Standing room only
A Marin County elementary school has decided to ditch the traditional desks with chairs for a more modern
standing-desk set up.
It turns out all that energy the kids have at recess doesn’t just evaporate when they get back in the classroom. Instead of tiring students out, the new desks allow them to let off a little steam. In fact they come equipped with a swinging foot stand, aptly called a “fidget bar.” [...]
“It allows for the students to really kind of wiggle, but their mind and focus is still on me,” Gina Roberts, a 4th grade teacher at Vallecito Elementary, told KPIX 5. [...]
The teachers are convinced. They say the kids are calmer and more attentive and parents say the children sleep better at night. What seemed at first like a kooky Marin County idea is having a real benefit.
There is evidence that standing desks are better for both a child's health as well as their
mind.
A study from the Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Public Health finds students with standing desks are more attentive than their seated counterparts. In fact, preliminary results show 12 percent greater on-task engagement in classrooms with standing desks, which equates to an extra seven minutes per hour of engaged instruction time. [...]
Benden’s previous studies have shown the desks can help reduce obesity – with students at standing desks burning 15 percent more calories than students at traditional desks (25 percent for obese children) – and there was anecdotal evidence that the desks also increased engagement. The latest study was the first designed specifically to look at the impact of classroom engagement.
Personally, I would have benefited from a standing desk in elementary school since I suffered from childhood
antsinthepantsitis.
Video below the fold.