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This academic journal mentions Brain Breaks offers a variety of segments that emphasize different types of physical activity and address different physical and sensory needs of students. They discuss the importance of physical activity breaks in and out of the classroom.

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Promoting Physical Activity in Elementary Schools

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Mentions current recommendations state that children, ages 5 to 18 years, should engage in a minimum of 60 minutes of daily, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity that incorporates the cardio respiratory and musculoskeletal systems. They mention how important it is to create developmentally appropriate and enjoyable physical education programs that promote physical activity.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND

With the growing need for children from underserved populations to be physically active it is imperative to create developmentally appropriate and enjoyable physical education programs that promote physical activity. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of mastery and performance climates on physical activity during physical education.

METHODS

Children (N = 108) in grades K-2 from a rural southeastern elementary school in the US were randomly assigned to a mastery or performance oriented climate. The climates were implemented over 10 school days during regular scheduled physical education classes, and physical activity was measured with pedometers and SOFIT. Two experts in mastery motivational climates served as teachers for the study and were counterbalanced between conditions.

RESULTS

Results showed that steps/minute were significantly higher for the mastery condition and participants in the mastery condition spent significantly less time sitting (p < .001) and in management (p < .001) and more time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; p = .002) and fitness activities (p = .001).

CONCLUSION

Results indicate that a mastery approach, which allows children the opportunity to drive their own physical activity, elicits higher step counts and more time spent in MVPA compared to a performance-oriented approach.

Keywords: mastery motivational climate, performance-oriented climate, pedometers, SOFIT

Current recommendations state that children, ages 5 to 18 years, should engage in a minimum of 60 minutes of daily, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) that incorporates the cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal systems. In Alabama, 70% of school-age children do not meet the daily recommendation for physical activity and only 33.3% have physical education on a daily basis. In the United States, 31.7% of children are overweight and 16.8% are obese. Furthermore, 34.5% of children living in the rural South are overweight, and 19.5% are obese. Children who are overweight are at-risk of poor health and demonstrate a high prevalence of hypokinetic diseases that are commonly seen in adults (ie, heart disease, type II diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis). The exact etiology of childhood obesity is not evident, but physical activity is a major contributor to good health and is associated with weight control. With the growing need for children to be physically active, it is imperative to create developmentally appropriate, cost effective and motivating physical education programs that promote physical activity.

In response to this concern, researchers have investigated the effect of motivational climates on early childhood movement and physical education programs to understand the motivational process of student engagement. Motivational climates reflect the salient features of an environment and define how an instructor incorporates and emphasizes various instructional strategies such as the delivery of feedback, rewards, and punishment. Mastery-oriented climates are a specific type of motivational climate based on achievement motivation theory.The goal of a mastery-oriented climate is to create a motivating learning environment where effort is encouraged and the learning process is reinforced. Mastery-oriented climates emphasize key environmental characteristics and instructional cues that are indicative of and lead to the adoption of mastery-oriented achievement goals. These key environmental characteristics and instructional cues, conceptualized by Ames, are based on Epstein's 6 dimensional TARGET structures (). The acronym TARGET stands for Task, Authority, Recognition, Grouping, Evaluation, and Time. A mastery-oriented motivational climate is characterized as autonomy supportive through the implementation of these 6 TARGET structures that allow the learner to navigate their own learning experience and physical engagement by placing the level, duration and type of task engagement in the hands of the student. Individuals invest more effort into a task in mastery oriented climates because they focus on demands and overcoming challenges that are autonomous or self-determined, subsequently increasing intrinsic motivation and perceptions of competence leading to greater effort.

Table 1

Task

Student works on a variety of
tasks and activities at his/her own
ability level and is encouraged
and/or helped to set realistic,
short-term, self-referenced goals.

Tasks are common for all participants
in a competitive environment, where
success is based on ability
comparisons.

Authority

Students are allowed to make
decisions about their lessons (eg,
choosing a task from a variety of
options).

The teacher makes all the decisions
such that the responsibility within the
learning environment lies with the
teacher.

Recognition

Recognition and feedback are
focused on individual effort,
knowledge, and skill
development and feedback and
rewards are distributed privately.

Recognition and feedback are based
on individual ability/knowledge
comparing individuals against others,
or comparing one group to another.

Grouping

Participants work in small groups
or alone and use flexible,
heterogeneous grouping
arrangements (which limit ability
comparisons).

The teacher organizes the participants
into groups based on ability and
teacher preference (allows for more
obvious social comparisons).

Evaluation

Evaluation is self-referenced,and incorporates an
individualized criterion of
progress, improvement, and task.

Evaluation is based on normative
ability comparison in public, which in
turn facilitates social comparison.

Researchers have found that children enrolled in mastery-oriented climate physical education and sport programs effectively engage in the lessons and self-management, express enjoyment, display positive attitudes toward physical activity, and intend to be physically active. As it relates specifically to children's physical activity, Parish et al demonstrated that a mastery-oriented climate results in higher levels of MVPA during physical play sessions for toddlers and preschoolers compared to a performance climate. Furthermore, aspects of motivational climates, such as the need for autonomy have been linked to motivation to engage in leisure time physical activity outside of physical education and autonomous motivation for physical education is linked to higher levels of self-reported leisure time physical activity in early adulthood. However, studies have not manipulated nor implemented a mastery climate to assess the effect on physical activity accumulated during physical education.

