Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/515703
keeps our bodies straight." J u l i e S h a t t l e s , h e r t e a c h e r at Peters Canyon Elementary S c h o o l i n Tu s t i n , p u rc h a s e d the yoga balls for her class of 31 students in November, thanks to a $2,000 grant from Donor- sChoose.org (funded by Chevron) and a parent who chipped in. The balls are about $20 apiece, and the base is about $40. While some workplaces use them without a base, she worried that her students might roll away or fall off without a foundation. (Yes, as the song goes, it really is all about the base.) Shattles got the idea when she visited the Tustin Education Association office and saw a yoga ball on wheels used by a staff person. She wondered if it might be the answer to restless student syndrome, because some students were becoming "squirrelly" as the year progressed. She thinks chairs can be painful for students experiencing "growing pains" and impact the tailbone. It was an adjustment. "As we were establishing rules for their use, most of the students were seeing how high they could bounce," recalls Shattles. "Watching that from the front of the room during a whole class lesson created a bit of seasickness for me, which they all thought was funny because of the nautical theme in my classroom. It took about a week for them to get the bounce height competition out of their system, and then the balls started to serve their purpose, which is to decrease unwanted movement." Students' attention spans have increased, while visits to the restroom have decreased, reports Shattles. "Some students ask to go to the restroom just so they can move around. As teachers, we have to make a judgment call if they really have to go or not, because we don't want them to have an accident." Students were given a choice of yoga b a l l s o r t r a d i t i o n a l c h a i r s , a n d a l l o f them opted for balls. Not one has asked t o r e t u r n t h e i r b a l l f o r a n old-fashioned chair. "I like it because you don't h ave t o s i t s t i l l ," s ay s J o h n Kim. "You can fidget and roll and bounce." Mira Kincaid loves that stu- dents can use the yoga balls for PE if it's raining outside. She offers an impromptu demon- stration of how students can swing the ball to improve arm strength and roll around on them to perform floor exercises. Shattles says her students are so attached to their ball seats that they worry about being without them next year in fourth grade. Meanwhile, she has borrowed one from her granddaughter that she plans on using at school for herself. "Mine will have wheels and a larger base," she says. "That way I can roll around, help kids, keep my spine aligned and be comfortable, all at the same time." Students sit on yoga balls instead of chairs. Julie Shattles watches as John Kim works on an assignment. P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y S C O T T B U S C H M A N Education trends Learning 48 www.cta.org