If you could improve student posture and focus in class while allowing the movement needed, would you do it? With less physical education and recess time, it is even more important to allow movement during the school day. To improve learning, my students would benefit from stability ball chairs.
My students are dynamic and unique fourth and fifth graders, who attend a Title I, public school in Florida.
They are not different from any other student their age. They just learn in different ways. With increasing demands and rigor placed on education, maintaining attention and productivity has become even more of a challenge in the classroom. Each one of my students requires small group, direct instruction. They each have unique accommodations for learning. By replacing our chairs with stability balls, students will not only increase attentiveness through small movements and fidgets, but they will improve their posture.
My Project
Typically stability balls can be found in the gym. However, there has been a movement of replacing chairs in the classroom all over the country with the stability ball. There has been an immense amount of research conducted, all arriving at the same conclusions. Students who use stability balls benefit from increased attentiveness and concentration in the classroom. The stability balls also promote "active sitting"- with little to no disturbances. It assists in improving posture and improves learning through movement. With movement, blood flow increases to all parts of the body, especially the brain. By having students use stability balls as chairs, they will strengthen core and back muscle groups and improve balance and coordination.
The stability balls will allow my students to move and learn.
Several studies have found that students with attention challenges, such as ADHD, tended to focus better when using stability balls instead of chairs.
Fidgeting helps children with ADHD concentrate, and just a a little movement on the stability balls can meet their demands for expelling excess energy. Since many of the students in my classroom have been diagnosed with ADHD, the stability ball would be a perfect outlet for releasing some of those wiggles, while learning at the same time.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Lapham and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.