A performance-oriented climate is characterized by the teacher having more control over the learning environment as opposed to serving as a facilitator. Emphasis is placed on competition (eg, outperforming others) to achieve success. In this climate, the teacher drives learning and is responsible for making decisions about children's physical activity engagement. Performance-oriented climates are a traditional teacher-centered approach that is commonly used in physical education settings. Past research has shown that performance-oriented climates can promote motor skill development and learning in children.

Previous studies in physical education have focused on motivational regulation such as perceived competence but have not established which motivational climates are effective in promoting sufficient physical activity during physical education. This information is important because physical education contributes to children meeting physical activity guidelines and accounts for approximately 8.7%-23.7% and 11.4%-17.2% of daily steps for boys and girls respectively. With the growing need for children to be more physically active and knowing that physical activity established early in life tracks into adulthood, there is a need to optimize the physical education climate to promote physical activity participation to meet the recommendation that 50% of physical education class time be spent in MVPA. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mastery-oriented and performance-oriented climates on physical education physical activity participation in a sample of rural, children.

METHODS

Participants

This study was conducted in a small, rural, southeastern elementary school in Alabama. The school is comprised of 127 (48% males) students in K-2 and 97.4% of the school's population is African American with 98% enrolled in free or reduced lunch. Children enrolled in kindergarten, first and second grade, served as participants for this study. The 3 homeroom classes for each grade combine for one 45-minute physical education period, 5 days a week.

Recruitment letters and consent forms were distributed to the parents or guardians for each child enrolled in grades K-2. Parental or guardian consent and child assent were obtained in accordance with the project protocol approved by the Institutional Review Board for 113 children (89% response rate). After consent, children were randomly assigned to either a mastery-oriented (N = 56) or a performance-oriented (N = 57) physical education climate. Each participant met the following criteria for analysis: (1) participated in the acclimation period; and (2) participated in a minimum of 80% of data collection. Two children were absent during the acclimation period and 3 children did not participate in 80% of the data collection. The final sample size for this study was 108, with 53 participants in the mastery-oriented condition and 55 in the performance-oriented condition. The sample analyzed consisted of 33 kindergarteners, 40 first-graders, and 35 second-graders with an age range of 5-9 years and a ethnicity/race demographic of 77% Black, 17% Hispanic and 6% White. Participant demographics are provided in .

Table 2

Conditions

In this study, the teacher implementing the mastery climate provided private recognition to students based on individual progress and evaluated students in reference to task mastery and individual improvement. Students were given the opportunity to make choices, involve themselves in leadership roles, participate in a variety of learning experiences and peer interactions (eg, cooperative and independent), and were allowed to choose the length of engagement necessary to master a skill (ie, based on his/her personal capabilities) in a variety of challenging and diverse tasks.

The performance-oriented climate focused on normative- and other-referenced criteria for judging student ability (ie, completing a certain number of laps or goals). Descriptions of the physical education climates in reference to the TARGET dimensions are provided in . A performance-oriented climate was the physical education instructional approach that was used in this school prior to this study.

Instruments

Pedometers

New Lifestyles Yamax NL-200 pedometers were used to measure steps for each participant. Prior to data collection, a 20-step field-based pedometer check was conducted to assess step count measurement accuracy for all pedometers. The check demonstrated that the pedometers accurately counted steps (error was +/− 1 step) for children in K-2. Previous reliability and validity testing of the pedometer showed that the Yamax accurately records the number of steps taken, has the most consistency between units, and is the most accurate at moderate activity levels. The pedometer was secured to a pedometer belt that was placed around the participants' waist and adjusted so that the pedometer was located on the right side in midline with the quadriceps. The pedometer was closed and the students could not see the step count. At the end of each 30-minute physical activity portion of the class, the pedometers were removed and a research technician recorded the total count of accumulated steps.

System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time (SOFIT)

SOFIT is an objective measure commonly used in physical education settings to determine the activity levels of students. SOFIT uses momentary time sampling analysis (10-second observe, 10-second record) to quantify 3 aspects of physical education objectively: student physical activity levels, lesson context, and teacher behaviors. For this study, sedentary behaviors represent the time spent lying down, sitting, and standing, and MVPA represents the percentage of time spent walking and being very active. The second dimension of SOFIT, focuses on the curricular lesson context decision that is coded as management, knowledge content, fitness, skill practice, game play, or other. The third dimension of the SOFIT instrument provides frequencies of teacher prompts for in-class and out-of-class physical activity. SOFIT was analyzed via videotape. Video cameras were placed at opposite corners of the physical education setting. After pedometers were attached, participants for SOFIT analysis were randomly selected (every third child) from each climate, with equal representation by sex. Videotapes were analyzed and coded by one trained observer who was unfamiliar with the purpose of the study and the experimental conditions. The SOFIT technician achieved an inter-rater reliability of .92 prior to data analysis and was trained by an expert observer, the SOFIT training manual, and a video. Reliability was checked on 25% of the 60 classes (8 mastery, 7 performance classes over all lesson plans) against a trained SOFIT observer, and all observation checks ranged from .92 to .98.

