A student raises her hand while standing at her desk (left) while others work at their stand-up desks (right) at Marine Elementary School in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, on February 18, 2009. (Photos: Ben Garvin/The New York Times/Redux)
Standing Up for Learning
Students in Minnesota and Wisconsin try out new stand-up desks in the classroom
The days of being told to sit still and pay attention may be coming to an end. In fact, for some students, they already have.
Several elementary and junior-high-school classrooms in Minnesota and Wisconsin are experimenting with desks that allow students to stand while they work.
The desks were the idea of Abby Brown, a sixth-grade teacher at Marine Elementary School in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. She designed them with the help of a local furniture company, Sunway Inc.
The desks are adjustable in height and have swinging footrests. Students can stand at the desks or lean on them. They can also lean or sit on tall stools behind the desks.
"It gives [students] an option throughout the day," Brown told Minnesota news station KARE. "So that if they feel like they need to stand and move, they just do it naturally."
Educators believe that the ergonomic new desks may help students stay more alert and feel more energetic. Burning off energy by standing up and moving around may also reduce behavior problems. And stand-up desks may help fight obesity by allowing kids to burn more calories while they are at school.
"At a stand-up desk, I've never seen students with their heads down, ever," Pam Seekel, a fifth-grade teacher at Somerset Middle School in Somerset, Wisconsin, told the New York Times. "It helps with being awake, if they can stand, it seems."
Lydia Currier, a student in Ms. Brown's class, told WCCO News how using a stand-up desk has affected her: "My handwriting's way better, and I am more active during the day."
Researchers at the University of Minnesota are collecting data from classrooms using the new stand-up desks. They are conducting studies to determine how students using stand-up desks compare with those using traditional sit-down desks in both academic achievement and physical activity.
But some kids and teachers are already convinced.
"I love them," Carolyn Hild told the Stillwater Gazette. Hild is a third-grade teacher at Anderson Elementary in Stillwater, Minnesota, and has eight stand-up desks in her classroom. "I just think [the students] are doing a fabulous job on them, and they really like them too," she added.
Who knows—in the future, teachers may be walking into classrooms and saying, "OK everyone, it's time to stand up and get started!"
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 | Do you have a hard time sitting still all day? Do you think stand-up desks would help you do better in school? Would you like to have stand-up desks in your classroom? Tell us what you think on the Scholastic News Online Blog! | |
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Ergonomic Ergonomics is a science concerned with designing equipment to make people as safe, comfortable, and efficient as possible. Obesity Being very overweight. |
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