My students need their own stability ball and base instead of a chair so they can engage both their body and their brain and can make the most of their learning!
I love my job as a teacher and this love comes from the students that I work with each year. The students I have this year are crazy, funny, intelligent, passionate, and wiggly! For what they lack in their ability to always use self control, they make up for in their heart and growth mindset. Our classroom is a fun place to learn and it is because my students love school!
My goal for students is for them to understand themselves as learners so that they can reach limitless potential!
To do this, we work together as a family to solve problems, create independence, and even have some fun together in our learning. If you don't believe me here is what students had to say about our classroom!
"We are a hardworking team!"
"We defeat any challenge that is in our way!"
"This is a mistakes are part of learning zone!"
"We help each other no matter what!"
"We don't judge a book by it's cover!"
"Sorry if we are laughing too hard, but we are learning in here!"
"We wiggle our way to success!"
They are an amazing bunch of kids and I am lucky to work with them!
My Project
Our classroom is a wonderful and wiggly environment! Students try their best to control their daily wiggles but sometimes it is hard. For third graders, the expectations for learning are high and sometimes for these 8 and 9 year old students, sitting still is the hardest part. Using exercise balls and stands instead of chairs is an exciting way to engage students brains and bodies at the same time and help students get the wiggles out while working and learning!
Research tells us that when your body is engaged, your brain is as well--it is called actively sitting.
Students may be moving their legs a bit, wiggling some, but their upper body is focused on writing, reading, math, and/or listening to their teacher. A research study found in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy researched the effects of using stability balls in the classroom instead of traditional chairs. Their findings showed increased levels of attention, decreased levels of hyperactivity, and increased time on task and in seat or on ball. With this research and others, I knew it was important to give students the option of stability balls in our classroom so that they could have the best chance at success in their daily learning at school.
I am not the type of teacher to make students sit down all day at their desks, in fact I benefit from movement in my own learning. The idea of using stability balls came to me during a staff meeting that I attended. As I sat their listening, I noticed how much my own body needed to move in order to attend to what was being taught. It gave me amazing insight to how my students must feel everyday in their own learning, and gave me the drive to want to help them!
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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. Schuermann and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.