Cognitive
Question: How does movement benefit student learning?
- The body is constantly seeking homeostasis to overcome stress and emotional overload. Movement is the body's natural reward. Physical activity causes the body/brain to naturally balance its innate homeostasis. Eric Jensen said, "If learning is not in your body, you haven't learned it!" The concept being that learning anchored in movement is very effective for memory retrieval and learning. (Eric Jensen)
- Learning through Movement fosters the relationship between our thinking, actions, feelings and sensations. This integrates cognitive, sensorial, emotional and motor development, adding greater potency and relevance to learning.
Question: What goes on in the body?
- Exercise triggers the release of BDNF a brain-derived neurotropic factor that enables one neuron to communicate with another. (Kinoshita 1997) Students who sit for longer than twenty minutes experience a decrease in the flow of BDNF. Recess and physical education is one way students can trigger sharper learning skills.
- Sitting in a chair, inhibits learning. When a human sits for longer than 17-20 minutes, blood begins to pool in the hamstrings and calf muscles pulling needed oxygen and glucose from the brain. Melatonin kicks in because the brain thinks it’s at rest because no navigation has occurred lately. The learner gets lethargic and sleepy and struggles to focus. Learning declines.
- Watch the video below and respond to the following questions:
MIND EXERCISE [1] click back button to return