Brain Benefits of Exercise: Applying this Knowledge to the Classroom

I have long believed in the value and importance of aerobic exercise and strive to maintain a routine of at least 30-40 minutes at least 4 times per week. I have also experienced many of the benefits cited in Dr. John Medina's,Brain Rules as well as Dr. John Ratey's, Spark, The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and The Brain. When I exercise, I am calmer, think more clearly, feel more positive and generally experience a much higher level of well-being and peace. I am able to savor and stay in the moment, regulate my emotions, work efficiently and hopefully play better with others. I am now learning that exercise has a key impact on learning; yes, I knew this! Exercise increases attention and reduces impulsivity, both areas of growing concern among teachers. I am quite amazed at the research showing incredible academic gains by students involved in daily aerobic exercise at school. And I am equally dismayed that many teachers, including myself, are often at a loss on how to best accomplish this goal. For an inspiring look at excellent programs producing remarkable gains, click here. ( Don't worry, it's not an ad, just an uplifting video clip!)
Ok.. so what about it? What am I going to do in the upcoming school year to give my students the opportunity to get this essential exercise? I already incorporate "movement breaks" throughout my teaching day, but research seems to call for at least 20, uninterrupted physically challenging minutes of aerobic type exercise. Here are a few ideas I am pondering:

• Name each day of the week with a theme for the exercise. Perhaps Monday is a "jump rope" day where we intersperse jumping rope segments of a couple minutes with walking in place to keep the heart rate going. Tuesday could be obstacle course day where I set up a small circuit/course in our kindergarten pod or outside. Wednesday could be "jump, hop, skip day" where our movements are all related to bouncing. We could use the relay lines on the kindergarten playground and incorporate teamwork and social skills with out activity. Thursday could be an indoor "kid aerobic" day where we use a fun kid exercise dvd or a yoga based dvd. Friday would be a perfect day for "free form" exercise where I put on music outside and we dance, bounce, jump rope or any other movement of choice, as long as the students keep moving for the entire 20 minutes! I will have to think more about these ideas and hope others will share as well!
  
• In the past, I have written mini-grants Donorschoose.org and I have had great success in receiving supplies and materials to engage my students in learning. I plan to do some research in their catalogs to find some fitness equipment to plead for! Some ideas I have include: stability balls for interactive exercise work, jump ropes, exercise mats and activity mats by Lakeshore Learning suggested by a fellow teacher tweeter.
• I plan to brainstorm with my Kindergarten team;perhaps each member of our team can develop a lesson idea for the day of the week. It would be awesome if we as a grade level could start each day with the exercise that would fuel our brains and prep them for learning. Perhaps we could start an "exercise revolution" at our school!

As my brain ponders the opportunities, I am hoping that folks chime in and tell me what's happening at schools across the globe. How does your school rate? Are your students getting the physically demanding aerobic exercise that John Ratey talks about in Spark? Traditional physical education programs are often not making the cut in terms of keeping the kids in ongoing aerobic movement necessary to obtain the "brain benefits". How can we, as educators, make the changes that will fuel learning? Please share your successes as well as challenges.

Thank you to the Moms who...

In honor of Mother's Day, I would like to say thank you to the moms:

1) who send their children to school rested, fed and ready for the day ( most days!)
2) who encourage their children to try their best and not be afraid to make mistakes
3) who trust me and believe wholeheartedly that teachers and parents are important teammates
4) who understand that although I would love to give each and every child 1:1 attention, all 6 hours of the school day, I am only human.
5) who take the time to nurture their children; talk with them, read to them, laugh, cry, and just "be" with them.
6) who understand that I am a human being who does her best to provide a safe, nurturing and challenging environment for all students in my class.
7) who keep in touch after Kindergarten to share their child's successes, stories, dreams.
8) who contribute Kleenex to our classroom so that the little germ spreaders don't wipe their noses and hands on their shirts.. or worse, on mine!
9) who believe in the importance of modeling a love of life-long learning.
10) who set consistent guidelines and boundaries so that their children understand that rules and expectations are followed at home and at school.

I have met some incredible moms in my teaching career. I thank them for their support, openness and inspiration. Happy Mothers Day to all!

The Possibility in the Gray

Lately I have been delving into exploring the power of positive emotions as well as cultivating meaningful experiences to engage kids in learning. Books like The Power of Mindful Learning, by Ellen Langer, Positivity, by Barbara Fredrickson, and Curious, by Todd Kashdan have renewed my interest in reflecting upon and re-framing what I do to help kids flourish in and out of the classroom.
One of the most powerful ideas to come out of this exploration is that being "open" matters.

