Beyond The Bell: Exercises Help Norman Students Focus

More than 250 teachers and administrators in Norman Public Schools are trained in what’s called “Bal-A-Vis-X”.

“It stands for balance, auditory, visual exercises,” said Susan Snyder, who helped bring the program to the district.

Snyder said students learn to use their whole bodies for the exercises, making multiple midline crossings, which are said to help with brain connections.

In an exercise demonstrated for News 9, the kids had to work together to stay in sync with the same color ball, while moving around the circle and maintaining a rhythm.

Max Wages is a fourth grader at Kennedy. “At certain points I get frustrated,” he explained. Taking a quick break for Bal-A-Vis-X, he said, helps him the most when he's studying math. “I feel like I can actually do my work.”

Students also do the exercises at the beginning of the day and between subjects.

And teachers said they routinely see the results -- that bouncing a ball or tossing a sack in this way can turn frustration into razor sharp focus.

“If they can’t focus or pay attention, they’re not going to learn anything. So, it’s really made a big difference for a lot of kids,” said Snyder.

School officials said the district is a world-wide leader in the amount of people trained in Bal-A-Vis-X.