This is an overview about the project from Mr. Kickhaefer:
My Students: My students are part of a repeat English class. As such, they've obviously had little success to this point, and any little edge I can give them is vital. Balance balls and stability pads have been proven to help students (especially those with hyperactivity disorder) focus and concentrate.
In a school with 85% of the students receiving free or reduced lunch fees, there isn't a lot of money for frills. Our district doesn't really consider stability pads to be "essential" materials. To help my kids break the cycle of poverty, it's imperative that I help them in every way I can to find success academically. Without education, they're doomed.
My Project: I'm not just making this up! A study published in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy showed using balance balls as chairs helped children remain seated and pay attention in the classroom. The authors said the children’s bouncing on the balance balls alleviated boredom or burned off excess energy.
Children who fell asleep on the balance ball would sit up when the ball moved, the authors said. And it prevented children from possible injury, usually from tipping a chair back onto its rear legs.
Help me help my kids! If this small step proves successful, perhaps I can get balls for more students and more classrooms throughout my school. Maybe this seed of success and heightened classroom focus will grow into something bigger, and better and provide that little glimpse of a better future my kids so desperately crave
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