We can get so much more out of an experience, whether it's learning new information, relating to a partner, or calming down a class of chatty, off-task learners by a simple mind shift. That mind shift involves being able to stay in the gray area, "Maybe I don't really know the answer right now." Often, being the thoughtful human creatures we are, we like to categorize things, act like we have all the answers, or at least believe that an "expert" has the answer when we don't. My question is : What happens if we allow ourselves to sit with the wonder of the gray, instead of resorting to the black and white mindset of : "right answer" vs. "wrong answer"?

We sometimes give our students "think time" and ask them to think before raising their hands to answer a question. Allowing ourselves to ponder different scenarios and come up with the "best answer" for right now can actually lead to a more developed, deeper understanding of a concept or situation. This meaningful reflection might, in turn, give us a variety of solutions and a flexibility in applying those answers in the future. What if what we learned actually might help us the next time we encounter such a situation? Isn't that what we want our learners to be able to do: generalize a critical thinking process to areas besides the specific lesson we just taught?

Well, it may sound quite simple, but reflecting and thoughtful exploration seem to run a bit counter to what many of us do at times, as we react instead of act. A myriad of emotions, such as fear, hurt, worry, or anxiety catapult us toward a path of mindless action, instead of stopping to consider our many options. While we could put ourselves in our partners shoes, we often don't; we assume that we know what they think and feel, attack out of hurt and fear. In this age of "instant thought moving to action", many of us simply get caught up in the moment and feel pressured to act. We live in a world that doesn't seem to want to wait for us. The over-stimulation of our surroundings with the multitude of media threaten to aid in our memory lapse. " I must make a decision now, or I might forget, or not have time later to answer this important question." I must post on my blog, tweet on my twitter, fret on facebook and say something important to make my mark on the world. Are we afraid that someone is going to win the race or take our place?

One common approach, reflected in all three of the books mentioned, is to ask open-ended questions when trying to elicit engagement. Ellen Langer demonstrated with her research that directing people to "notice more" when examining something they weren't previously interested in actually got them to take more time, notice more detail and actually report a higher level of positive experience in learning the new information or skill. Todd Kashdan gives many examples where being an open and "curious explorer" helps people combat the anxiety that often holds them back from attaining their goals and achieving meaningful lives. Barbara Fredrickson talks about the power of positive emotions and how being interested in exploring or even amused by something actually broadens your ability to think more creatively and flexibly.

What if, instead of asking a child why he acted a certain way, you expressed curiosity in what was happening? I often say to my students, "Wow, I am really confused about what is going on here." I express wonder and confusion when I want to get them to stop and think about their actions in the moment. Suddenly, before my eyes, they snap out of the off task behavior and get back to work. Now if that worked all the time, I would be set!

I guess all I'm saying... in a round-about way.. is to give yourself and your students the time to ponder. Don't always make up your mind. There isn't always an easy answer, quick-fix, instant message solution. In fact, the deepest and most profound discoveries come when we acknowledge what we don't know. Share that with your students. The teacher doesn't always have to be right. Teachers are learners too.

Put Yourself Out There

About a month ago I did a presentation of my "Silly Songs for Sight Words" at a reading conference down the road in Asilomar, near Monterey. I have always loved going to this conference, as the grounds are right on the coast, with many of the presentation rooms overlooking the beautiful Pacific ocean. Deer walk by on occasion and raccoons entertain folks at night with their scavenging antics. There's nothing like presenting to teachers who are enjoying the fresh ocean breeze and walks on the beach in between sessions. It's always been a wonderfully uplifting experience!
On the day of this conference, however, I was sick, tired and entirely not in the mood to be up on a Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m., driving an hour, schlepping ( is that even a real word?!) all my presentation stuff to find an audience of 6 people. Yep, that's right! 6 teachers were in my session. Thanks to the economy, and budget cuts, the attendance at the conference was down considerably. I was losing my voice, trying to get pumped up for my session, and thoroughly disheartened that hardly anyone was there. I tried to rev myself up and did the best I could. Although people were polite and participated by singing, offering comments and asking questions, I felt somehow as if I had failed to fulfill my purpose. Perhaps my ego had gotten in the way as I thought, "guess no one finds value in my work or they would have come" I had expected to feel good about my idea to give away my cd instead of charging the usual $15. Not even the usual good will feeling budged my mood. I left the conference, exhausted, thinking, "What a waste of time!"
Just yesterday, I received the attendee evaluations in the mail. The memories of the day flooded back and I hesitated before opening the envelope. Nothing "bad" had happened , but I certainly didn't feel like I had given my best performance. To my surprise, all of the feedback was positive, with gushing comments about how useful and innovative my songs and ideas are. I realized then, that if I had reached and inspired each teacher to try just one song or one activity that engaged a learner in their class.. my effort was definitely worthwhile.
Sometimes it may seem that your uphill efforts are far more laborious than rewarding. Don't lose sight of your overall mission. If you have something to share, put yourself out there! Think of the lives you will touch by being an inspiration.

Whose Job is It Anyway?

