Classrooms in Motion™, LLC, was founded in 2015 by Hildi Nicksic, MEd, PhD to increase awareness about classroom physical activity and opportunities for students to be active in the general education classroom. The purpose of Classrooms in Motion™ is to disseminate information to classroom teachers about the whys and hows of classroom physical activity. By providing teachers with background on the health and academic benefits of physical activity for students and methods to offer classroom physical activity, Classrooms in Motion™ equips teachers to be facilitators of physical activity opportunities in the classroom.
Dr. Nicksic has over ten years of K-12 classroom teaching experience, ranging from kindergarten through seventh grade. After receiving a master’s in education midway through her teaching career, she returned to graduate school to pursue a doctorate in Health Behavior and Health Education with a focus on classroom physical activity. Dr. Nicksic evaluated classroom teachers’ perceptions about classroom physical activity and assessed relationships between key constructs. Using these data, and the evidence base on best teaching practices, professional development, and classroom physical activity, Dr. Nicksic then designed and conducted a short-duration professional development training for classroom teachers targeting classroom physical activity. The training significantly improved participating teachers’ knowledge about classroom physical activity and decreased specific barriers to implementation, thus increasing likelihood of adoption. Over the past several years, Dr. Nicksic has provided trainings, webinars, and professional development for a variety of entities, including Texas A&M University, the Tennessee Department of Education, Maine’s Let’s Go!, and Active Schools. Currently, Dr. Nicksic is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky.
The Classrooms in Motion™ website offers empirical evidence about the benefit of physical activity on health and academic outcomes in students as well as materials, resources, and implementation tips to aid in the ease of adoption. This compilation of information is designed to increase facilitators and decrease barriers to classroom physical activity implementation as perceived by classroom teachers. Furthermore, Classrooms in Motion™ provides training and consulting services to teachers, district personnel, and other interested parties to increase the quality and quantity of opportunities that students have to engage in physical activity in the classroom.
The Institute of Medicine report, Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School, makes the recommendation that a whole-of-school approach should be taken to increase the opportunities students have for physical activity engagement throughout the school day, such as “…through brief classroom breaks or incorporating physical activity directly into academic sessions”. Furthermore, First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Active Schools campaign, now Active Schools, was created to increase physical activity behaviors in our nation’s youth. Classrooms in Motion™ is committed to this mission: Active Students, Engaged Learners!
We’d love to hear from you! Email: info@classroomsinmotion.com
