Mark Twain Elementary Principal Trina Petty-Rice posted a photo on Twitter (@tpdiva12) of new “kinesthetic” motion desks and tables that allow students to be in motion while they learn, now in use at the school.
One dealer of the school furniture says, “This is not exercise equipment – this is an entire teaching methodology that utilizes standing tables, motion chairs and numerous simple movements that allows teachers to actually have more control in their classrooms while providing a classroom experience that is far more conducive to learning than traditional methods.”
If this would have came out on April Fools day I would be laughing right now. But instead I am shaking my head.
I’m confused why you are shaking your head. This was sponsored by the PTO, not your money. It was a great addition to the school and anyone who currently does brain research or educational research on schools could tell you what a great way to spend money it was!
It was more of an eye roll than a head shake. It just a seems a little hoakey to me. I wonder why kids need all of this equipment to learn. Im still not convinced this is cutting edge but there is some research out there on it so why not go for it. Like someone else stated we will have to wait and see if it’s a fad or not. Just out of curiosity how many of these devices were purchased? As far as money is concerned I don’t really have a dog on the fight. I’m not even in the district. Just interested
Ugh. 40 South, you write about these desks. People read it and think it’s costing them tax dollars. You don’t tell them how parents volunteer and fundraise to support these programs. You don’t report that the National Blue Ribbon school is succeeding with students of all abilities. Why do you not choose to highlight the school accomplishments and the good community around Mark Twain? I’m watching the newsfeed about the school in California and thanking God that it wasn’t one of our schools. Let’s practice some gratitude and positivity, please.
It’s too bad that kids don’t get enough physical exercise in today’s world and it hinders learning. Teachers have to now make certain they move during instructional time too.
I’m on the PTO at Mark Twain Elementary. We’re proud to sponsor purchases of innovative products such as this whenever opportunities arise, and we’re proud of our outstanding nationally recognized school and its principal. I also happen to be a certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, and I love the idea behind these desks. I feel they may be extremely beneficial for some students.
While years ago, ideas like this may have seemed odd or even a waste of money, in today’s world things like this are cutting edge and at the front of educational research. Students today no longer learn as we did. As an educator for the past 15 years, I have seen a large shift from a group of individuals who could sit still and listen, to a group that can’t sit still for more than five minutes. The reason for their shortened attention span is not the debate of this article, but most people will agree it’s the faster paced world and the introduction of electronics. Kids in school today will also not likely end up in jobs behind a desk when they are adults, and my guess is most work will take place in a way we can’t even yet imagine. The goal of education is still to get students to learn what they need to. The trick is without a large attention span, teachers need to find new ways to teach the information and keep students attention. Research repeatedly shows that allowing fidgets, unique seating or standing choices or movement actually increases retention for students (I have attached two scholarly articles below on the topic).
I chose to live in Brentwood because their schools continually ranked among the top in MO. In order for them to stay at the top, they need to be on top of the research and stay cutting edge with what is going on in education. Mark Twain should be congratulated for staying up to date with what is best for their students and for doing what is best for the kids at all times. I would invite anyone who had negative comments to stop in the school, spend a few hours, and I can promise you that you will leave with a new trust for what these educators do each day. They make amazing things happen each and every day for our kids in the community and anyone with children there would agree. Before making a judegement from the outside, it is important to go inside and understand the research and reasons behind a decision
http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/03/19/fp_griss.html
http://www.nea.org/tools/47003.htm
Next time you vote for a school tax rate increase, remember this fancy desk that will likely be in the garbage a year from now. Throwing money at schools doesn’t solve inefficiency.
Mark Twain Elementary was recently nominated AGAIN as a National Blue Ribbon School. I wouldn’t call that inefficiency. In addition, the PTO is at MTE is proud to sponsor such purchases, so I wouldn’t worry about wasted tax dollars.
Sorry, that wasn’t meant to be a dig at the school itself, just at the purchase in general. This appears to be a “fad” piece of equipment that will end up scraped in the near future. We are all kinesthetic learners in that we learn by doing. You can still learn kinesthetically without a special desk with a premium price tag.
Grade school kids in Korea and Japan can speak multiple languages and do high level math but I’d be willing to bet they don’t have “Kinisthetic” chairs.
Check the suicide statistics of the students in these countries. Maybe look at countries like Norway if you are going to compare our achools to other successful countries regarding education. Many of them incorporate similar activity and exercise programs.
Don’t they have PE classes anymore?
I can see no better use of taxpayers money than exercise desks ! This is progress, first chickens, now exercise desks, what’s next.?What about hoverboards so the kids can get from room to room faster? No place for books. Oh, forget that, they all have i pads. You will have to add a small shelf for the i phones that are coming in 2018. I wish I could have one but I can’t afford it. My school taxes are too high. No desk, no i pad, no chickens and soon no i phone. You see, I am retired on a fixed income and have to pay for all the goodies with higher school taxes that are coming.