I am a firm believer in teamwork between caring individuals in a child's life. I can especially attest to success in this arena as I have raised 2 wonderful kids while being on a team with my ex-husband and his wife. As a teacher, I have countless opportunities to work with wonderful parents who are willing to do whatever is necessary to help their children become responsible, respectful, engaged learners. I really appreciate those parents.

This week, one of my kindergarten colleagues was appalled when her students were discovered standing around one of their peers who had been kicked to the ground. She was shocked to hear another teacher (who had been on yard duty) report that her students were kicking him and talking about "teaching him a lesson." As a very caring and competent teacher, she was nevertheless shocked and speechless as her class entered the room after recess. Later that day she asked what I would do if I were her.

"Wow," I thought. "What would I do if this had happened with my students?" I felt the helplessness of my coworker and first became sad that kids could actually do this to each other. 5 year old children were "ganging up" and attacking another student, using the words, "Let's teach him a lesson."
I agreed with my colleague who decided to call each of the parents and inform them of the episode. The following day, one of the students came to school with a letter of apology for the student. Although it was very difficult for him to admit that he had been wrong, his dad stood by him as he apologized to the student. I heartily applaud that parent, as he had used this event as an important teachable moment for his son.

So many times, it seems, parents and teachers point fingers of responsibility about what should be taught at home and at school. It's ALL of our jobs to teach civility and kindness. And it's quite a huge job considering the fact that we live in a society where some people would rather read and be engrossed by the glamorous, "hyped up" lives of celebrities than sit down with their children and learn about their day. ( Oops.. I think I just accidentally stood on my soapbox for a moment!)

It takes all of us caring adults to join together, preparing these young ones for life's challenges. Let's consider it a shared responsibility and move to shared solutions.

Lower the Pressure, Raise the Bar

It was an interesting experiment today. I was to meet with my lowest guided reading group and anticipated a bit of frustration all around. I had a cute book, "Frog" that seemed possibly "too hard" but I was going to do an experiment of sorts. What if I did a picture walk of the book and engaged the students in playful conversation about this frog who ventured out of his pond into the city? Would their amusement and curiosity about the story propel them into making an effort to read?
The answer: a resounding yes!
I am learning more and more that a positive classroom climate, filled with curiosity, fascination and humor enables kids to take risks in learning. Many kids, even at 5, have learned that it's sometimes easier to remain quiet than answer a question and be wrong. I don't let them remain quiet; I ask them to make a guess based on what they know. Because they have been with me for 132 days of school, they trust me. And they know I believe in them.
We need to keep expectations high, but find ways to lower the stress and anxiety that often cripples kids in their learning. A trusting student-teacher relationship is a great place to start.

Development is a Continuum

After a particularly challenging week in the world of teaching Kindergarten, I feel very strongly about discussing the subject of development: academic, social, and emotional development. Sometimes kids need time to work through their own particular kinks in order to show their full potential in school. This is not to say we leave them on their own to work through these challenges. I am simply saying that it's often not helpful to compare a child to his/her peers and decide that something is wrong in the intellectual or cognitive realm, especially at the young age of 5.
I know a girl who is five years old and has been in multiple foster homes during these very critical early years. She is adorable, quirky, and trying to make friends in a class that she joined 6 weeks after the school year began. Only with her new family, foster/adoptive parents, for the last 5 months, she has had a multitude of adjustments to make. Just last week, she got glasses! So, you might be thinking, what's the problem?
Well the problem is not with her. The problem is that the team of people who want to "help" this little girl are underestimating the huge impact of trauma, neglect, emotional abuse and loss on her ability to focus and learn. It seems that some are on a mission to prove that this child has a learning disability because she seems to have difficulty with memory, particularly in remembering numbers and words from short term memory. When in a small group of peers, and the attitude is more "playful" and less pressured, this child performs much better in restating what she just learned. She has shown growth in many areas since starting school in mid-October. In fact, she scored partially proficient in several areas!
Although the team of school professionals believe that this child needs more time before we subject her to the battery of tests that can only be performed once every 3 years, the parents and social workers are demanding the tests, now. The sad part of all of this is that she is getting re-traumatized by well-meaning individuals who are grilling her as she does her work: "What's that number? Come on! What is that number? " Each morning her foster mom comes into the class to help with her morning work, and I hear her asking her over and over. I want to tell her about the impact of stress and trauma on memory and tell her that she is only making matters worse. Unfortunately, that is the role of others: social worker, therapist etc. This parent thinks that I am trying to minimize this child's problems. I just think that she needs a nurturing, supportive yet still challenging environment where she feels safe to take chances and express herself. All children develop at their own time, and I simply believe that she needs more time and supportive work at home and at school.
I hope that the IEP meeting scheduled next month will be the opportunity to come together as a team of professionals to discuss a plan that will help this little girl.