Summary
This professional learning session is the fourth in a four-part series. In this professional learning session, participants begin shifting from the role of a classroom teacher into the role of a professional learning facilitator. Educators dive into how physical movement changed their teaching practice. They collectively look at the strategies they have participated in as learners.
Essential Questions
How can I intentionally incorporate movement into my math lessons to deepen students' understanding, engagement, and problem-solving skills?
How can we effectively communicate the 'why' behind movement-based math to empower our colleagues to adopt these strategies in their own classrooms?
Learning Objectives
Participants analyze the 4-Part Less is More Professional Learning series to examine andragogical moves.
Participants construct a miniature professional learning session over one physical movement strategy used with a math concept.
Snapshot
Engage
Participants share a testimonial of how physical movement has changed their teaching practice.
Explore
Participants deconstruct and analyze the purpose behind facilitator and participants’ actions within the 4-Part Less is More Professional Learning (PL) series using the jigsaw strategy.
Explain
Participants synthesize elements of adult learning showcased throughout the Less is More PL series using the Detective Board strategy.
Extend
Participants construct a brief presentation about a physical movement strategy they want to facilitate a professional learning over to their peers.
Evaluate
Participants reflect upon their experience throughout the 4-Part Less is More PL series.
Materials List
Presentation Slides (attached)
Components of Andragogy handout (attached; one per participant)
Less is More: Implementation handout (attached; see preparation note)
Less is More: Analyzing Implementation handout (attached; see preparation note)
Less is More: Peer Coaching handout (attached; see preparation note)
30 Second Activity slides (attached)
Pen/ paper
Highlighters (at least 2 different colors per participant)
Chart posters
Red yarn
Tape
Scissors
Beach balls (one per group)
Preparation
This session requires specific materials that are to be prepared beforehand. These items include a beach ball, yarn, tape, and scissors. As part of a time saver, consider providing pre-cut yarn and blow-up beach balls. You may only need one ball; however, if you have a larger group, you may want to use 2-3. Have tape and scissors already on tables. Provide each participant with two different colored highlighters.
Explore
For this part, participants will be arranged in groups. Each group member will need their own narrative handout from one of the previous Professional Learning sessions in this Less is More 4-Part series. Print according to your expected attendance.
Extend
For the 30 Second Spotlight activity, make a copy of this prepared 30 Second Activity slide deck and make copies of slides until there are enough. Consider sharing these slides with participants afterwards. Alternatively, you can have participants make their own slide deck. Use the placeholders on hidden slide 13 as needed.
Engage
15 Minute(s)
Use the attached Presentation Slides to guide the session. Welcome participants. Display slide 2 and introduce yourself and the session. Transition through slides 3-4 to introduce the essential question and the session objectives for the professional learning activities.
Move to slide 5 and introduce participants to the Beach Ball Talk and Toss strategy. Invite participants to stand and create small groups. Provide one ball per group. Have participants take turns tossing the beach ball to others in their group. When a participant catches the ball, whichever color the participant’s right thumb lands on determines the question they answer. After the participant answers the question, they toss the ball to another participant and repeat the process. When everyone is ready, move to slide 6 with the provided prompts:
Red: Share a time you rewrote a lesson based on your understanding of how students process content with movement.
Yellow: Describe a time where students engaging with a physical activity helped their understanding better than a traditional worksheet.
White: How has using movement changed your approach to classroom management?
Green: How comfortable were you initially with the noise and unpredictability of a moving classroom, and where are you now?
Blue: How has your physical classroom setup evolved to accommodate movement?
Orange: How has incorporating movement changed your own energy levels by the end of the school day?
Give participants enough time so that at least everyone has had at least one chance to share.
Explore
25 Minute(s)
Transition to slide 7. Divide participants into three equal groups and assign each group one of the previous Professional Learning (PL) sessions in this 4-Part Less is More series. Pass out the corresponding narrative handouts:
Less is More: Implementation
Less is More: Analyzing Implementation
Less is More: Peer Coaching
Each group should have one PL narrative for each member. As they read, invite each participant to highlight the narrative silently for the following, adding notes about the intended purpose behind each action using the Categorical Highlighting strategy:
Facilitator Actions- Blue
Participant Actions- Yellow
After participants finish highlighting their PL, have them share with their group their findings to check their understanding.
Next, move to slide 8 and introduce the Jigsaw strategy. Have participants reorganize into a new group with two other participants, who each read a different professional learning narrative. In the new group, have participants share their notes/ annotations with the others.
Explain
35 Minute(s)
Move to slide 9. Pass out the Components of Andragogy handout to every participant. Explain to participants that professional learning is designed with the learner in mind. Adults need specific components to create success and meaning for learning for them. These components are called andragogy.
