YOGA Balls Instead of Chairs in the Classroom! :-)

Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month

This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.

My Students

I'm constantly challenged with trying engage my students and keeping their attention during lessons. Once they sit down on their chairs, sometimes they sink into a deep hole of no return. I've done some research on the benefits of yoga balls as stability chairs in the classroom.

I teach 7th grade science in Compton, CA.

My students are great kids. They all want to learn. However, many of them are faced with challenges outside of my control, from a poor diet to a lack of sleep (for various reason). They are often lethargic and have zero energy by the time they sit down in my classroom. Many of them have to jump a few extra hurdles to achieve success at school. Same goes for the teachers in this area, and similar areas. While, on my end, I do as much as I can to motivate these kid to be successful students, I want to work on their end of the classroom experience. Which, is the reason I would like to bring the yoga balls in the classroom.

My Project

I have personally used yoga balls as stability chairs and I gained more energy and alertness during daily activities. It was recently, I had the idea of having my students use yoga balls as well. It seemed like a far fetched idea, since couldn't afford to buy all my students yoga balls. However, I did research on yoga balls in the classroom, and to my surprise, other teachers have tried it and it has been a proven success. In an AP article "Teachers ditch student desk chairs for yoga balls, " Kathy Matheson sates "by making the sitter work to stay balanced, the balls force muscle engagement and increased blood flow, leading to more alertness." The teacher interviewed for the article, Robbi Giuliano mentions, "I have more attentive children, I'm able to get a lot done with them because they're sitting on yoga balls." I have no doubt the yoga balls will be a huge benefit for my students.

I need help in engaging my students and increasing their alertness and attentiveness.

I need your help! Please help me improve my student's learning experience. The yoga balls will be a huge impact in their daily lives, not just in my classroom.