Active Education

I recently read an article titled, Active Education: Physical Education, Physical Activity, and Academic Performance. It was a report/article which appeared in the Fall 2007 of Active Living Research, a foundation which seeks to support ideas in healthy and active living. With many schools beginning to take a look at eliminating PE or even reducing PE to make more time for other academics, the article suggested a few important findings. Many schools are making these changes due to budget concerns and pressures to improve test scores. However, the article tends to point out that students who are physically active and fit tend to perform better in the classroom. It goes on to point out that obesity is a large health concern with 33% of children and teens are overweight or obese. Schools are a great way to show students the importance of regular activity and health choices that may impact their life choices.
The article revealed some key findings from several studies that were conducted in a variety of schools.

1. Sacrificing PE for classroom time does not improve academic performance.
2. Kids who are more physically active tend to perform better academically.
3. Activity breaks can improve cognitive performances and classroom behavior.

I am not sure if I totally agree with some of the findings from the article. I spent a large deal of time last school year taking activity breaks with my class. I did not see any improvement in classroom behavior or cognitive performances. It was one of my worst years ever. This year my students worked with ME MOVES (http://www.thinkingmoves.com/) in which we would take a short academic break to view a 2 minute clip in which students do some movement and relaxation techniques to help calm and transition them. They seem to enjoy it but we have done the same ones over and over again.

At our grade level, we have had some discussions in perhaps eliminating or reducing our 2nd recess time. However, we mostly agree that students need this time for physical activity as well as a time to work on social skills with other students.