Teacher puts 'pedals' under kids' desks for a BRILLIANT reason
You know the ways kids are balls of energy, who can’t seem to sit still? Well one teacher has found a solution to getting rid of all that excess energy so they can focus better in class.
She placed mini pedal ‘bikes’ underneath their desks!
Yep teacher Bethany Lambeth of Martin Middle School in Raleigh, North Carolina, installed the DeskCycles so the kids, aged 11-13 years old, could pedal away throughout their lessons instead of fidgeting.
“When I switched to teaching middle school [from elementary school], I noticed that my students had a harder time focusing,” she told Babble. “It was not that my students were trying to fidget, they just had a lot of pent up energy. I was researching ways to allow my students to move around in the room, but not take away from instructional time.”
And after reading an article about a primary school that used the desks, she applied for a grant to see if she could get them for her school.
“My justification was that through movement my students will be able to gain more focus, which would, in turn, help them to think more critically and be more creative with their work,” she told CBS.
She got the grant, and says as soon as the DeskCycles were installed, “the kids loved them straight away”.
“A lot of students have trouble focusing in class,” she told Mail Online. “It might be the end of the day and they're tired, or they're lethargic from not enough physical activity, and some have ADD/ADHD and find it hard to concentrate.
“Before they would drum on desks, touch other students, just generally fidget – but they don't do that anymore.
“The cycle desks helps get the energy out of their systems and stops the fidgeting, and it helps them to concentrate.”
And according to Bethany, the DeskCycles, which she installed in April, are already having a tangible effect.
“I have noticed an increase in the quality and the quantity of student work…Last year I noticed an average of a 50 percent decrease in the amount of missing work for my struggling students.”
Exercise AND an effective way to get them to focus more? Sounds like a win-win to us!
What do you think of the DeskCycles mums? Would you like to see them introduced in your child’s school? We would love to hear from you!