A manipulation check was conducted to ensure that the 2 climates were delivered according to the TARGET structures and that delivery of the climate did not differ by teacher. A trained observer who was unfamiliar with the intent of the study completed the manipulation check. The observer completed the analysis by observing and listening to videotapes of all 60 sessions to determine which criteria of the TARGET structure was being implemented (high autonomy, low-autonomy or neither). There was 100% agreement between the trained observer and the proposed climate implemented for the TARGET structures within the instructional climates. In addition, an equal number of reinforcement cues were tallied and did not differ by teacher within each condition.

Procedure

Following randomization, students participated in a 5-day acclimation period to become familiar with the procedures (ie, group assignment, climate, and placement of pedometers). During the acclimation period, the children participated in their respective climates, had access to the physical education equipment, wore the pedometers, and were observed with video cameras. Lesson plans and stations used in the acclimation period were similar to those used during data collection. Previous research supports that a 5-day acclimation period is sufficient for children to become familiar with the physical education climate, teachers, wearing a pedometer, testing protocol and procedures, equipment, and setting. Upon completion of the acclimation period, data were collected for 10 consecutive physical education classes. To ensure that the motivational climate was manipulating the students' physical activity behaviors during physical education, the lesson plan and objective for each physical education session was identical for both climates; the only difference was the motivational mastery- or performance-based approach. All lessons consisted of: (1) a 5-minute introduction to the lesson, (2) 30-minutes of physical education instruction, practice, and engagement; and (3) a 5-minute closure and cool-down. Five additional minutes of class time during the physical education period was used as transition time to and from the classrooms. During the introduction, the children reviewed the rules for engagement, the pedometers were attached, and video recording for SOFIT analysis began. Children were given brief demonstrations of the physical activity stations incorporated into the daily lesson. Children participated in the stations during the 30-minutes of physical education instruction. Each class period consisted of 5 activity stations designed to emphasize MVPA when performing fundamental motor skill activities. The activity stations were identical for both climates; however, the type of engagement at the stations was dictated by the climate. For example, a child exposed to the mastery climate chose the station at which to play, the length of time to play at a station, with whom they played, and the type of activity at the station. In contrast, in the performance climate the instructor grouped the students, dictated time at each station, and directed the type of activity at each station. The closing consisted of cool-down activities, while pedometers were removed from each child. The physical education climates were implemented by 2 of the investigators who have experience in early childhood motor development and physical activity, and have had extensive experience in implementing each climate. To minimize teacher effects, the teachers were counterbalanced between the 2 climates (ie, each teacher implemented and instructed 5 mastery- and 5 performance-oriented physical education classes). There were 5 lesson plans and each teacher implemented each lesson plan once for each climate. The school's physical education teacher and teaching assistant were present, but did not provide instruction. The climates were implemented in a gymnasium that was divided by a curtain, so that participants could not see the other condition.

Data Analysis

Descriptive statistics were generated to describe the sample. Over the course of the study, 5 students checked out of physical education early; therefore, pedometer output of steps was transformed into steps/minute by dividing the number of steps taken during the physical activity engagement period by the amount of time the pedometer was worn (ie, 30 minutes). Because the manipulation check indicated that 2 separate climates were successfully implemented, the steps/minute for each day were combined for an overall mean step/minute. A 2 (condition) × 2 (sex) ANOVA was used to determine differences in steps/minute between the 2 climates. A MANOVA was used to determine differences between the climates in SOFIT outcomes [physical activity (time spent lying, sitting, standing, and MVPA), lesson context (time spent in management, knowledge, fitness, skill, game, and other) and number of physical activity prompts over the 10 days. Alpha level was set at .05 a priori and data were analyzed using SPSS version 17.

RESULTS

Descriptive results can be found in . In terms of the pedometer analysis the ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for condition (F = 7.02, p < .001), and no effect for sex (p= .936) or a Condition × Sex interaction (p = .378). Children in the mastery-oriented physical education climate accumulated an average of 11 more steps per minute than the children in the performance-oriented physical education classes. The MANOVA results showed that participants in the mastery condition spent significantly less time sitting (p < .001) and in management (p < .001) and more time in MVPA (p = .002) and fitness activities (p = .001). There were no differences for additional SOFIT categories ().

Table 3

DISCUSSION

This study investigated the influence of mastery- and performance-oriented physical education climates on physical activity (ie, pedometer step count and MVPA measured through SOFIT observation) in children in grades K-2. The mastery-oriented climate resulted in higher levels of physical activity compared to a performance-oriented climate. Students in the mastery climate had the opportunity to select tasks and perform the task at their own comfort level. Students also were given the opportunity to make choices, involve themselves in leadership roles, participate in a variety of learning experiences and peer interactions (eg, cooperative and independent), and were allowed to choose the length of practice time necessary to master a skill. These findings show that physical activity participation for children in grades K-2 is positively affected when the instructional climate for their physical education program emphasizes a mastery-climate and implements the 6 TARGET structures.

