Scheduled Breaks/ Connections

Official title: Non contingent reinforcement

Filling their cups

Goal

Proactively meet the diverse sensory-needs of learners.

How

Recognizing our learners’ diverse needs, we should allocate specific times for movement, calmness, and social interaction. This approach “fills their cups” by proactively addressing sensory and social-emotional needs, reducing the likelihood that learners will seek out these needs during structured academic periods.

Context

Although these breaks will look different across the ages, we all need breaks throughout the day!

Tip

When determining how often to schedule your breaks, consider that the average attention span of a neurotypical learner is two to three times their age. That’s a good guideline for how often these brief breaks should be happening!