Every teacher’s secret weapon for classroom management

Teachers will do just about anything to get their students to listen and learn. They’ll brush up on age-appropriate pop culture just to seem relatable; they’ll humiliate themselves performing badly-written rap songs to teach Shakespeare. They will beg, they will plead, and they will try try try whatever it takes just to see the light of understanding in their students’ eyes.

I know. For a short time I was that desperate teacher, and I have the horribly penned Romeo and Juliet rap in a box to prove it, yo.

Thank goodness there is a simpler way for teachers to get the desired results from their class, and it’s an easy one for parents to help them achieve. It’s called physical activity. Yup, just moving around can get the blood and the brain pumping, according to a study from Active Living Research:

To summarize the results:

• Students are 20% more likely to get higher grades, just from increasing their active time.
• More activity fuelled higher standardized test scores.
• After just twenty minutes of physical activity, students tested better.
• After enrolling in a physically oriented after-school program memory skills improved.
• Teachers also saw a 21% decrease in time needed to manage behaviour. Just imagine how much more productive they can be with all that time!

Here’s a lesson that goes beyond the classroom. Parents, you don’t need a fancy app, and teachers, you don’t need to dazzle the kids with your snapchat knowledge. Just keep them moving. Active kids simply learn better.

Class dismissed.