It is recommended that a minimum of 33.3% and a preference level of 50% of physical education time be devoted to MVPA. According to Scruggs, 10 minutes of MVPA in a 30-minute physical education class (ie, representing approximately 33.3% of class time in MVPA) equates to 60-63 steps/minutes for first and second grade children. The participants in the mastery condition met this steps/minute recommendation, whereas, participants in the performance climate did not. These differences occurred, even though children received approximately an equal number of prompts to be physically active (mastery average number of prompts = 48, performance average number of prompts = 49). Furthermore, the SOFIT results showed that children spent 20% more of the lesson in MVPA during the mastery condition compared to the performance condition. However, the SOFIT results showed that both climates engaged in MVPA for at least 33.3% of the class time, but mastery participants engaged in significantly more MVPA. It is important to note that the step count recommendation was derived from first and second grade students, and this study sample included kindergarten students. Difference in height and stride length may account for differences between meeting steps/minute recommendations.

Mastery climates are designed to encourage the learner to manage their engagement in a task, whereas, a performance climate is designed to dictate task participation. Based on these results, the constraints of the performance-oriented climate required the teachers to spend 20% more time in class management, resulting in 16% more time spent sitting and less time in MVPA. In contrast, the mastery climate required considerably less management by the teacher (3% of the lesson). This finding is important because school time constraints are reducing time in physical education; therefore, implementing instructional approaches that maximize children's activity time are necessary to help children meet physical activity recommendations. Although not measured in this study, it must be noted that differences in MVPA between the conditions may be attributed to increases in intrinsic motivation that are associated with TARGET structures implemented within the mastery-oriented condition. A mastery climate provides choice and autonomy by emphasizing self-determined criteria for success. Further, because of its focus on improvement, learning, and self-development at achievement tasks, a mastery climate may facilitate a sense of enjoyment. Performance climates are more controlling and provide extrinsic criteria for success which leads to less positive psychological outcomes. Nicholls and Ames consider a mastery approach to be linked intimately to intrinsic motivation and positive affect. Being intrinsically motivated drives an individual, and is a prerequisite for effort and persistence to sustain physical activity engagement. Future studies need to investigate changes in physical activity, motivation, and affect that result from mastery climates.

In addition to higher levels of physical activity, mastery climates have been shown to be effective in promoting higher perceptions of physical competence and motor competence. These factors are critically important with respect to children's achievement motivation. Specifically, as young learners become more proficient in performing a task they also experience higher perceptions of physical competence that increases their motivation to learn how to move. In contrast, young learners who are unsuccessful in learning their skills have low perceptions of motor skill competence. In a mastery climate, effort and ability are less clearly differentiated as causes of achievement, thereby allowing success to be dictated by the learner. On the other hand, a performance climate enhances the differentiation between ability and effort, because normative ability is rewarded, and success with low effort could be seen as indicative of even greater ability.

Significant differences in physical activity between girls and boys were not present. This finding is similar to other studies examining physical activity of elementary and middle school students during structured physical activity contexts. Specifically, boys and girls demonstrated similar physical activity levels regardless of the climate condition. In unstructured activity contexts, such as recess, children as young as preschool- and kindergarten-age demonstrate sex differences in activity level with boys demonstrating higher levels. These sex disparities in unstructured activities underscore the need for structured physical activity opportunities for young children, particularly for girls.

Limitations

This study had several limitations. First, trained researchers, not physical education teachers, delivered the conditions. More research is necessary to determine if physical education teachers can apply a mastery motivational climate to enhance physical activity participation. Second, this is a small sample of elementary school children from one geographic location, primarily of African American descent. Results cannot be generalized to K-2 children from other locations and racial/ethnic groups. However, we suspect that the findings will be similar regardless of location and racial/ethnic groups. In addition, the small sample size limited our ability to examine grade and race differences. Third, although the manipulation check identified that 2 separate climates were implemented, this study did not measure how the children perceived the physical education climate nor changes in their intrinsic motivation or affect. Existing climate perception measures exclude young children because they require a child to read. Additional pictorial scales which measure children's perception of the climate need to be developed and validated. Fourth, this study did not examine the impact of the physical education climates on school day or out-of-school physical activity, nor did it investigate intrinsic motivation. According to the literature, physical education class only accounts for 8.7%-23.7% in boys and 11.4%-17.2% in girls, of total recommended daily steps. Although, physical education alone cannot meet daily physical activity recommendations, participation during physical education does contribute to meeting 60 minutes of daily MVPA. However, the ability for physical education to influence out-of-school physical activity is not evident. The strengths of this study are that we employed randomization and showed that a mastery climate increased physical activity participation using 2 objective measures. Future studies should investigate if certain physical education climates can increase physical activity participation outside of physical education and determine the duration of the effect. To gain a better understanding of the overall effects of mastery climates on physical activity behaviors, future interventions should investigate changes in participants' intrinsic motivation along with their perceptions of physical competence and physical activity outcomes. It also would be beneficial to see if the results could be replicated in more diverse populations and with physical education teachers.

