Cool Brain Research - John Ratey

What?....

John Ratey is currently researching how exercise effects the efficiency of the brain. In his recent book entitled, Spark, and in recent interviews Ratey argues that exercise greatly enhances the capacity of the brain to learn. He claims firstly, that exercise sharpens a person's impulse control, reasoning skills, and memory and learning system (basically enables the frontal cortex to work more effectively). Secondly, Ratey argues exercise releases neurotransmitters and hormones which help our brains change, grow and adapt. Lastly, he believes exercise stimulates neurogenesis, or the development of new brain cells. All of these things lead to a harder working, more controlled, more effective brain.

So What?....

John Ratey's research has already helped teachers and schools make big break-throughs in education. Two examples of this exist in Naperville High School and City Park Collegiate in Saskatoon. Naperville High School has all of its students participate in rigorous aerobic activity for 45 minutes each morning. This school has the lowest rate of obesity and also the highest scores on tests (on one test they scored #1 in Science and #6 in Math in the world). Ms. Allison Cameron, a teacher at City Park Collegiate, read Dr. Ratey's book and decided to implement an exercise program in her own classroom. Her school is a place where kids with behavioral problems, drug and alcohol problems, etc., come to as a last resort for education. After she started requiring her students participate in aerobic activity for 20 minutes each day of class, she noticed a big change in the students. Behavioral problems were almost eliminated and within four months the students jumped up at least a grade-level in reading (most of her 8th grade students only read at a 4th grade level). These two schools have already proven that Ratey's theories are very valuable in the educational sphere.

Now What?....

After researching John Ratey's theories, I am very excited about implementing his findings in my own classroom. I am someone who tries to run as much as a can during the week. My goal is always to run 15 miles a week (3 miles, 5 days a week). Even before reading about Ratey's theories, I have noticed on the days that I run my mind is more focused, I do better in my school work, I get more accomplished, and I my body feels happier and more invigorated. So of course exercise would help a class of teenage students. I would love to be able to have treadmills within my own classroom -- the students' bodies and minds would get a jump start, they would learn the importance of diet and exercise firsthand, and I could knock out my own workout with the students each day. However, I realize my dream is probably out of the question for the budget of most schools. With that being said, I believe by simply presenting Ratey's theories to the students and maybe giving assignments to do an aerobic activity after school in place of book work, I could implement some sort of exercise program into my classroom.

(To see where I found my information click here and here)