Embodied Sensory Learning

Embodied Sensory Learning

I haven’t been in a high school math class for 6 years now. However, I am quite confident that it is not “normal” for a math or technology teacher to be using movement, sensory experiences, gestures, and embodies ways of learning in the classroom. To me, I think of movement in a math classroom as playing, such as playing card games. Although these games can work well in terms of learning, I think they are simply scratching the surface of what we can accomplish with embodied learning. 

It’s funny because this topic makes me think of a tv show I used to watch growing up called “Hannah Montana”. In the episode, she was struggling to learn the bones of the body for a biology test. To remember them all, she created a song and dance, because it was a strategy that she knew she could harness to remember. I embedded the video of her below. 

Although different, bark biting, music, and dancing, are all ways in which we can further connect with knowledge and learning, which I believe helps us to remember things better. Although we may need to get creative in math classes to include sensory experiences, I think examples demonstrate to us how positive the response can be in a classroom.