Conclusions

In summary, these results demonstrate that school-age children accumulated higher step counts and MVPA when participating in a mastery-oriented physical education program compared to a performance-oriented climate. Some of the primary objectives in elementary physical education programs are to promote physical activity engagement, motor skill development, physical competence, and positive physical self-perceptions. Previous studies suggest that a mastery-oriented approach enhances gross motor skill development and perceived physical competence. This study suggests that a mastery approach elicits more physical activity and creates an effective physical education climate for children in grades K-2 in a rural school setting.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH

Mastery-climate is an instructional approach that does not require additional resources to implement such as other curriculum-based physical education programs. Physical education policies might benefit from defining and implementing high autonomy instructional approaches in elementary physical education. Specifically, teachers should aim to provide a variety of challenging and diverse tasks, allow children to select their own tasks, perform the task at their comfort level, and allow the student to determine the length of time at a task, while providing task-specific feedback to the students. As with any instructional approaches there are challenges and obstacles to effective implementation. With respect to mastery climates, teachers may experience difficulty in developing fun and challenging activities that meet the range of skill levels among the learners, and deviating from a more structured approach (ie, students participate in specific stations for a set amount of time before rotating to a second station). Another adjustment is the shift in the teacher's role within the classroom. In a mastery climate, students are driving their own learning, while the teacher is now the facilitator. At first this is a difficult shift in control to accept and the students must learn to "self-manage," but with time, both the teacher and students will see that the autonomy supportive environment created within a mastery climate is an effective approach for physical education instruction.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project was supported by a grant (# 1R03HD058792-01A1) from the National Institutes of Health - National Institute of Child Health and Human Development R03 Exploratory Grant: Understanding the Mechanisms of Health Risk Behavior. The authors would like to acknowledge the teachers, participants and parents for their contribution to this study.

Footnotes

Human Subjects Approval Statement This study protocol was approved by the institutional review board for human subjects of Auburn University.

Contributor Information

Danielle D. Wadsworth, Auburn University 2050 Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL 36849.

Leah E. Robinson, Auburn University 2050 Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL 36849 Phone: 334-844-8055 Fax: 344-844-1467 ude.nrubua@1000rel..

Mary E. Rudisill, Auburn University 2050 Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL 36849 Phone: 334-844-1844 Fax: 344-844-1467 ude.nrubua@emisdur..

Nancy Gell, Auburn University 2050 Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum Auburn, AL 36849 Phone: 334-844-1836 Fax: 344-844-1467 ude.nrubua@nanlleg..

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The Effect of Physical Education Climates on Elementary Students' Physical Activity Behaviors

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With the growing need for children from underserved populations to be physically active it is imperative to create developmentally appropriate and enjoyable physical education programs that promote physical activity. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of mastery and performance climates on physical activity during physical education.

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Mentions explains time away from work, school, and the stress of a busy lifestyle is crucial to revitalizing, or renewing, your brain health. Technology is a big part of everyday life but the brain is not made to be able to consistently be online. Taking a break from technology is detrimental to the brain's health.

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Summer is here-time for family vacations, barbeques, and ideally a slower pace of life. But if you're like the majority of Americans, you will not take full advantage of the season to relax and recharge, missing out on the year's best chance to "reboot" your brain and boost brain health.

A survey by Harris Interactive for the career Web site Glassdoor found that three out of four workers with paid vacation do not use all of their leave. The average employee, in fact, uses only half. But even those who take time off often bring the office along, via laptops, tablets, and cell phones. In the same survey, 61 percent of respondents said they work while on vacation, with cited reasons including fear of falling behind, the desire for a promotion, and concern about losing a job. In short, employees fear that time away could cost them something.

But not taking time off costs something, too.

Time away from work, school, and the stress of a busy lifestyle is crucial to revitalizing (or renewing) your brain health. By denying our brains a vacation, we diminish our ability to think creatively and strategically tackle complex problems. Our brain thinks more clearly when we get off the hamster wheel, stop rushing from one obligation to the next, and make time to relax. You have probably experienced moments of insight, or " a-ha moments," when a creative new idea or solution to a vexing problem suddenly occurs to you. This typically happens when you are not using up your mental energy focusing on the mistakes of yesterday or the rapidly accumulating tasks of tomorrow. Breakthrough thinking commonly occurs when you just let your mind freely imagine and wander-removed from the context of your day-to-day grind-in a different environment that will not pull you into constant distractions.

The scientific explanation for this: The frontal lobe brain networks-responsible for reasoning, planning, decision-making, and judgment-work for you in creative ways when the brain is quiet, not while you are effortfully trying to find a solution to a problem. Moments of insight increase as the brain unwinds. Why? When not actively tackling a task, the brain connects random ideas and consolidates these with prior knowledge into exciting new thoughts, ideas, directions, and potential solutions.

