"I Need to Move"

From Upworthy, a beautiful and moving piece about kids who are different (because of their brains, not their personality.)   Maybe we need more of these stand-up desk classrooms.  There's even a movement, Stand Up Kids.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great link, Melissa -- thanks. What we need is rooms (and teachers) that accommodate all kinds of learning styles -- the whole goal is to remove or minimize barriers to learning. For "itchy feet" kids, that might mean a standing desk (or exercise balls to sit on, they helped one of my sensory disordered kids -- as did chewing gum -- or something else to chew on). For a kid with low muscle tone, it might require a regular desk (or even an ability to sit in an upholstered chair part of the day). For kids who cannot concentrate if they have to maintain eye contact, it means allowing them to avert their eyes so they can actually free up "brain band width" to listen to what is being said, and formulate a response (I had one of these too). For kids distracted by any movement, it might mean carrels with sides to block visual distractions -- and/or headphones to block out extraneous noise.

I still grow teary with gratitude over the teachers my kids had who were willing to truly see them, to truly listen to what they needed, and to make accommodations (none of which cost anything -- except the exercise ball and the weighted vest -- both of which I supplied) to make their classrooms as learning-friendly as possible.

AnotherSPEDParent
11/5/15, 7:12 PM
Anonymous said…
My child's class has Wiggle Seats (sensory chair cushions) for every child who wants one and bins clearly labeled fidget toys. I like that these tools are available to every child so there is no stigma to using them.

West Seattle
11/5/15, 7:54 PM
Anonymous said…
Great ideas! My kinetic child was allowed to sit on an exercise ball one year (we got the kind with the weighted bottom so it wouldn't roll away). It helped a lot. Then the next teacher banned them from the class and said we would have to have an IEP to use one. I hope one day all teachers will learn to accommodate kids who learn better with movement.

BT
11/5/15, 8:57 PM
Anonymous said…
My child's teacher has exercise balls but if you wiggle in them she takes it away as punishment. Kinda defeats the purpose.

2boysclub
11/5/15, 9:02 PM
Anonymous said…
My child has been labeled as having a 'behavioral problem' because he wiggles and has a hard time sitting still. He has a wiggle wedge but just needs to move. They are hoping to create a standing desk for the wiggly children. I find it strange anyone would expect 5 year olds or even 45 year olds to sit all day long :)
11/6/15, 8:52 AM
Anonymous said…
I am always amused by medical studies that claim that some behavior or other increases the risk of death. Seems like the risk of death is 100%, and nothing is going to change that.

easily entertained
11/6/15, 10:18 AM
Anonymous said…
My child's third grade classroom has a four person "stand up" desk that any student can migrate to to do work standing up. They can also work at their desk, on the floor, where ever they feel comfortable and productive to output. Some of the 2nd and 4th grade classrooms have "wiggle" (or balance) stools for seats. Some of the wiggles stools are used at computer stations, some are for individual students.

Additionally, after a massive furniture screw up via our SPS furniture person, the first grade classrooms had to go without chairs for several weeks. The positive outcome of the Case of the Missing Chairs: teachers noticed interesting behavior improvements for all kids, especially "wigglers." The teachers lowered the tables and the kids "sit" on the floor/small rugs/or pillows. It's a subject of immense interest for school tours, "I noticed your first grade classrooms don't have chairs..."

As an adult who has worked at sitting jobs and frequently would pick up a manila envelope and just walk around the building, go get coffee, etc. to get a little break, I love that our school is responsive and adaptive to children and their need to move. When we adjust our "expectations" for little children and treat them and their needs respectfully (and look at our own preferences and behaviors) -- it's quite amazing how some slight adjustments improve things.

Signed,

(Happy) Mom of Wigglers
Queen Anne Elementary

11/8/15, 6:45 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more