Improve Students’ Mental, Physical, and Academic Health with The Walking Classroom
First Presenter's Institution
The Walking Classroom
First Presenter's Brief Biography
Laura Fenn, Creator and Founder of The Walking Classroom, earned an MS Ed. from Hunter College in New York City and a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University. She has over 15 years of classroom experience and developed The Walking Classroom with her former 5th grade students as a way to add exercise into their school day without sacrificing instructional time. The nonprofit program grew rapidly, won several national awards, and is now used by thousands of schools and OST programs across the country.
Document Type
Event
Primary Strand
Positive Behavior Interventions and Support
Relevance to Primary Strand
This session will highlight the research-proven physical, mental, and academic benefits of The Walking Classroom. Walking while listening to educational podcasts gets students some desperately needed fresh air and exercise, but it also engages different learning styles and builds the confidence of students who struggle in a traditional classroom. Students love the break from sitting in their seats and return to class in better moods and ready to learn even more. This innovative supplement to traditional instruction enables teachers and students to press the "reset button" and clear their heads while filling them with knowledge. The Walking Classroom brings much needed JOY to learning.
Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics
Student Learning and Development
Brief Program Description
This session will highlight the research-proven physical, mental, and academic benefits of The Walking Classroom. Walking while listening to educational podcasts gets students some desperately needed fresh air and exercise, but it also engages different learning styles and builds the confidence of students who struggle in a traditional classroom. Students love the break from sitting in their seats and return to class in better moods and ready to learn even more. This innovative supplement to traditional instruction enables teachers and students to press the "reset button" and clear their heads while filling them with knowledge.
Summary
The Walking Classroom is a national award-winning nonprofit program that provides students and teachers with an innovative way to get exercise without sacrificing instructional time. The method is simple: students take brisk walks (preferably outside) while listening to kid-friendly educational podcasts that are 15-18 minutes in length. Detailed lesson plans contain objectives, discussion questions, and comprehension quizzes for each podcast, so that when students return from their walk, the content can be reviewed and synthesized. At the beginning of each podcast, there is a brief health literacy message (generally < 1 minute in length), and a social-emotional theme is also featured in each podcast.
This session will highlight the research-proven physical, mental, and academic benefits of walking while listening to educational podcasts. Attendees will get to experience these benefits first hand when they go for a walk listening to a Walking Classroom podcast, and attendees will learn how to create - at no cost - a walking classroom of their own.
Evidence
Learning Objective 1
Participants will be able to understand the research-proven impact that exercise during the school day has on student physical, mental, and academic health.
Learning Objective 2
Participants will be able to understand how The Walking Classroom engages different learning styles and helps narrow the achievement gap.
Learning Objective 3
Participants will be able to experience the program and learn how to create a walking classroom of their own.
Recommended Citation
Fenn, Laura, "Improve Students’ Mental, Physical, and Academic Health with The Walking Classroom" (2023). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 9.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2023/2023/9
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Improve Students’ Mental, Physical, and Academic Health with The Walking Classroom
The Walking Classroom is a national award-winning nonprofit program that provides students and teachers with an innovative way to get exercise without sacrificing instructional time. The method is simple: students take brisk walks (preferably outside) while listening to kid-friendly educational podcasts that are 15-18 minutes in length. Detailed lesson plans contain objectives, discussion questions, and comprehension quizzes for each podcast, so that when students return from their walk, the content can be reviewed and synthesized. At the beginning of each podcast, there is a brief health literacy message (generally < 1 minute in length), and a social-emotional theme is also featured in each podcast.
This session will highlight the research-proven physical, mental, and academic benefits of walking while listening to educational podcasts. Attendees will get to experience these benefits first hand when they go for a walk listening to a Walking Classroom podcast, and attendees will learn how to create - at no cost - a walking classroom of their own.
