Educational Website: GoNoodle

           GoNoodle is an online educational website for children between the ages of three to fourteen (those from preschool to grade eight) and is a great tool to use in the classroom. This is because it can assist teachers in providing their students with brain breaks (i.e., small pauses between lecture time) (GoNoodle, n.d.). Not to mention, GoNoodle can be used to help teachers with classroom management and social-emotional regulation and can aid in the promotion of physical activity. To use GoNoodle, all teachers have to do is create a free account. Once the account has been created, they are to select an avatar (i.e., a class champ) that will represent their classroom (GoNoodle, n.d.). For instance, teachers can select from McPufferson, Flo Yo, and Flappy Tuckler (GoNoodle, n.d.). These avatars are great as they encourage teachers and students to constantly complete various GoNoodle videos to see how their avatars will change and evolve over time. This is because each time a video is viewed, their avatar grows a little, and the goal is for the class to grow their avatar completely (GoNoodle, n.d.). Once this happens, the class starts all over again and selects a new avatar to be their class champ.

           Moreover, when using GoNoodle, teachers can select from a wide range of videos that last anywhere from two to ten minutes (GoNoodle, n.d.). In having these small time frames, teachers are easily able to play videos before, during, or after their lessons to engage and motivate their students. GoNoodle videos are also broken down into various categories of dance, workout, stretch, freestyle, sports and exercise, and mindfulness (GoNoodle, n.d.). Depending on what a teacher would like to accomplish, such as energizing their class, they can select videos from the appropriate categories. GoNoodle also provides a separate section where teachers can play holiday-themed and special event workout videos for their class. For instance, they have videos that specifically focus on birthdays, the first day of school, wintertime, and Halloween (GoNoodle, n.d.). Since the website has many videos to choose from, teachers should have no issues in selecting a video for their class. 

            With that said, I have seen GoNoodle being used in a grade five/six classroom setting. The students always indicate how they love using this interactive website as it allows them to move around and be silly. They further state how they enjoy using GoNoodle for small breaks as it gives them time to pause from their learning and help them refocus their mind on the task at hand. As a teaching candidate, my views are the same as my students; however, I also appreciate how GoNoodle has videos that are in line with the educational curriculum. This is because they have videos that support and reinforce topics being taught in math, language, science, social studies, health, Spanish, music, and reading (GoNoodle, n.d.). Ultimately, I believe that GoNoodle is an excellent resource for the classroom, and it is something that I will be using with my future students.

To check out GoNoodle, click on the following link: https://www.gonoodle.com/

References

GoNoodle. (n.d.). GoNoodle. EdSurge. https://www.edsurge.com/product-reviews/gonoodle

Courtesy of Jasman@NU