Allowed to fidget

So we were talking about ways to help children focus in Educational Psychology on Tuesday and there was a snippet about an elementary school from my district with stand up desks in the Schools and Society text.  I thought I would take some classroom observation pics to illustrate some of the things we were talking about.

Mrs. Cossalter's kindergarten classroom - notice the water bottles.  Mrs. Cossalter actually thinks that the water bottles are very distracting.  She allows them because the drinking fountain is broken and the kids need to stay hydrated.  They have rules about only drinking during work times and play times - otherwise they will leave the group time to go get water and distract the class.  The water bottles probably work differently in a classroom that has more lecture time.

This is Sammy's "wiggle seat."  Apparently he wiggled all of the air out of it.  By all accounts, this seat REALLY helps him focus.

This is Ms. Miller's 3rd grade classroom.  Last year Ms. Miller had an especially wiggly class - there were feet in the air, they were moving around, they could not sit still.  She got the balls from another teacher at the school who purchased them through a grant she was awarded.  Ms. Miller says there is a parent this year who thinks the balls distract her child, but Ms. Miller believes that the balls are incredibly effective.

In the reading for Schools and Society there's a little box on page 117 that says this:
"Unlike children at schools almost anywhere, students at Marine Elementary School in Minnesota do not have to sit still while learning.  Quite the contrary, they may stand and fidget all day long if they want.  And they do.  Students learn at stand-up desks that come with swinging footrests and adjustable stools, allowing them to switch between sitting and standing as their moods dictate.  The desks help give students the flexibility they need to expand energy and focus on their work rather than worrying about how to keep still.  Noted one student: 'Understanding poetry is easier when I can wiggle when I want to.'" (Sadker, Chapter 4)

Marine is a very small town about 15 minutes north of Stillwater - there are about 700 people living in Marine.  I think there are a lot of artists living in Marine.  I never heard about the stand up desks and when I talked to a close friend who went to Marine, she didn't remember being able to walk around freely or having standing desks.  On a side note, this year's homecoming queen is a graduate of Marine elementary - I'll have to ask her if she remembers the stand-up desks.

The Marine Elementary school webpage is: http://marine.stillwater.k12.mn.us/

The Marine school report card is here: http://education.state.mn.us/ReportCard/2010/RCF083401789.pdf

Some interesting facts from the Marine report card:

15.62 total staff members in the school, 8.41 are teachers, 6 of those teachers have their Masters (about half the teachers in Minnesota have their Master's - this small school has a higher percentage of that share)

Last post today - "Promise Neighborhoods"

I'm not really in the mood to keep up on news today so I didn't really do too much searching.  There is one more article I'll post only because it reminded me of one of the schools we visited on Friday.  The article is on WCCO, you don't need to bother reading it because it doesn't say much more than many communities want funding to become Promise Neighborhoods and that it was based on the Harlem Children's Zone, but works with a much smaller budget.  It doesn't articulate what a Promise Neighborhood* is or what the Harlem Children's Zone** is.  (Article here/ )

The school that came to mind while reading the article was John A. Johnson elementary school, which is an "Achievement Plus" school - a school that integrates the families, the community, and public and private resources.  It seemed like a pretty noble organization.  98% of the school students are on free and reduced lunch; with such a high percentage, we can assume that the families are in need.  The school is home to the traditional elementary education program, but also houses East Side Family Center, East Side Learning Center, East Side YMCA, Goodwill Easter Seals, Children's Dental Clinic, Wilder Therapist, and St. Mary's Medical Clinic.  While we were there we saw fliers for a community baby shower and brochures on how to find work.  The school provides opportunities for families to get their needs met, and if the families needs are met, the children are better able to focus on school.  To add a less important note - I couldn't believe how quiet the school was!  I think it is more quiet than a normal school because of the space, but after spending a year working in big room housing 3 teachers, 5 paras and 90 kindergartners, the silence was almost eerie.

While we were there Principal Melissa Lehmann told us about an AFT article that praised John A. Johnson.  In it AFT president Randi Weingarten is quoted saying: “Johnson Elementary gets it—schools must be the centers of our communities, a safe haven where children can receive the services they need to mitigate the adverse effects of poverty on academic achievement. The Achievement Plus model is an example of how effective schools can be when these services are provided in conjunction with efforts to improve teaching and learning.”

The article can be found here: http://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2010/051910.cfm  - it's about the Pink Hearts not Pink Slips campaign.


* The Promise Neighborhood grant awards non-profits funding to create a cradle-to-career education system in "distressed" neighborhoods. More information here.html

** Harlem Children's Zone is similar in it's approach to education, the website for the Harlem Children's Zone is http://www.hcz.org/