Vacations are important because our bodies and brains are just not equipped to maintain the chronic stress that is a part of 21st-century life. When you're under chronic stress, your body releases the stress hormone cortisol. High levels of cortisol damage the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for learning and memory. So reducing stress is key to maximizing your brain's performance. Proven ways to do this include exercising, getting more and better sleep, spending quality time with others, and experiencing new adventures-all more likely to happen while on vacation.

Also critical: Disconnecting from technology. Your brain needs a break from your devices. So-called multitasking-checking email while writing a report, or responding to a text message while sitting in a meeting-does not make us more productive, it actually slows down thinking and output. The human brain is not wired to perform two tasks at once. Forcing our minds to switch back and forth quickly between tasks fatigues the frontal lobe, slowing its efficiency and performance. Too much time online can even leave people feeling isolated, anxious and depressed.

But there is a simple solution, well within reach. Each of us can choose to power down and spend less time on our devices. We can take a few minutes' break every hour; we can spend an afternoon or evening away from technological intrusions. We can put limits on our children's cell phone use.

So do your brains-and yourselves-a favor this summer: Take a vacation. A real vacation is best, as disconnecting from your technology for a period of time will work wonders. You will return to work or school reinvigorated and calm. And your brain will be tuned-up-ready to creatively tackle the most challenging problems with fresh perspective and energy.
Copyright Sandra Bond Chapman

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Summer is here-time for family vacations, barbeques, and ideally a slower pace of life. But if you're like the majority of Americans, you will not take full advantage of the season to relax and recharge, missing out on the year's best chance to "reboot" your brain and boost brain health.

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Mentions the mental strain she was under a year ago versus where she is now.  She points out that taking a break is so important not just mentally and physically, but emotionally as well. Taking days off is so important. It helps not just mentally and physically, but emotionally as well.

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Confessions of a recovering workaholic

July last year I was working 2 jobs (about 50 hours a week) taking 2 engineering classes, averaging 12 hours a week in traffic, in a relationship, and sleeping in a living room in a pop up tent. I literally worked myself into exhaustion and had mental break downs once a week. Over the course of a year, SO much has changed, and for the better.

Now I work part time (15 hours a week) 2 classes, I walk to work when it's not pouring outside (20 min walk or 3 min drive), single, and have a bedroom of my own. It didn't occur to me how much energy, time, and my environment was such an exhausting toxic waste a year ago.

On the studyblr community I know we all share bullet journals and cute desk pictures but let me share with you my calendar of July this year and July last year.

Obviously I sensored some info, but over all the time workload is just vastly different. How the hell did I even do it? 7 day work weeks. 1 day off a month.

Taking days off is so important. It helps not just mentally and physically, but emotionally as well. Am I struggling financially because of this change? Yes. Worth it. Worth it. Worth it. I am of no use if Im exhausted and can't focus when I have to be a TA for an intro engineering class (which takes an incredible amount of patience, attention to detail and safety awareness in the lab)

Chronic stress started to effect my body in ways I don't think I can bounce back from. From being overweight, lack of a menstrual cycle, hair falling out, depression, anxiety, the list goes on.

Let's also not forget basics of living on your own: grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, paying bills, rent, and I pay for school out of pocket. So you really need a day off to do all of that, AND a day off to mentally recover.. lol

My to do list is much smaller now that school is officially out for the summer (Total of 3 weeks).. hope you all do the same ✌️💛

Moral of the story: Rest days are health & healing days.

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Confessions of a recovering workaholic July last year I was working 2 jobs (about 50 hours a week) taking 2 engineering classes, averaging 12 hours a week in traffic, in a relationship, and sleeping in a living room in a pop up tent. I literally worked myself into exhaustion and had mental break downs once a week.

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https://electrostudyblr.tumblr.com/post/176544023833/confessions-of-a-recovering-workaholic-july-last

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Mentions activity stimulates more blood vessels in the brain to support more brain cells. And there is evidence that active kids do better on standardized tests and pay attention more in school. By taking brief activity breaks during the day helps children learn and be more attentive in class, and talks about a growing number of programs designed to promote movement are being adopted in schools.

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"Activity helps the brain in so many ways," said James F. Sallis, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego, who has done research on the association between activity breaks and classroom behavior. "Activity stimulates more blood vessels in the brain to support more brain cells. And there is evidence that active kids do better on standardized tests and pay attention more in school."

John Ratey, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain," said: "Movement activates all the brain cells kids are using to learn, it wakes up the brain."

"Plus," he added, "it makes kids want to come to school more - it's fun to do these activities."

But not all districts are embracing the trend of movement breaks.

"The bottom line is that with only six and a half hours during the day, our priority is academics," said Tom Hernandez, the director of community relations for the Plainfield School District in Illinois, about 40 miles southwest of Chicago. He said that under state law, the schools provide daily physical education classes and that teachers in the district find ways to give students time during the day to refresh and recharge.

