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"Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have proven, for the first time in history, that physical fitness in children may affect their brain structure, which in turn may have an influence on their academic performance. More specifically, the researchers have confirmed that physical fitness in children (especially aerobic capacity and motor ability) is associated with a greater volume of grey matter in several cortical and subcortical brain regions."

Looking to keep a fitness resolution this year? Find motivation to get moving and keep fit with this superb location-based strategy game for runners and walkers. Gain virtual coins for being active which you can use to advance your settlement. Locations are not precisely show nor in real time, so you can use it with pupils without safely concerns. If using it for yourself, it can link to Strava to keep you motivated to lace up your running shoes without extra hassle. But don't you come around here and fight me for MY castles!

A website to share with health and PE teachers with games, videos and other activities to promote fitness.

I think this fits with the idea of us living in an over-prescribed society… every teacher has met a kid that 'needs' medication to 'fit into' the classroom, but I wonder how much of this is an issue of placing square pegs in round holes? At what point do labels hinder rather than help?

"Guidelines for teenagers should stress the importance of vigorous physical activity and fitness to cut the risk of heart disease, new research suggests. Current NHS guidelines say people aged 5 to 18 should do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day to improve their current and future health. But in a study of adolescents aged 12 to 17, University of Exeter researchers found significant differences between the effects of moderate activity (such as brisk walking) and vigorous activity (activity that leaves people out of breath, such as team sports or running around a playground)."

A great site to get your class moving with music, fitness and mindfulness videos.

Does your "cell phone" policy include a policy for wearable technology. What will you do when a student shows up wearing Google glass? How about when they go into the locker room? Think about it and adjust your AUP's this summer - next summer will be too late. "A heads-up display seems like a natural fit, and thus we have Google Glass. It's a headset with a projected display, a camera and a data connection that could revolutionize the mobile device industry. It could also cause a public uproar over privacy concerns. Is the potential worth the risk?"

Topical studies are great. The London Marathon just happened and  marathons are increasing in popularity here in the United states. Here is a video about the marathon, but also lesson plans about the Battle of Marathon, information on training to improve fitness and just what it takes physically to train for a marathon. Health and history lessons here.

Work more effectively with this clever little timer site that fits in breaks in to your working time. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

This cool excel spreadsheet lets you put in vocabulary and quick fits the spreadsheet so you can print them out and share them easily (for those still using paper this is a great download.)

Santa has eaten a few mince pies too many and needs to lose some weight to fit down the chimneys of the world. Take Santa for a run to save Christmas, avoiding the food by jumping, rolling and diving out of the way. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Winter+%26+Christmas

A logic game introduced to me by one of my students. Move a block around a platform trying to fit it into a hole. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Educational+Games

A great random workout generator. Choose the type of exercise and set the timer between 5-60 minutes. This could be used as a 5 minute challenge in a sports lesson. The site works well on mobile devices, but there are apps for Apple and Android devices to download. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Sports+%26+Fitness

If you're not already using Dropbox - you should. They had a developer conference and will likely end up everywhere in every app. Some very cool things coming. Just like Evernote - who has a powerful "trunk" features where developer work is showcased - Dropbox is going to find that opening up to development opens a whole new marketplace and ingenuity beyond what they have in house.  Some info from the wired article.  "But after all that single-mindedness, Houston and Ferdowsi now want to let their baby sing. Today, at Dropbox's first-ever developers conference, the company is officially launching a new set of coding tools designed to push Dropbox into every corner of your digital life. Not content to stay sequestered inside the box, the company's co-founders are unveiling ways for developers to meld their service with every app on every device you own. For the first five or so years of its existence, Dropbox was synonymous with its "magic folder." Save your files in the Dropbox folder on your computer, and they "magically" reappear in your Dropbox apps on your phone and tablet and in your Dropbox account on the web. Now, if developers take to the company's new tools, the service will escape the confines of this folder, fusing with third-party apps running on practically every computer and smartphone operating system. Houston wants Dropbox to become the "spiritual successor to the hard drive." He says the hard drive needs to be replaced because so many of us are doing so much computing on devices that don't fit the traditional paradigm for working with files. Users don't interact with files on iOS, Android, or the web the way they do on PCs. Apps don't have "open" or "save" options that launch a separate window where you tap through a folder tree."

People magazine has the voting open for Teacher of the year. Genein Letford one of the teachers of the year nominees contacted me. I thought I'd mention it so you all could read up on them and vote as you see fit.

This game scores a 19 out of 30 and is a fantastic way to teach students to find the equation of the line slope intercept form. It is highly rated by students and educators. Look at the review to see if it fits your classroom. The game is browser based.

We offer full On-Site Computer Repair for those computer repair problems that require a technician at your place of business or home. We will come to you and fit all of your computer and network problems.

WordSteps is a place for people to learn foreign words and keep their vocabularies in fit condition. Here you can not only enrich your vocabulary, but you can also track your progress and recall the words you could forget.

The sticking points when even the teacher next door calls you the "fun teacher" with a snarky attitude. Or when you show your principal some incredibly cool videos your kids made on science lessons, and his comment says something about them doing well on the state test because of all they learned. Do they get it? Maybe. Do they get ME? No. We just live in different worlds; that's all.