Part 1 :)

Part 1: Brain Gains
This website is from CBC.ca, which is a Canadian website derived from Saskatoon, in North America.

I really enjoyed watching this news piece “Brain Gains”. I found it to be incredibly interesting and touching. On a scientific note, the research and evidence that was revealed in this study was amazing. It shows you that exercise really does effect the brain and how you function better when you are an active person. I couldn't believe that their grades were increased by a letter grade after the program, except in math. It just goes to show you how important physical education is, and some schools don't even have a program or take it seriously. With the obesity percentage slowly creeping up and up every year, America needs to start taking PE seriously, and this video should be a spark that starts a fire.

There's this stereotype with PE teachers that they don't really take “learning seriously” because they are in charge of “gym class” and not anything actually academic. I said that as someone who is generalizing all physical education teachers. I think there are a lot of lazy physical education teachers out there, who don't take their professional seriously, and give a bad name. Maybe that's the case in this study, where the physical education teacher wasn't motivated to take on this challenge. How will my physical education program effect my students in other classes and faculty? That's an appropriate question after seeing a video like this, with the evidence that comes with it. I want to break the stereotypes of typical physical education when I teach in my school. I hope to be accountable with grades and prove how physical activity is crucial for every aspect of life, and be able to back it up with evidence.

There were many benefits to this program for the students and for the faculty as well. Students were way more attentive before and after the workout and were able to still without fidgeting as much. Behavioral issues also decreased during the program. The students grades were also increased across the board, except for math. I see the benefits of working out personally everyday and I am not surprised with the positive effects of this study. The outcomes of this study are similar to NYS standards 1,2, and 3. Standard one deals with personal health and fitness, and these students are getting a legitimate workout daily at school. Standard 2 deals with creating a safe ad healthy environment, and I think that's exactly what these teachers are doing with this program. They are providing a safe environment for the students by having all the equipment available for the students during school hours and on school property. That gives students, who might not come from the best home environment, to be in a safe and healthy surrounding. Lastly, standard 3 discusses recourse management, and this program most definitely meets this standard. The school provides equipment such as bikes and treadmills and weights, readily available to the students.

BDNF is a type of protein that acts as a fertilizer to the brain, energizing it. This protein help’s with the growth of neutrons. The more neutrons we have the faster our reaction time and mental capacity is. This means, in reference to physical education, that students who get their heart rate at the optimal level will be able to function better mentally and physically all around. Two key books that are mentioned that talk about the benefits of exercising and learning are “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” by John J. Ratey and
“Nature's Ritalin for the Marathon Mind” by Stephen C. Putnam.


The Daily Burn

The Daily Burn account is actually very useful and interesting for being absolutely free. I didn't know a website was out there where you could track your daily nutrition and workouts for free. I love you you can search any food that you eat and portion size. It tells you how many calories each portion you eat are and it's very helpful documenting everything you eat. I do not currently use any other online tracker for my workouts or nutrition because I am pretty good about it in real life without tracking it online. I would recommended this site to everyone, and I even want to keep using it. Sometimes you forget about portion sizes, protein intake for the day, water intake, fat intake, carb intake, and this program basically lays it all out for you. It's very learner friendly.

The website would be useful for accomplishing our recommended Regents level for LS #1B because students could focus on certain aspects of their physical activity that they need to focus on most. It would be easier for there to be individualization instead of just all students getting the same treatment. I think it would be difficult at first to get everyone on board with this program because sometimes people get turned off when it comes to technology. I think there should be a computer in the gymnasium and each student should log into their information throughout the class, one at a time. It would take time to learn, but I think in the long run it would be beneficial and students would learn how to do it themselves, but I think at first it should be done in class so the teacher could be accountable for teaching the students how to use the technology.

I think a couple tools that would be helpful in accomplishing LS#1A would be pedometers and heart rate monitors. I think this Daily Burn site is great, but it would be hard to keep track of by the teacher. Pedometers and heart rate monitors are pretty cheap and allow for the students to keep track of their own statistics at home. Students could be informed how to use them in class, and could bring their data back to the classroom to be recorded.