"Kids aren't meant to sit still all day and take in information," said Steve Boyle, one of the co-founders of the National Association of Physical Literacy, which aims to bring movement into schools. "Adults aren't wired that way either."

Mr. Boyle's association has introduced a series of three- to five-minute videos called "BrainErgizers" that are being used in schools and Boys and Girls Clubs in 15 states and in Canada, Mexico, Ireland and Australia, he said. A version of the program is available to schools at no charge.

The program is designed so that three to five times a day, teachers can set aside a few minutes for their students to watch a video and follow the cues given by the instructors. In one typical video, the instructors are college students of all shapes and sizes at the University of Connecticut who do a quick warm-up and then lead kids through a mini workout involving movements from several sports: baseball, basketball and a triathlon. That's followed by a cool-down.

"At the end of the week, kids have gotten an hour or more worth of movement, and it's all done in the classroom with no special equipment," Mr. Boyle said. "We're not looking to replace gym classes, we're aiming to give kids more minutes of movement per week. And by introducing sports into the videos, giving kids a chance to try sports they may not have ever tried before."

Julie Goldstein, principal of the Breakthrough Magnet School in Hartford, Conn., said her school has been using BrainErgizers since the spring of 2015.

It's easy for the teachers to implement, and "easy for the students to follow," Mrs. Goldstein said. She said the program has "helped them focus and bring up their energy level in the classroom."

Scott McQuigg, chief executive and a co-founder of GoNoodle, a classroom movement program used in more than 60,000 elementary schools in the United States credits Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiat i ve with helping to bring movement and the health of children into the public consciousness.

"We call this the Movement movement," Mr. McQuigg said. "If we invest three to five minutes for our kids to move in the classroom, we are actually going to optimize the next 45 minutes for learning. That small investment in time has such a big yield for teachers."

GoNoodle, which offers free and paid videos, aims to entertain kids while they are moving, Mr. McQuigg said. GoNoodle and other "brain break" videos can be found on the website for "Let's Move! Active Schools," part of Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move!" initiative.

"We have purposely not gone after this as an exercise program," Mr. McQuigg said. "This is a digital generation that expects to be entertained, and we think we can do more good around getting them to move if they are entertained."

For example, GoNoodle videos have kids running alongside their desks through a virtual obstacle course or following along with dance moves.

Joseph E. Donnelly, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Physical Activity and Weight Management at the University of Kansas Medical Center, said one of the good things about kids being more physically active in classrooms is that everyone is moving at the same time.

"In physical education classes, there is a lot of standing around, a lot of minutes of kids waiting to do an activity, and sometimes kids are only moving for about 15 minutes during a 50-minute class," said Dr. Donnelly, who co-authored a statement on the effects of physical activity and academic achievement in children that was published last year by the American College of Sports Medicine. "If you do movement in class a few times a day, that can add up to at least an extra 60 minutes more of movement per week."

Lindsay DiStefano, an associate professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut, said the country is due for a major shift toward appreciating the benefits of physical activity in the classroom.

"In 1961, President Kennedy said school kids needed physical activity to thrive, but in the past 20 years, the pendulum has totally shifted the opposite way because schools are feeling the pressure to have students do well on standardized tests," Ms. DiStefano said. "We are not thinking about the child as an entire person, how physical activity helps them cope with the stresses of school and actually benefits them in the classroom."

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"Activity helps the brain in so many ways," said James F. Sallis, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego, who has done research on the association between activity breaks and classroom behavior. "Activity stimulates more blood vessels in the brain to support more brain cells.

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Mentions Brain Breaks will not only help children focus better in the classroom, but they can also enhance memory. When students are engaged in physical movements in between lessons, they increase the blood flow to their brain. They mention a specific school, The Wyndcroft School and how their students are quite familiar with breaks.

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She mentions how human beings aren't supposed to operate like machines and needs to take a break. She mentions emotional refueling which is building in stress free recovery time.

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Mentions the effects that brain break activities have on children in learning environments. They  explore the effects of Brain Break activities on interest and motivation for physical activity among schoolchildren. They're study wanted to know the effects on learning a brain break had on these children.

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Mentions how taking breaks in essential for the brain to function at its maximum capacity, its essential to be functioning and to have more creativity, and to have a better attitude. The processing capacity of the conscious mind is limited. This is why a break is so essential.

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Opinion

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Credit Credit Matthieu Bourel

THIS month, many Americans will take time off from work to go on vacation, catch up on household projects and simply be with family and friends. And many of us will feel guilty for doing so. We will worry about all of the emails piling up at work, and in many cases continue to compulsively check email during our precious time off.

But beware the false break. Make sure you have a real one. The summer vacation is more than a quaint tradition. Along with family time, mealtime and weekends, it is an important way that we can make the most of our beautiful brains.

Every day we're assaulted with facts, pseudofacts, news feeds and jibber-jabber, coming from all directions. According to a 2011 study, on a typical day, we take in the equivalent of about 174 newspapers' worth of information, five times as much as we did in 1986. As the world's 21,274 television stations produce some 85,000 hours of original programming every day (by 2003 figures), we watch an average of five hours of television per day. For every hour of YouTube video you watch, there are 5,999 hours of new video just posted!

