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The Big Picture



Sometimes this semester I learn something through our readings and think....

"Wow, that's a great idea.  I wish I'd used that in my classroom."

or...

"Yeah, I knew that was a good idea but now I know why!"


This week, however, I find myself thinking:

"Ooooooh that was fortuitous!"

We have talked a bit over the past semester about the importance of movement and learning; that movement is one way a student can learn and make connections, and that movement introduces more oxygen and fuel to the brain which also helps learning.  That little "brain breaks" aren't really a "break" at all - that they are part of the learning process!

In our reading this week of the last chapter of Zadina's Multiple Pathways to the Student Brain book, I came across a statement that really struck me:
         
Harvard psychiatrist John Ratey designed an intervention in which students who exercised at the beginning of the school day had better academic performance....  (Zadina, 213)


In the 5th grade, our students had P.E. first thing in the morning.  As teachers, we loved this from a purely selfish reason - we were able to plan and group for the day each morning before things got crazy!  It also seemed to wake up the students.  We never heard an argument from the other grades...nobody else wanted their planning period first thing in the morning, but we knew it worked for our 5th graders and their teachers!

Now, after reading that exercising at the beginning of the school day actually has academic benefits, and putting that together with what we have learned about movement and the brain (and it's fuel and oxygen needs) I am realizing that what we had stumbled upon as a matter of convenience actually likely had academic benefits for our students!



HOW GREAT IS THAT?!?!

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