You may also be aware of The ALERT PROGRAM® because it (http://www.alertprogram.com/articles.php) is another physical and brain friendly teaching approach. I learned about from an occupational therapist. I first incorporated both Brain Gym and the ALERT PROGRAM®’s activities as a first grade teacher. Today, my PreK children and I exercise our bodies and minds daily. The ALERT PROGRAM® emphasizes different states of mental alertness needed for all types of learners and at different times of the day. What can we do to “rev-up” our mental engine? What can we do to calm-down our mental engine? Different states of alertness are not only individual for all of us, but they also change throughout the day. Moreover, different states of alertness are needed for different types of learning. I have the booklet An Introduction to How Does Your Engine Run?, and it drastically changed the way I managed instruction and activities throughout the day, including teaching my students to identify and self-regulate their own states of alertness. I learned that different types of exercise produce different states of alertness. Heavy, weighted exercises produce a calm body and totally “awake” and calm brain that is ready to absorb and concentrate. In contrast, running and similar aerobic exercises, seem to “rev-up” our energy and physicalness. That’s why our children are still very active after recess! Also affecting our state of alertness is the sensory in-put or lack of it. Again, individuals can handle different amounts of stimuli (visual, auditory, and tactile). Too much sensory input can be distracting for some children and needed for others to increase memory and recall of information. (http://www.alertprogram.com/documents/Whats%20All%20This%20Talk%20About%20Engines%20English.pdf)
Thanks for sharing your blog with our class! I have gone crazy locating wonderful sites from it! I remembered that I created a Greenville County blog …a lonely place…because I don’t know how to use it! So I’m posting that huge comment on yours!:)