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"Exercise has been touted to be a cure for nearly everything in life, from depression, to memory loss, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's and more. At the same time, similar to the topic of sleep, I found myself having very little specific and scientific knowledge about what exercise really does to our bodies and our brains. "Yes, yes, I know all about it, that's the thing with the endorphins, that makes you feel good and why we should exercise and stuff, right?" is what I can hear myself say to someone bringing this up. I would pick up things here and there, yet really digging into the connection of exercise and how it effects us has never been something I've done. Inspired by a recent post from Joel on what makes us happy I've set out to uncover the connection between our feeling of happiness and exercising regularly"

"The workouts we completed years ago may continue to influence and improve our health today, according to a fascinating new study of the current lives and health of people who joined an exercise study a decade before. The findings suggest that the benefits of exercise can be more persistent than many of us might expect, even if people are not exercising to the same extent as they previously did. But the impacts also may depend on the types and amounts of exercise involved."

" Because of pressure to teach bell-to-bell -- the pedagogical equivalent of force-feeding geese to make foie gras -- many classrooms now start with bell work, short exercises that students complete while the instructor attends to attendance and other administrative chores. Journal prompts and concept questions can focus students on nutritious academic content and initiate a positive tempo for the next 90 minutes of class. With the help of graduate student David Fictum, I collected several creative, practical and entertaining exercises that can function as bell ringers or sponge activities. Here they are: "

"Add preschoolers to the list of Americans who don't get enough exercise. In a new study out today, Seattle researchers found that preschoolers only get about 48 minutes of exercise a day, although some studies suggest they should get at least two hours"

"In a new report, 24 researchers from eight different countries gathered to create a consensus on the impact of physical activity on kids' health. They focused primarily on studies that examined the health of children aged 6 to 18, and analyzed the effects of exercise on children's fitness, health, cognitive function, motivation, and mental and social health. The report defines physical activity as "an overarching term that consists of many structured and unstructured forms within school and out-of-school-time contexts, including organized sports, physical education, outdoor recreation, motor skill development programs, recess, and active transportation such as biking and walking." In short, they found that exercise was beneficial for nearly every aspect of a child's wellbeing: physical health, cognitive ability, motivation and psychological wellbeing, as well as social inclusion. First, exercise leads to improved cardiorespiratory fitness, which in turn improves brain development and intellect, they said."

Stay on top of your game mentally and slow the effects of aging on your brain by keeping it in excellent shape. It's easy to do and costs little to no money with all the resources available on the Internet. The following tools, exercises, and games will stimulate your brain and give it the exercise it needs to stay in top form.

"This morning Sir Ken Robinson tweeted this excellent video clip that is basically a creative thinking exercise done with third graders. The lesson that the video highlights is the importance of how teachers word their questions. Students creativity, as is shown from this experiment, is tightly linked to the way the teacher put his\her question."

"Great Web Tools for Health, Exercise & Activity"

"We're becoming a sedentary bunch. Even with increased flexible working practices, too many of us spend too long sitting at a desk working. Few of us seem to have physical work these days and while repetitious or hard physical work can create problems of its own, our lack of regular activity can lead to long-term health issues. So, while this infographic, from OfficeVibe, veers towards the alarmist - a few exercises at your desk may just possibly save your life, but is more likely to simply make you feel better and more energised - but it will help you make the most of your time sat at a desk and mean that you'll feel less hunched up and atrophied. Much of the same effect could be had by having a stand-up desk, but not everyone can afford or get one of these. "

"Incorporating exercise and movement throughout the school day makes students less fidgety and more focused on learning. Improving on-task behavior and reducing classroom management challenges are among the most obvious benefits of adding physical activities to your teaching toolkit. As research continues to explore how exercise facilitates the brain's readiness and ability to learn and retain information, we recommend several strategies to use with students and to boost teachers' body and brain health. "

"A large review recently published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute confirms what we've been hearing for years: Sitting can be fatal. + It's been linked to cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In this latest meta-analysis, Daniela Schmid and Michael F. Leitzmann of the University of Regensburg in Germany analyzed 43 observational studies, amounting to more than 4 million people's answers to questions about their sitting behavior and cancer incidences. The researchers examined close to 70,000 cancer cases and found that sitting is associated with a 24% increased risk of colon cancer, a 32% increased risk of endometrial cancer, and a 21% increased risk of lung cancer. + The really bad news: You can't exercise away the habit's harmful effects. "Adjustment for physical activity did not affect the positive association between sedentary behavior and cancer," the authors write. Even participants who achieved the daily recommended levels of physical activity were at the same risk as those who spent their day sitting. "[The results] indicate that the increased risk of cancer seen in individuals with prolonged time spent sedentary is not explained by the mere absence of physical activity in those persons," the researchers say. + S"

"CK-12 has long offered tutorials and practice exercises for middle school and high school science and math students. Today, CK-12 unveiled a new collection for resources for elementary school mathematics. The collection is organized by grade level (grades 1 through 5) and skill. The resources are a mix of videos and online practice exercises."

"About a year ago I wrote an article about a simple exercise I created to help teams solve problems without discussion. It was called "Lightning Decision Jam" and it became a surprisingly huge hit! Since I wrote that article, people from companies all around the world have been contacting me and telling me how much it's changed how they work for the better. Lighting Decision Jam (or LDJ) was perfect for groups of any almost any size from 4 to 120. It just works! There was one glaring problem with it, though… it doesn't really work for an individual. That's right, identifying and solving your own problems in a systematic way just hasn't been possible… UNTIL TODAY!*"

"Eating healthy and staying fit can be a challenge. You want to eat right without sacrificing deliciousness or spending a fortune. You want to stay motivated to exercise and stay in shape. Save The good news is that tech can help. Handy apps can help you plan meals that are healthy, delicious and nutritious. Using these apps you can find recipes, check out nutrition information, plan grocery lists, schedule meal plans, track your exercise and more. This infographic shows 11 highly rated apps that can help you eat healthier and stay fit more easily."

"online child safety advocate, said kids seem to be exercising more caution about their posts."

"There is a NEED and URGENCY of updating curriculum and instructional repertoire to give the critical literacies of our century justice. Upgrading and amplifying traditionally taught activities, lessons, units or entire classroom learning environments takes time and practice. Just as in any sport, if you want to get better at it, you have to put in the time and practice. The same holds true with upgrading and amplifying. Most educators are "not in shape" and not in the routine of upgrading their curriculum to embed emerging critical literacies and amplifying their own and their students' work."