Namaste!

I've always been a fan of yoga... but I've rarely thought about using it in my classroom.  That is, until a fabulous parent of mine volunteered to come into our classroom and do yoga before EVERY single test of our state testing (all 12!!). 

Ummm, yes please!! 

I'm a believer in the benefits of yoga, and always did exercises and warm ups before testing, so this seemed like a match made in heaven!  And let me tell you, it has been.

Our little Warriors!

I'm not going to lie.  The first day, my kids were skeptical and super giggly.  The second day, they got a little better but still had some giggles, and the third day- they gave it their best shot and we had much less gigglers.  And MAN... there definitely was a difference.  After testing in a reallllly long Reading test on Thursday, my kiddos went to Music and the Music teacher even commented on how great our kiddos were.  What?!  That rarely never happens.  They were focused and driven.  I believe these kiddos are really benefiting from yoga!  Tomorrow morning we begin our heavy duty testing... two a days.  We're going to continue doing yoga before each test.  I'm dying to see if it continues to make a difference.  Have any other teacher used yoga in the classroom?  Or what about Brain Gyms?  What do you think about it all?