Deskercise: Staying Jazzed And Focused At School
by Allison Aubrey
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Students at Mitchell Elementary School in Charleston, S.C., take a stretch break. Some teachers find the physical activity breaks help their students stay focused.
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Can 10-minute workouts really change your life? Or is this too good to be true? UCLA's Dr. Toni Yancey answers your questions.
· Students in this North Carolina class take a mini-exercise break and play some virtual sports.
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· Students in this North Carolina class take a movement break to help them stay focused and alert.
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Morning Edition, February 26, 2009 · Students at Mitchell Elementary School in Charleston, S.C., don't just write their multiplication tables. They jump them.
Innovations like this are part of the burgeoning movement to promote more action-based learning. Some studies suggest that incorporating physical movement into the classroom improves student focus and attention.
"Jumping rope is very rhythmic," says Dave Spurlock. And the movement seems to help kids with the rote task of memorization. Spurlock directs physical education for the Charleston County school system and has recently been trained by a program called PE4Life. The program is trying to overhaul physical education classes to focus on fitness and wellness rather than old-style sports competitions.
Using physical activity in the classroom is new in Charleston, but in other cities — Naperville, Ill.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Titusville, Penn. — schools have documented academic improvements linked to these new movement and fitness initiatives.
Poetry Through Movement
Shavonna Coakley has learned to pack a lot of movement into her lessons, even poetry. One recent afternoon, she gathered her students in a circle. They had already been to recess and physical education class that day, but Coakley sensed they were fading after lunch.
"If you know the definition of refrain, stand up!" Coakley bellowed out.
Coakley instructed her students to share the answer with classmates. Then, to keep them engaged, she had them tap the rhythm of a poem's refrain as they circled around the classroom, feet gliding and limbs moving.
"We're getting our blood moving," said student Michael Lancaster.
"And this helps us from going to sleep in class!" piped in Raheem Edding.
Activating The Brain
Ten minutes of moving around the classroom at moderate intensity seems to agree with a lot of the kids. And there's some evidence that the physical exercise improves mental sharpness.
"What's happening in the body is their heart rate's increasing and blood flow is changing, and they're actually activating the brain differently than when they're sitting down," says John Ratey, a psychiatrist at Harvard University who has taken an interest in the movement to overhaul physical education in schools.
Ratey doesn't claim that exercise makes kids smarter. But, he says, it can make them more ready to learn.
He says that after moderate exercise, the brain seems to work a little more efficiently.
"[With exercise] you're seeing an increase in neurotransmitters … dopamine and serotonin, norepinephrine. These are hormones related to mood regulation, to attention. And, in general, help the brain be in a better state of equilibrium," Ratey says.
Since the experiment in the Charleston schools is new, it's too soon to say if these mini-exercise classroom initiatives will result in any measurable differences — either in achievement scores or body health, says Ratey. But he says they're a step in the right direction.
Coakley says the movement-based lessons she's experimenting with do seem to help hold her kids' attention, at least temporarily. But she says not all of her students have taken to it.
"Yeah, I would say three or four of my gentlemen would rather have me just stand at that board and show them what I'm talking about," she says.
Distracted Kids Seem To Benefit Most
Researchers at East Carolina University evaluated the effectiveness of short, 10-minute exercise breaks at one North Carolina school. They found that the kids who'd had the most trouble staying focused before the exercise program started were the ones who seemed to benefit the most.
"Think of these kids," says researcher Matt Mahar. "They were on task less than 50 percent of the time before the program started. And after the one, 10-minute activity, they were now on task more than 70 percent of the time."
Similar to the efforts in the Charleston schools, the North Carolina program, called Energizers, includes self-contained activities that integrate academic concepts. Thousands of teachers have already gone through a two-hour training program offered by Be Active North Carolina, a nonprofit group.
The program seems to be a hit with many teachers. In North Carolina, Mahar says, 85 percent of the school districts report that some teachers are using the Energizers program.
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Exercise Helps
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Expert: 10-Minute Workouts Can Have Big Payoff
by Patti Neighmond
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Reed Hutchinson
Dr. Toni Yancey (right) leads activity break classes called Lift Offs to help people who work behind a desk incorporate exercise into their day.
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Web Chat: Can 10-minute workouts change your life?
Or is this too good to be true? UCLA's Dr. Toni Yancey answers your questions.
Our live chat starts Thursday at noon ET.
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Chris Hardy
Yancey's research shows that even short amounts of exercise can trigger more lasting healthy changes.
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Chris Hardy
Children and families participate in "Instant Recess" breaks prior to every San Diego Padres Sunday home game as a part of the new fitness initiative.
Morning Edition, February 26, 2009 · Get your butt out of that chair, now! Even 10 minutes of dancing, marching in place or other moderate exercise two or three times a day can add up to a big payoff for your heart and mind, according to Dr. Toni Yancey of UCLA. A former college basketball player and fashion model, Yancey has spent much of her medical career helping people who hate exercise get more. And she's learned a few things that can help us all:
Exercising With A Crowd Is Easier
Yancey describes the minifitness sessions as a part of a "captive audience strategy." It can be tough to get some people to break their work routine even for 10 minutes to exercise, she says, though they'll have fun if they do. So sometimes, while addressing a conference, she will stop midway and tell the gathered crowd that they are going to stop for a little exercise. "People kind of frown, look around nervously, particularly those who are overweight or obese and not used to exercising in public," she says.
But once Yancey puts on the DVD and turns on the music, "they do it because everyone else is doing it." That's the key, she says. "We're social beings. The motivation is social." And, often, even short exercise breaks will entice people to adopt healthier lifestyles — better diets and exercise — over the long run.
Company Support Is Crucial
To make daily exercise a priority, top-down leadership is necessary for bottom-up support, Yancey says. Some companies have started pushing back from the conference table to institute "walking meetings" or even replaced the seats around the conference table with elliptical machines. As a start, she says, companies might institute a sort of "sitting" ban similar to smoking bans — at least during some meetings, for those who are able. The most successful intervention, she says, may require the CEO and other managers to join in a five- or 10-minute recess break like the sessions she teaches: a brief, low-impact, simple and structured group physical activity, usually done to music and integrated into the organizational routine at work.
The People Who Need It Most Will Get The Most Out Of It
Critics sometimes squeal that short breaks don't raise the heart rate enough to help folks who are already in good shape lose weight or increase their fitness. That may be true. But they'll be refreshed and have fun, and it's the best way to get to others who are true couch potatoes. Yancey's studies show that even a little exercise in the afternoon increases the likelihood that people will take the extra initiative and get more exercise in the evening or on the weekend.
What's Good For The Worker Is Good For The Company
Retailer L.L. Bean instituted daily, mini-exercise breaks 15 years ago throughout its assembly plant with great results, Yancey says. The breaks were five minutes each, three times a day. At the end of the shift, the company found a 30-minute return on productivity for an investment of 15 minutes of physical activity. "The number of bags and shoes that they do not produce in those 15 minutes," she says, "they actually get back and then some." Yancey is now involved in a study looking at how employees fare at more than 70 work sites instituting similar programs across Los Angeles County. She expects findings within three years.
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