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Brain Boost Time

Welcome to Brain Boost Time - the tech tool to use during in-class breaks! 

You may head to the respective tabs if you already know the what, how and why of BBT.  Tip: Start with the Randomisers to build up the suspense!

Otherwise do have a read below to learn more about the go-to in-class break tool we call Brain Boost Time (BBT).

What is Brain Boost Time (BBT)?

Introduction

BBT is a tool for primary school teachers to use in class to get their students to the optimal zone of learning especially when the students are clearly lethargic or extra fidgety.  

Considerations for BBT use include:

• Students' Energy Levels (high, low or mixed)

• Level taught (upper primary or lower primary)

• Time of day (start of the day or near noon)

• Nature of preceding period (after PE, recess or lunch)

• Timing in planned lesson (start of lesson or transitioning between two activities/topics) 

Features

Brain Boost Time has 3 main features:

1. Physical activity/Energisers (Fast/Slow/Both)

2. Reflective/Cognitive activity (Wonder)

3. Breathing/Mindfulness activity (Relax) 

Click on the links above to read more about the different features.

Refer to the flowchart below for a quick look at the proposed BBT features to use in different scenarios.

How to use Brain Boost Time?

Tips

We have tested BBT in several schools and we realised that the best outcomes were observed when the following were done:

1. Do BBT together with students making it a part of the class routines

2. Talk about the BBT experience and its intent 

3. Share students’ responses/reactions and facilitate interactions

4. Read the room during BBT and ensure safety and comfort

5. Adjust BBT according to students’ profile and interest

Why use Brain Boost Time (BBT)?

Have you ever entered a class and observed that many of your students are tired and have their heads on the table or they are distracted and not attentive?  We have, and we decided to do something about it.

We read up on the science of learning, educational psychology, educational neuroscience, and more.  Childhood development experts generally claim that a reasonable attention span to expect of a child is two to three minutes (or up to five according to some) per year of their age. That's the period of time for which a typical child can maintain focus on a given task. We realised that students need in-class breaks and not just the scheduled recess time.

Thus, we came up with this site that contains physical, cognitive, and affective attention boosters and tested it with different classes across several primary schools.

Results

We noticed that after BBT quieter students (silent sufferers included) were more responsive and participative and students who were usually disruptive or distracted were on task for longer and were evidently less fidgety too. 

The 5 positive changes we noticed in students during our observations include: 

1. Less fidgeting and disruptions (or longer time-on-task)

2. Fewer heads on the table or propped up on hands  

3. Faster response time from students

4. More participative in class discussions

5. Increased engagement and enjoyment in the learning process