Exercise Helps Students in the Classroom

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5742152

 

Summary

This article is a conversation between many teachers and reporters, discussing the effects of exercise on the performance of students in the classroom.  There have been many studies where a class of students is broken up into different groups, and given different exercise plans.  The studies all show that the students that did exercise, are much more focused in school than the students that did not exercise.  Exercise helps to focus students so they are not distracted and antsy in class.  The studies that are discussed in this article show that exercise benefits the learning for both elementary and high school students, including all ages between.  Many teachers are trying to incorporate physical activity into every school day so their students learn at a much more progressive rate.  Exercise has been long believed to help stimulate the brain.

Personal Response

This topic was not really anything new for me.  I have heard that exercise makes people more focused in general, and especially in school for many years now.  It makes sense to me that exercising would keep students more focused because they get out all the energy that is making them fidget and not pay attention in class when they are exercising.  Exercise personally makes me feel a lot more relaxed and able to pay attention to what I am doing.  When students are not able to go to gym class or recess, they are being subjected to not being able to learn as well.  Not only does exercise make students pay more attention, it also keeps them fit which is something that is so important today.  Exercise is shown to significantly help learning.  

Connections

This is very significant to the field of education because it is an opportunity for teachers to help their students become more studious and concentrated in class.  If all teachers knew that their students would pay more attention and absorb more information if they had exercise that day, maybe more teachers would take their students outside for exercise breaks.  When elementary school students go outside for recess they stimulate their brains and get rid of all the energy that is keeping them from concentrating.  However, when they are not able to go out to recess as a punishment, they are being fully deprived of an opportunity to increase their learning. 

Personal Opinion

This was a very interesting article for me even though I already knew this information.  It gave me a better idea of the reason exercise helps students concentrate and do better in school.  I would recommend this article to any teacher or parent in order to help their student be a better student.  Education is so important for a child, and if exercise is a way for them to absorb the information better, all students should be exercising.