Educational Neuroscience

What?
John Rately is a associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Rately is currently researching the importance of physical activity in a student's educational day. He is researching how a student's physical activity is connected with the student's academic success. Rately is a firm believer in having a physical education program in the student's regular school day and he is trying to see what relationship physical activity have with higher test scores.

So What?
Like mention in the "What" paragraph, Rately is trying to see what relationship physical activity have with improving test scores. Rately talks about a school district that implemented a new program that was a combination of physical activity and academic focus. The test scores of many of the students improved greatly. Rately talks about how when a student is physically active the student also activates the brain and is more willing to learn. This is important for a student, since more students attend a full day of classes most by the end of the day are not that willing nor are they willing in the wee hours of the morning. This idea of incorporating physical activity with learning will force the student's brain to be activated and a more will participant in academic learning.

Now What?
I think that this idea of combining physical activity with academic learning is a something that I will defiantly use in my classroom. I am planning on teaching History and Government and these subjects can get a little boring and dry if the student is not interested or actively engaged in the topic. I think that something as silly as simple jumping-jacks would be a good way to break up the monotony of the lecture. Or even having the students act out a specific time in history. Anything to get the students moving I think is the point of what Rately is trying to make. Having the students both reading and moving could improve the student's retention and t makes the subject more bearable if it's not an interesting one for the student.