Ready, Set, Go!

Mike Kuczala has delivered keynotes, given presentations, facilitated professional development and taught graduate courses on 4 continents. His presentations, courses, books and videos have reached more than 100,000 teachers, trainers, corporate executives and parents. He is also the coauthor of the Corwin Bestseller and Association of Educational Publishers' Distinguished Achievement Award nominated, The Kinesthetic Classroom: Teaching and Learning through Movement, a book and philosophy that has changed the view of teaching and learning around the world. Mike's 2nd book, Training in Motion: How to Use Movement to Create an Engaging and Effective Learning Environment, was released in 2015 (AMACOM) and Ready, Set, Go! The Kinesthetic Classroom 2.0 (Corwin) was released in the summer of 2017. His 4th book, The Peak Performing Teacher: 5 Habits for Success (Corwin) will be released on February 22. President of Kuczala Consulting and Academic Director for the Regional Training Center, Mike's SRO presentations have been experienced in such diverse settings as The Educational Collaborative for International Schools, The East Asia Regional Council of Schools, The Francis Marion University Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty Summer Institute, The American Society for Training and Development, The Forum for Innovative Leadership, The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the Society for Health and Physical Educators. In his role with Regional Training Center, Mike leads a cadre of about 100 graduate instructors who regularly provide graduate coursework to thousands of teachers across Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and beyond in partnership with The College of New Jersey and La Salle University. During his tenure, he has overseen the development of RTC's online and virtual course offerings as well the design and implementation of new coursework, certificate programs and master degree concentration options. Mike also manages college and university partnerships. For more information, please visit www.mikekuczala.com or www.thepeakperformingteacher.com Traci Lengel is a Health and Physical Education teacher in the Pocono Mountain School District. With more than twenty-six years of experience, Traci's knowledge in movement education, kinesthetic furniture, motor development, lifelong fitness/wellness, health education, movement/technology balance, curriculum design and educational/content publication has contributed to the success of her insightful programs and consultations. Additionally, Traci is an adjunct professor at La Salle University in Pennsylvania and The College of New Jersey. In conjunction with these positions, she is a designer/coauthor of three graduate courses. These highly esteemed graduate courses, titled Wellness: Creating Health and Balance in the Classroom, The Kinesthetic Classroom: Teaching and Learning through Movement and The Kinesthetic Classroom II: Moving across the Curriculum, have had a profound effect on the personal and professional lives of thousands of educators. Furthermore, Traci is coauthor of the book The Kinesthetic Classroom: Teaching and Learning through Movement, which was published in 2010 and is a best-selling educational publication. Her most recent publications, in 2017, are Ready, Set, Go: The Kinesthetic Classroom 2.0 and in 2018, Classrooms on the Move: Using Kinesthetic Furniture to Create a New Age of Learning. As co-owner of her own educational consulting company ActivEDge, Traci is a consistent leader in her field. She also balances an additional career position with the company Kidsfit. This corporation manufactures and sells kinesthetic furniture while providing educational experiences for instructional usage and application for these innovative designs. These careers allow her to show others how to utilize active teaching methods in a variety of settings to enhance educational achievement and peak performance of learners of all ages and abilities. Traci travels extensively to support and promote her passion for improving the health and well-being of children all over the world, while bringing learning to life. Known for her enthusiasm, innovation, work ethic and passion, Traci devotes much of her time to both her personal and professional successes. With her motivational teaching methodology, she presents and facilitates professional development trainings and workshops. Traci provides keynote presentations for active education along with meaningful programs in the areas of movement/technology balance, wellness, stress management and teaching/learning through movement in a kinesthetic classroom. Her ultimate professional challenge is to inspire educators at all levels to incorporate movement into their daily teaching. Traci's greatest joy is the unconditional love and support she shares with her family and friends. She is kindhearted and committed to bringing fun and laughter to education and the people who share her journey. Traci is persistent, dedicated and leaves a lasting impression. She can be reached at theactivedge@gmail.com.

About the Authors Part I - Take Your Position: "Becoming a Kinesthetic Educator" Chapter 1 - Framework 2.0 Chapter 2 - Movement on the Climb Chapter 3 - The Brain'Body Connection - 9 Thoughts to Move By Part II - Ready: "Structuring the Environment" Chapter 4 - Building and Managing a Kinesthetic Environment Chapter 5 - Creating Cohesion Part III - Set: "Engaging the Brain" Chapter 6 - Preparing the Brain Chapter 7 - Providing Brain Breaks Chapter 8 - Supporting Exercise and Fitness Chapter 9 - Reviewing Content Chapter 10 - Teaching Content References Index

"Awesome!! If you were to consider the list of instrumental people in a child's life who should be reading Ready, Set, Go - The Kinesthetic Classroom 2.0, it would have to include administrators, teachers and parents. It should undoubtedly also include education departments and professors at our Universities and Colleges producing our future educators. Anyone who has exercised knows what movement does for their self-esteem, psyche, and well-being. Including kinesthetic activities in instruction has an incredible payoff for our students who are already, by their very nature, kinesthetic learners. The time to become a kinesthetic educator is, in fact, NOW!" -- David Argentati, Principal/Interim Director of Pupil Services "The Kinesthetic Classroom 2.0 is a must have resource for every educator seeking engagement at all age and skill levels. The Kinesthetic Classroom gave us the confidence and ability to incorporate movement, music, and differentiation with meaning into our classrooms daily. Now with even more research and strategies, Mike and Traci have taken that to the next level in Ready, Set, Go - The Kinesthetic Classroom 2.0. This book will help you change student outcomes while having fun!" -- Wendy Miller, Principal & CEO "There is a universal shift in education underway that has struck at the roots of every industrialized system of education. The result is a demand for more personalized learning, brain friendly environments, less recall and more thoughtful application of knowledge, optimal conditions for eliciting intelligent behaviors, constructivist tools and respectful caring relationships that honor the learner (Thom Markham, Redefining Smart: Awakening Students' Power to Re-imagine Their World). This book and the ongoing work of the authors is a milestone for educators engaged in the push for brain friendly learning environments. Building the connection between movement and learning as a proactive stance to make learning environments more engaging is an amazingly simple building block. As an educational innovation this approach costs nothing more than a philosophical shift in thinking about how one frames learning and what is expected of learners in a more dynamic learning environment. Having seen Michael Kuczala's impact on a cohort of teachers through a two day workshop experience and seeing the joy and enthusiasm to which teachers respond to this approach to learning, it has to be said that this body of work has a transformational capacity to change and improve learning outcomes exponentially. This is not just something that expands the capacity for the fidgety kids who find it hard to concentrate for extended periods. This approach has capacity to change the learning environment for all. Compelling reading and even more exciting when applied to practice." -- Paul O'Neill, Director of Learning Innovation