Brain Gain

The web site is from Canada, which is located in North America. If I was asked to locate Canada on a map I could be able to locate it because it is located right above the United States. The video and articles are about Brain Gain, a research done by teacher Allison Cameron with her 8th grade class at City Park Collegiate in Saskatoon. I found this new piece to be very interesting because it talked about how exercise can affect the brain. In health class I was also taught that exercise when your tired can always boost your energy, and make you less fatigue, but I was never informed that it can also improve your thinking skills. In today’s society most kids are moving less and less, and are standing still in of Physical Education classes. The City Park Collegiate School is mostly a school with students who have behavioral issues and have never succeed in the classroom. Teacher Allison Cameron wanted to find a way to help her students succeed and she did it by moving exercise equipment into the classroom. By having her students perform 20 minutes of exercise once a week in the classroom she noticed that her students began to concentrate more, work harder, and there were no behavioral issues. Research has proven that exercise challenges different parts of the brain and increases concentration and mental ability. The class was first tested in February, and later at the end of school in June. Results show that due to the 20 minutes of exercise students test grades tremendously increased in math, reading and writing, comprehension, and word sitting. Physical Education teachers at this school were not involved during this experiment, and it was done in the classroom to improve the grades of students who were unable to succeed in the classroom. I think that the outcomes are similar to our New York State PE Standard 3, which is, participates regularly in physical activity. They want every student to stay active, but they do not look at the skill level of their students like we do in Physical Education. As a future teacher this article taught me that physical education is not only beneficial for ones health, but also my students academic achievements.

Part C:
In New York State I strongly believe that Physical Education teachers are still teaching some bad P.E and need to re-evaulate their programs and move towards good P.E. Currently, all Physical Educators are trying to create “ Physically Educated People” and by learing the New York State standards it will help guide them and organize the process of creating more physically educated people. My goal as a teacher is to make sure all my students come to class and enjoy taking part in physical activity, and they carry out that physical activity for a lifetime. Also as of right now Physical Education is not on the school report card, and by moving forward towards good P.E we need to make improvements, and make more people aware of the importance of Physical Education on their children. I think it is a really good idea to create regents exams in New York State for Physical Education to test students on their knowledge on physical fitness. 

Sites:
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/brain_gains/
http://www.cbc.ca/video/popup.html?http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/news/features/leishman-brain090422.wmv
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/brain_gains/city_park_school_results.html
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/brain_gains/recess_on_behaviour.html
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/special_feature/brain_gains/deskercise.html  


Lab D:
Lesson Plan
Progression Sheet