Fall 2009

From the Workshop to the Classroom
by Josh Orpen

“They never get put down!” exclaims Holly Syverson, a kindergarten teacher at Jefferson Elementary in New Ulm, when speaking about her S.M.A.R.T. Manual and Curriculum Guide.  She has been busy implementing S.M.A.R.T. into her classroom schedule after attending the workshop in Minneapolis this summer.  Despite her long commute, Holly said the experience was delightful.  As a teacher, she enjoyed being involved in the classroom activities and learning about brain development issues that hinder learning in young children—it allowed her to gain a new perspective on struggling students.  The S.M.A.R.T. workshop trained Holly to observe students’ behavior and narrow down the cause of their problems.  For instance, she learned that students who slouch over in class are not always lazy, as is assumed by many teachers, but may still possess a Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR). The S.M.A.R.T. Curriculum, with its focus on brain stimulation and readiness skill development, has provided her with fun activities, like “Superman” and “Popcorn.” The purpose of these physical movements is to "mature" persisting/interfering reflexes in order to allow smooth and coordinated movements and automatic attention levels.  Holly strongly believes that these types of intervention tools will allow her to understand, and provide better help to, struggling students.

As a new S.M.A.R.T. teacher, Holly has done exceptionally well at implementing activities into her existing curriculum—thirty minutes of the program has fit right into her schedule.  The students in Holly’s class love weaving their way through the 11 different Core activities in the S.M.A.R.T. room at Jefferson Elementary.  Some of the stations include Balance Beams, Pencil Rolls, Overhead Ladder, Alligator Crawl, jump mats, Hop Scotch, and Creep Tracks (using colors, shapes, letters, numbers, and high frequency words).  Not only are these activities important for giving children brain stimulation, but also, in a time when playgrounds are becoming increasingly scarce at grade schools, it gives young students exercise.  In her class, Holly has assigned her kindergarteners specific jobs for preparing the S.M.A.R.T. room and taking it down.  It takes them only three minutes to set up the equipment, and four minutes to put it away.  Holly also noted that S.M.A.R.T. exercises are perfect for days when recess is indoors.  Without a release of physical energy, her students are simply unable to focus in the classroom.

In addition to the S.M.A.R.T. room, Holly also does activities in her classroom.  She leads a few Core exercises like Cross Pattern Walking, mazes, Helicopter Spinning, and Rebounders, but her main focus is auditory and visual stimulation.  The children do Auditory Memory and Rhyme Time.  They also do vision activities like Wagon Wheels, Visual Pursuits, Near/Far Focus, Saccadic Yardsticks, and use the black light and Basic Vision.  Not all of these exercises fit into a single day, but Holly does make sure to do Thumbkins and Pencil Push-ups each day as a warm-up for reading.

In upcoming weeks, reflex and fine motor activities will be implemented into Holly’s schedule.  She has continuously been thumbing through the S.M.A.R.T. Manual and Curriculum Guide.  The Manual is packed with information about the brain and child development, making it a valuable resource for understanding the science behind S.M.A.R.T., and the Curriculum Guide is stuffed with visual, auditory, and tactile brain-stimulating exercises.  Holly appreciates the flexibility of the program, which allows teachers to select activities for their own classrooms.  She is also thankful to have a resource for parent meetings.  In the past, many parents have asked Holly difficult questions about their children and why they struggle in school.  Now that she has a better understanding of developmental issues, Holly feels more comfortable answering these questions.  She can identify reasonable causes for a young student’s academic struggles and explain how S.M.A.R.T. is designed to correct them.

Holly and the five other S.M.A.R.T. teachers at Jefferson Elementary have started to schedule team meetings.  They will use the time to share ideas and discuss the success of activities.  It will help them use their S.M.A.R.T. time more efficiently and allow students to develop academic skills more quickly.  The teachers have all thoroughly enjoyed the program and praised its ability to help each student progress at his or her own rate in a positive and “play-like” atmosphere.  They hope the rest of their school can get trained next summer.