More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education.
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Being a Montessori classroom, there are no assigned desks or spots for students to sit. Instead, students have the freedom to sit where they feel they will be most productive. The students are also expected to work calmly and peacefully which can be challenging for those that need to move around. This movement can cause distracting to other students.
Studies have show that students use both sides of their brain and have the ability to focus more on their classroom work if they are given a yoga ball or something they need to keep stabilized to sit on while working. I have found this to be true in my own classroom when I asked students who were having trouble focusing to bring in a yoga ball to sit on. As I predicted, the yoga ball became very popular. At one point, over half the class had brought in yoga balls to sit on. I saw those students that had trouble focusing remain on task during the entire 3 hour work period. This made me think, what if all the students in the classroom had an opportunity to choose a seat that would help them focus and reach their full productivity potential.
In researching how to manage yoga balls in the classroom, I found many articles on flexible seating in the classroom. Flexible seating gives students multiple seating options to choose from to help them focus. I feel that this fits in with the Montessori method of students choosing a place to sit that will help them be most successful in completing their independent tasks throughout the 3+hour work period. Their minds are more likely to be engaged, students that have attention issues will have a better time focusing on their work by keeping their core muscles engaged.
About my class
Being a Montessori classroom, there are no assigned desks or spots for students to sit. Instead, students have the freedom to sit where they feel they will be most productive. The students are also expected to work calmly and peacefully which can be challenging for those that need to move around. This movement can cause distracting to other students.
Studies have show that students use both sides of their brain and have the ability to focus more on their classroom work if they are given a yoga ball or something they need to keep stabilized to sit on while working. I have found this to be true in my own classroom when I asked students who were having trouble focusing to bring in a yoga ball to sit on. As I predicted, the yoga ball became very popular. At one point, over half the class had brought in yoga balls to sit on. I saw those students that had trouble focusing remain on task during the entire 3 hour work period. This made me think, what if all the students in the classroom had an opportunity to choose a seat that would help them focus and reach their full productivity potential.
In researching how to manage yoga balls in the classroom, I found many articles on flexible seating in the classroom. Flexible seating gives students multiple seating options to choose from to help them focus. I feel that this fits in with the Montessori method of students choosing a place to sit that will help them be most successful in completing their independent tasks throughout the 3+hour work period. Their minds are more likely to be engaged, students that have attention issues will have a better time focusing on their work by keeping their core muscles engaged.