Stability balls help Monroe third-graders concentrate in class

MONROE — Students in Stephanie Berg’s third grade class at Monroe Elementary returned from gym Friday afternoon to “build bridges” from construction paper and foam.

It’s a fairly traditional elementary school classroom with 22 big, round differences. Instead of desk chairs, each of Berg’s 22 students are lightly bouncing up and down on stability balls.

The alternative seating is part of a pilot program Berg has been testing since the 2015-16 school year. It’s based on a theory that constant movement will help these energetic third graders stay alert, focused and on task.

Berg pitched the stability ball program to ME Principal Ryan Roozeboom before the beginning of last school year. She has a master’s degree from Drake University in special education and experience with behavior psychology. She observed former PCM Middle School instructor Jennifer Ropes experiment with the stability balls in both the special education program and in the general student population with English and language students.

“It’s a question of how do you keep the kids in the classroom and engaged,” Berg said. “All of the psychology journals say we need more physical education, we need more recess, we need more movement.”

Berg saw positive results with the older students in Prairie City, and when she came to ME two years ago, she thought the stability balls could work at the elementary level.

“I said, ‘Ryan, I have this crazy idea but I think it will work,” Berg said. “‘If you give me the green light to pilot it, I really want to try it.’ The balls were really successful last year.”

With positive results in 2015-16, the program has been extended into a second year and a second classroom. Fellow ME third grade teacher Kathy Keuning is also offering the stability balls to students.

The most apparent benefit is the alternative seats allow special education students and students with ADHD to stay in the classroom. Berg said the seating also appears to help general education kids focus. She no longer sees kids falling asleep or putting their heads on the desk.

“It keeps the brain going,” she said.

The program is not school-wide, but Berg said ME fourth grade teachers have begun exploring the stability balls for their classrooms, as many of her former students said they like the seating option.

Roozeboom said he’s seen the trend growing in other school districts to include standing desks and rubber bands which allow students to bounce their feet.

“It allows the students to naturally be moving, but also paying attention,” he said. “The kids enjoy it. They don’t know it’s helping them with fidgeting while also focusing, which is kind of the point.”

ME staff plan to evaluate the program at the end of this year to see if the benefits of the balls outweigh cost.

Berg and Roozeboom think it would be difficult to correlate the stability balls to improvements in grades and test scores. So the educators will be looking for a decrease in overall number of student office referrals associated with distracting movement or actions which get the student and their peers off task. Berg will also look for improvements in individual students.

So far, the experiment appears to be working. Berg has reported less time spent refocusing her students from fidgeting, excess movement and distracting behavior.

Each ball is about $10 and there is a funding challenge. The money for the balls comes from the school’s PTA. Each teacher gets a budget from PTA and Berg chose to use her allotment on the stability balls.

The third grade teacher does spend time in the gym before and after school airing up the seats, and she’s found certain styles puncture or deflate more easily.

Berg doesn’t mind the bouncing, in fact, she sits on a stability ball at her desk. But there are rules. Students are expected to keep the ball on the ground at all times. She has observed students experiencing core and back muscle soreness initially, but those muscle groups strengthen after a few weeks and those issues go away.

“The first two weeks are pretty intense,” she said. “Honestly, by the third week, we hardly ever see it.”

And for the students who choose not to use the stability balls there are still traditional desk chairs available. Although for the majority of Berg’s third graders, the opportunity to bounce on a big rubber ball all day is too much fun to pass up.

At ME’s Meet the Teacher Night, Berg explains the program to her third grade parents and allows them to try out stability balls. After the inaugural year, Berg said the students knew they were assigned the teachers with the bouncing chairs.

Seriah Nolan is in Berg’s class and said she likes her new seat because it’s purple and it bounces. When asked what’s different about her desk chair in second grade Nolan said, “It’s not as bouncy.”

Contact Mike Mendenhall at
mmendenhall@myprairiecitynews.com