Ryan Carpenter Final Part 1

Part 1B

1.)  This website is from Toronto ON, Canada.  There are two schools mentioned in the video.  One is located in South Saskatoon, Canada.  The other school is located in Naperville, USA which is near Chicago.

2.)  I found this video to be very interesting.  From the book, Spark that the teacher read in order to come up with some answers about the relationship between exercising and the brain, I learned about Neurogenesis and the growing of new brain cells.  Exercising is the best way of producing these new brain cells.  Exercise also helps with behavior which could play a huge role for a student with ADHD because exercise allows these students to be more attentive and focused in the classroom.  I found Naperville High’s program to be extremely interesting.  The program in which every student participates in vigorous aerobic activity every day for 45 minutes.  They also incorporate exercise into the classroom for an interactive lesson.  Naperville is one of the top academic schools.  When they entered an international competition for Math and Science, they came out on top when usually Americans usually do not finish in the Top 10.  Naperville also has one of the lowest obesity rates.  I have never really seen anything like this.  This was the first time I watched the video and saw the students from Saskatoon concentrating and working hard on their second part of math after their 20 minutes of exercise.  I knew exercise had an affect on the brain, but I did not know to what extent.  When exercising, you turn on the front part of the brain which may be a little “sleepy.”  This is involved in controlling impulses.  This helps control students with their behavior. 

3.)  I believe the reason for not hearing about because the PE program seems to be the typical, old school way of teaching high school PE.  “Here’s the ball, go play.”  Many of the students in PE class seemed to be just sitting around and not participating in any of the game.  Bringing the exercise into the classroom resulted in a very positive outcome for the students’ academic performance.  If the PE teachers motivated their students just as much to partake in exercise, academic performance could even improve that much more.  As a PE teacher, I will ensure that my program will be beneficial to students and faculty of my school.  As a teacher, I want to make a difference in children’s lives, and to keep them motivated in working the body and the mind.  

4.)  There were obvious increases in outcomes of this program.  The student that they showed at the beginning of the video was unable to read or write.  He said he would be out in public and would not know what the street signs read.  At the end of this program, his comprehensive level increased by 400%.  This student also had talked about changing his life around, and not being one the people out on the streets doing drugs.  On average the students’ academic level increased up 1 Grade Level.  This is why I believe PE is such an important class in schools all over the country and the world.  Students need to get their exercise in order to improve in the classroom.  If students have PE or exercise in the beginning of the day, they will be more focused, attentive, and concentrated in the classroom for the rest of the day.  Students will be excited to wake up in the morning and exercise at the beginning of the day.  It is important for the teacher to make it exciting and motivating for more kids to come to school on a daily basis.  These outcomes are similar to our NYS PE Standards.  For Standard 1A and 1B students will be able to perform basic movement skills and be competent in these movement skills. They will also be able to come up with a personal fitness plan based on their own results and continue with their progress as long as they stay motivated.  For Standard 2, putting the treadmills and the bikes inside the classroom provided for a safe and healthy environment. Students are able to demonstrate responsible personal and social behavior while engaged in physical activity.  Standard 3 was met because students were able to manage these machines and become aware of what is available to them within their community and engage in the physical activity.

5.)  BDNF is a nerve growth factor in the brain.  It acts as a fertilizer on parts of the brain.  It helps preserve nerve cells, makes them stronger and helps deal with stress.  In order to increase BDNF, you must sustain aerobic movement and getting the heart rate up to 65-75% maximum and keep it there for atleast 20 minutes.  The book that is mentioned in the video is called, “Sparks” by John Ratey.  Another is called “The Kinesthetic Classroom” by Traci Lengel and Mike Kuczala. 

Part 1C

There is a number of skills listed in the B-9 form in which students should be able to be “recreationally competent in 6 activities and ‘proficient in 3’ in 3 different activity categories” (6+3/3).  These categories include Team Passing Activities, Net/Wall Activities, Target Activities, Striking Fielding Activities, Aquatics, Dance & Aesthetic, Outdoor, Personal Performance, and Fitness Activities.  As PE teacher candidates, it is our duty to come up with ways in order to teach kids these methods so that they are motivated to participate in these activities.  I believe the recommended regents level for NYS Learning Standard 1A should be atleast 90% of the Senior class should be competent in 6 activities and proficient in 3 across 3 different categories.  As a high school senior, you should most likely be able to perform that amount of skills, especially from the number of different activities given.  There may be a small group of students that are unable to perform such skills due to lack of resources, time, or biological makeup (Individual, task, environment).  

I feel that it should be the recommended regents level of 100% of the Senior class for NYS LS 1B, reaching competency in the Personal Fitness Plan.  Even if the students are unable to reach proficiency in certain skills, they still have made an attempt to learn them and possibly are better in some skills than others.  Because of this, students should still be able to form a fitness plan based on their skills and results of their skills.  They can set goals for their plan and work to increase skill ability.  In doing so, students will be able to improve on their health related fitness elements (cardiorespiratory, flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, and body composition).