If you're feeling overwhelmed, there's a reason: The processing capacity of the conscious mind is limited. This is a result of how the brain's attentional system evolved. Our brains have two dominant modes of attention: the task-positive network and the task-negative network (they're called networks because they comprise distributed networks of neurons, like electrical circuits within the brain). The task-positive network is active when you're actively engaged in a task, focused on it, and undistracted; neuroscientists have taken to calling it the central executive. The task-negative network is active when your mind is wandering; this is the daydreaming mode. These two attentional networks operate like a seesaw in the brain: when one is active the other is not.

This two-part attentional system is one of the crowning achievements of the human brain, and the focus it enables allowed us to harness fire, build the pyramids, discover penicillin and decode the entire human genome. Those projects required some plain old-fashioned stick-to-itiveness.

But the insight that led to them probably came from the daydreaming mode. This brain state, marked by the flow of connections among disparate ideas and thoughts, is responsible for our moments of greatest creativity and insight, when we're able to solve problems that previously seemed unsolvable. You might be going for a walk or grocery shopping or doing something that doesn't require sustained attention and suddenly - boom - the answer to a problem that had been vexing you suddenly appears. This is the mind-wandering mode, making connections among things that we didn't previously see as connected.

A third component of the attentional system, the attentional filter, helps to orient our attention, to tell us what to pay attention to and what we can safely ignore. This undoubtedly evolved to alert us to predators and other dangerous situations. The constant flow of information from Twitter, Facebook, Vine, Instagram, text messages and the like engages that system, and we find ourselves not sustaining attention on any one thing for very long - the curse of the information age.

My collaborator Vinod Menon, a professor of neuroscience at Stanford, and I showed that the switch between daydreaming and attention is controlled in a part of the brain called the insula, an important structure about an inch or so beneath the surface of the top of your skull. Switching between two external objects involves the temporal-parietal junction. If the relationship between the central executive system and the mind-wandering system is like a seesaw, then the insula - the attentional switch - is like an adult holding one side down so that the other stays up in the air. The efficacy of this switch varies from person to person, in some functioning smoothly, in others rather rusty. But switch it does, and if it is called upon to switch too often, we feel tired and a bit dizzy, as though we were seesawing too rapidly.

Every status update you read on Facebook, every tweet or text message you get from a friend, is competing for resources in your brain with important things like whether to put your savings in stocks or bonds, where you left your passport or how best to reconcile with a close friend you just had an argument with.

If you want to be more productive and creative, and to have more energy, the science dictates that you should partition your day into project periods. Your social networking should be done during a designated time, not as constant interruptions to your day.

Email, too, should be done at designated times. An email that you know is sitting there, unread, may sap attentional resources as your brain keeps thinking about it, distracting you from what you're doing. What might be in it? Who's it from? Is it good news or bad news? It's better to leave your email program off than to hear that constant ping and know that you're ignoring messages.

Increasing creativity will happen naturally as we tame the multitasking and immerse ourselves in a single task for sustained periods of, say, 30 to 50 minutes. Several studies have shown that a walk in nature or listening to music can trigger the mind-wandering mode. This acts as a neural reset button, and provides much needed perspective on what you're doing.

Daydreaming leads to creativity, and creative activities teach us agency, the ability to change the world, to mold it to our liking, to have a positive effect on our environment. Music, for example, turns out to be an effective method for improving attention, building up self-confidence, social skills and a sense of engagement.

This radical idea - that problem solving might take some time and doesn't always have to be accomplished immediately - could have profound effects on decision making and even on our economy. Consider this: By some estimates, preventable medical error is the third leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. You want your diagnostician to give the right answer, not always the quickest one. Zoning out is not always bad. You don't want your airline pilot or air traffic controller to do it while they're on the job, but you do want them to have opportunities to reset - this is why air traffic control and other high-attention jobs typically require frequent breaks. Several studies have shown that people who work overtime reach a point of diminishing returns.

Taking breaks is biologically restorative. Naps are even better. In several studies, a nap of even 10 minutes improved cognitive function and vigor, and decreased sleepiness and fatigue. If we can train ourselves to take regular vacations - true vacations without work - and to set aside time for naps and contemplation, we will be in a more powerful position to start solving some of the world's big problems. And to be happier and well rested while we're doing it.

The director of the Laboratory for Music, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University and the author of "The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload."

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page SR5 of the New York edition with the headline: Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Opinion | Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain

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Opinion THIS month, many Americans will take time off from work to go on vacation, catch up on household projects and simply be with family and friends. And many of us will feel guilty for doing so. We will worry about all of the emails piling up at work, and in many cases continue to compulsively check email during our precious time off.

# data[].attributes.body
Mentions the brain running tasks in the background of you mind without requiring much in the way of conscious bandwidth. The capacity to do this well would be enhanced with sensory feedback when the brain is well rested. Your brain functions better when it has been given the rest it needs.