Participants should still be in their second Jigsaw group. Display slide 10 and assign each group an adult learning element to create an Anchor Chart about how this fits into the professional learnings they examined. Explain that each group should divide their anchor chart into three sections: Implementation, Analyzing Implementation, and Peer Coaching. Next, assign each group a component of andragogy (it's okay if there are multiple groups per element): Autonomy & Choice, Practical Application, Honoring Experience, and Relevance.
On their poster, participants should map out the specific adult learning principle reflected in each PL by providing evidence from the PL including the action the facilitator does. Inform participants to leave room for a red string for the upcoming detective board strategy.
After participants finish, hang up posters as if they were on a crime board (see “Sample Detective Board" note below). Move to slide 11 and introduce participants to the Detective Board strategy. Each group should examine the different posters. When they discover something in common among the posters, they connect the ideas with yarn. Once groups finish making connections, ask for volunteers to share out the patterns they see. Take pictures of posters to share with participants afterwards.
Extend
30 Minute(s)
Transition to slide 12. Explain to participants that as they move out of this professional learning series, they are now movement ambassadors. They are encouraged to help build the knowledge of their peers and increase the enthusiasm for risk taking inside of classrooms at their schools or with fellow math educators.
Display slide 14. To begin shifting into a professional learning facilitator role, ask participants to brainstorm one physical movement lesson they implemented in which they felt confident. Introduce participants to the 30 Second Spotlight strategy. Explain that each participant will create a single slide about a physical movement they did in their classroom as if they were going to create a professional learning around that strategy.
Invite participants to view that strategy, not from a teacher’s lens, but as a professional learning facilitator. They need to include the following topics as they connect to the chosen strategy on their slide:
Autonomy & Choice
Practical Application
Honoring Voice
Relevance
Allow participants time to work. After participants finish, display slide 15 and invite them to present their slide to their group/table in only 30 seconds. After each presentation, the group offers positive feedback around the strengths and potential areas of improvement of the professional learning idea.
Evaluate
10 Minute(s)
Move to slide 16. Invite participants to use the 3-2-1 strategy to reflect on the professional learning series as a whole. Pose the following questions verbally to participants:
What are three things you learned from the professional learning series and the physical movement lessons in your classroom?
What are two questions you still have?
What is one thing you found interesting?
Ask for volunteers to share out.
Research Rationale
Physical movement incorporated into existing math lessons can increase student motivation, engagement, retention, and cooperation skills. Rather than focusing solely on knowledge retention, PAL (Physically active learning) emphasizes the learning process, creating opportunities for students to explore, experience, and interact with mathematical concepts through movement (Mandelid et al., 2023). Research shows that the pedagogical approach of combining physical activity and academic learning creates a cognitive bonding process that allows for enhanced comprehension and retention (González-Pérez et al, 2025).
Both González-Pérez et al. (2025) and Norris et al. (2018) also found that adolescents, particularly secondary students, tend to spend a majority of their school day on sedentary behaviors, but provide hope that schools can provide a structure to integrate physical movement into academics, increasing students' activity and attention. Mandelid et al. (2023) argue teachers play a central role in designing activities that connect movement with clear mathematical goals, structuring tasks, and guiding reflection so that students understand the purpose behind the activity.
By purposefully integrating kinesthetic learning into math, educators design opportunities for students to shift their perceptions of math ultimately creating classrooms that increase student’s concentration, motivation, and increase academic performance.
Resources
González-Pérez, M., Grao-Cruces, A., Bandera-Campos, F. J., Chalkley, A., Camiletti-Moirón, D., & Sánchez-Oliva, D. (2025). Less is more: Qualitative insights into physically active learning in secondary math education. PLOS ONE, 20(11), e0336641. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0336641
K20 Center. (n.d.). 3-2-1. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/117
K20 Center. (n.d.). 30 second spotlight. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/3748
K20 Center. (n.d.). Anchor charts. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/58
K20 Center. (n.d.). Beach ball talk and toss. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/3049
K20 Center. (n.d.). Canva. Tech tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/612
K20 Center. (n.d.). Categorical highlighting. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/192
K20 Center. (n.d.). Detective board. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/3530
K20 Center. (n.d.). Google slides. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/2335
K20 Center. (n.d.). Jigsaw. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/179
Mandelid, M. B., Thurston, M., Reinboth, M., Resaland, G. K., & Tjomsland, H. E. (2023). “Just because it’s fun, it’s not without purpose”: Exploring the blurred lines of physically active learning. Teaching and Teacher Education,133(1):1-8. 10.1016/j.tate.2023.104297
Norris, E., Dunsmuir, S., Duke-Williams, O., Stamatakis, E., & Shelton, N. (2018).
Physically active lessons improve lesson activity and on-task behavior: A cluster-randomized controlled trial of the “Virtual Traveller” intervention. Health Education & Behavior, 45(6), 945–956. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198118762106