JAMMIN' Before Testing!

By:

 

     We held our Passport to Health Fair on Thursday, March 26th. We invited John Ranello, a personal trainer from the Jewish Community Center, to share information with our parents about the importance of exercise and its relationship to learning. He emphasized that students should participate in physical activity before starting homework each evening.

 

     We wanted to offer our students opportunities to get physical movement in during the school day besides the movement they get at PE and recess. During the day, our teachers use Go Noodle activities and JAM sessions to help stimulate brain function.  

 

     "Physical exercise is not only important for your body's health- it also helps your brain stay sharp. The benefits of physical exercise, especially aerobic exercise, have positive effects on brain function on multiple fronts, ranging from the molecular to behavioral level. According to a study done by the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Georgia (1), even briefly exercising for 20 minutes facilitates information processing and memory functions.

 

     Exercise affects the brain on multiple fronts. It increases heart rate, which pumps more oxygen to the brain. It also aids the bodily release of a plethora of hormones, all of which participate in aiding and providing a nourishing environment for the growth of brain cells.

 

     Exercise stimulates the brain plasticity by stimulating growth of new connections between cells in a wide array of important cortical areas of the brain. Recent research from UCLA (2) demonstrated that exercise increased growth factors in the brain- making it easier for the brain to grow new neuronal connections.

 

     Activities with both physical and mental demands, such as ballroom dancing and juggling, have a higher impact on cognitive functioning over exercise or mental tasks alone, indicating that the best brain health workouts involve those that integrate different parts of the brain such as coordination, rhythm and strategy."

 

 Published on Brain Exercises, Brain Fitness, Brain Training- BrainHQ from Posit Science (http;//www.brainhq.com)

(1)http://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pubmed/12595152 

(2)http://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pubmed/15159540

 

     We have decided to give our students warm up exercises before major testing. All students and teachers gather outside and follow the lead of Coach Closner to spike their brain activity. Students really had fun warming up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even our teachers joined in the fun.  Go Ms. Gray!!!!

 YAAAAAAY, Ms. West!!!!!!!!

Way to go, Mr. Bodden!!!!

 

We are definitely going to continue this practice.