the next note of the scale (or chord, or arpeggio, etc.)  There's movement involved with music.  Add another element by putting some music on. 

Here is the link to the video Danielle talked about.  It's great!!


Winning Rhythms is a free pdf or word.doc download that Danielle also recommended.

Lastly, we don't have a chapter meeting in November due to our UMTA Conference that is being held online this year due to Covid19.  It is FREE TO ALL, but you do need to register.  The deadline for registration is October 24th, 2020 at midnight.  Register now to avoid forgetting!!  There are a few live Zoom meeting on both Friday, November 6 and Saturday November 7th.  You'll want to check those out after November 5th on the UMTA website when the conference links go "live."   UMTA website