Move to Learn has proudly partnered with the University of Southern Mississippi and their School of Education. Future teachers are forged here, and the MTL curriculum has become a prominent part of their training.
Student teachers utilize our videos and lesson plans to understand the importance of physical activity in the classroom. The next generation of Mississippi teachers is in good hands at Southern Miss.
1. What are your thoughts about movement in the classroom for MS students?
Considering that obesity is such a significant problem in MS, I think movement in MS classrooms is very important. Then, in concert with the strong brain research related to movement, movement is a win-win situation.
2. How is MTL being used in your curriculum?
Many of our student teachers are placed in schools in which MTL is already incorporated.
3. How have your student teachers found it useful?
Many of our student teachers, after participating in a MTL seminar, have incorporated a video into their class activities, especially when momentum/morale is lacking, brain power is waning, or students are getting ready to complete a big task—test or project requiring significant concentration.
4. Have you seen changes in time on task in class?
Student teachers say, yes, to increased time on task and less time being distracted or distracting others.
5. Have your teachers noticed any additional changes in their students since using MTL?
Student teachers have reported that consistently students are less distracted after MTL.
6. When do your teachers find the best time to use Move to Learn in the class to be?
See #3 above. However, many schools use MTL first thing in the morning and several others use mid-afternoon.
Past MTL Partner Highlights
Move to Learn has proudly partnered with the University of Mississippi and their School of Education. Future teachers are forged here, and the MTL curriculum has become a prominent part of their training.
What are your thoughts about movement in the classroom for MS students?
Physical movement has a positive impact on cognition and should be integrated into K-12 curriculum on a daily basis. The importance only increases in a state like Mississippi where the childhood obesity rate is high. Children are given less and less opportunity for outside play at school, so classroom movement is vital.
How is MTL being used in your curriculum?
We train pre-service teachers and have incorporated brain breaks as a way to increase attention, motivation and learning. By modeling this practice, we hope to inspire these future teachers to use brain breaks in their classrooms upon graduation.
How have your student teachers found it useful?
Many senior elementary education majors say they use Move to Learn on a regular basis in their placement classrooms. Many of these student teachers are using it because their mentor teachers use it. Many more use it because they found out about Move to Learn while in the School of Education and have introduced it to their mentor teachers.
Have you seen changes in time on task in class?
We’ve seen positive changes in our college students since we incorporated brain breaks in the classroom. Whether we use a Move to Learn video or another brain break, the students stay energized and on task. We also have a lot of fun and have been able to learn about each other through the activities.
Have your teachers noticed any additional changes in their students since using MTL?
One of our graduates is now using Move to Learn in her classroom at Lafayette Elementary and has had great success reducing off task behaviors in her classroom.
When do your teachers find the best time to use Move to Learn in the class to be?
The student teachers like to use Move to Learn during transitions or when the kids seem to be getting impatient or bored.
Did you know that every aspect of Move to Learn has been created and developed by Mississippians? Here are just a few facts.
- The videos are all filmed by a Mississippi-based production company at real Mississippi schools.
- The Move to Learn music is all written and recorded by Mississippi-based musicians.
- The website and promotional material was created and developed by a Mississippi-based marketing firm.
- The coaches are real coaches in Mississippi schools, and the students featured in videos are all from the school districts selected for filming.
The Bower Foundation is focused on the development of strategies to improve the health of Mississippians. As a funder of important projects and initiatives throughout the state, a core priority is support for the development of healthy lifestyles for Mississippi children.
Visit The Bower Foundation website →
Part of the Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Healthy Schools (OHS) offers a system of coordinated school health services to Mississippi’s 147 school districts to assist them in developing organizations that make the connection between good student health and high academic achievement.
Visit MDE Office of Healthy Schools website →
Move to Learn is thrilled to announce our partnership with the Barksdale Reading Institute. We appreciate their hard work and dedication to improving Mississippi students’ pre-literacy and reading skills. And we thank them for providing linguistic technical assistance for our new Alphabet Sounds video for Pre-K children.
Visit the Barksdale Reading Institute website →
