| The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the use of Brain GymRTM activities to decrease off-task behaviors of students within an early childhood preschool classroom during circle time. The off-task behaviors observed were speaking out of turn, leaving circle time, and touching a classmate. The overall classroom population consisted of 18 students. Of those 18 students a sample size of three students were randomly chosen by the researcher, all three were male and four years old from a rural, southwestern Minnesota early childhood education preschool classroom. The researcher used a single-subject research design using an off-task checklist in an ABAB design. During the first baseline period, which took place for the first three weeks of the study, the researcher observed the students during circle time in the classroom before Brain GymRTM activities were used for 20 minutes, three days a week. The student's behaviors were tallied on a checklist for each baseline and treatment period. After the baseline observations were made, the researcher then introduced Brain GymRTM activities to the students. Brain GymRTM activities were administered for three weeks to the class two times a day. The researcher then went back to the baseline to observe the students for three weeks without doing Brain GymRTM activities. Then after the three-week baseline period, the researcher went back to Brain GymRTM activities with the class and tallied off-task behaviors for the last three weeks. The Brain GymRTM activities that were being used in this study were the cross crawl, lazy 8's, the elephant, neck rolls, and belly breathing. The findings revealed that two out of the three students decreased their off-task behaviors each time Brain GymRTM activities were used. This research will help guide educators to understand Brain GymRTM and the effects it has on off-task behavior in the classroom. |
