Kids in Portable 35 have been working on their fitness off-and-on for over the last two trimesters. Soon we’ll run the mile and compare it to our past scores. I expect the kids will have all improved. You might be asking why we should work on our fitness. In a nutshell, it makes us smarter. Yes, there’s actually some research out their that says students that are fit do better on tests. Also, scientist like Dr. John Ratey discovered that exercise helps the body produce a chemical, he calls “Miracle-Gro for the brain,” that improves learning.

However, it’s been especially difficult to stay fit with the current weather pattern. I’m currently working on some indoor solutions. I’d love to hear about any ideas you might have for us. Feel free to drop a comment at the bottom of the page.

With other subjects and content to cover in class you may be asking how can we balance it all? Recess is a necessity as well as PE. Our students need scheduled time to run around and play. Each week I’ll try to get kids out for some structured fitness just for our class. Call it PE or extra recess, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s making us smarter. If you have a student in our class, ask them how they’re doing with exercise for our class. Also, our students have just started fitness testing in PE. Make sure you ask them how they’re doing.

Here are a couple of questions to help you come up with a way to leave a comment.

What are some things you could do at home 2-3 times a week to keep your fitness up?

How does fitness connect with what we’re learning about in Mrs. MacRae’s nutrition class?

Here’s an example of the kids from Portable 35 doing a fitness activity last fall.