It’s tough to sit through and stay focused through an entire
long block. Because of this, we tend not to get as much out of them as we would
if we were one hundred percent focused and engaged. After having read a bit of Spark,
a book that discussed the numerous beneficial effects of exercise on the brain,
I thought it would be a good idea to use the extra 20 minutes of a long block
to do some exercise.
Spark’s author, John Ratey,
explains that exercise improves learning on three different levels. The first
is by making us more alert, attentive and motivated. The second is by preparing
and encouraging nerve cells to bind to one another, which is what allows us to
remember information. The third is that it spurts the development of new nerve
cells from cells in the hippocampus. Spark also discusses how exercise
can improve our mental disposition. Many studies have been performed to prove
that exercise ameliorates mood, heightens senses, increases motivation and
inspiration, lowers stress and anxiety and helps keep our brain activity under
control. These results show how learning and the ability to retain information
are heightened by physical activity.
When I
spoke with Mr. Mallory (my math teacher) about this he brought up that some
teachers that he knows of in other schools take “brain breaks” by doing a quick
four minute workout called Tabata. I looked up Tabata when I got home and found
a video on youtube made by Natick High School’s fitness department that went
through the four minutes and what is to be done during those four minutes. They
were sets of 20 seconds of high intensity 10 seconds rest switching off between
exercises, footfire, high knees and squats until the 4 minutes were up.
I think that if teachers could take 4 minutes halfway
through class to do this, it could provide a bit of a break for students and
allow them to come back into whatever they were doing much more focused and
alert. Mr.Mallory noted that we tend to get about the same amount of work done
in math class during a long block as we do in a regular block due to kids
having a hard time focusing for such a long period of time and being less
productive. Being a math teacher, Mr. Mallory also did some calculations to
find that we get around the same amount of work done if we’re at 100% for 60
minutes than if we are at 85% (his estimate) for 70, so teachers could even do
another tabata session at some point during a long block without worrying about
not getting through the material.
Ms.Sifantus
(my anatomy and physiology teacher) expressed some concern over this, saying that
although she would like to do it, some
students might not take it seriously and although it provides a much needed
break it could disrupt the flow of the class. She also brought up the points
that not all long blocks are hard to get through, such as the blocks where
students are up on their feet doing activities or labs. For this reason it
might be good to do the tabatas for specific classes that involve lots of note
taking or deep focus.
