Staff Report

Thanks to support from DonorsChoose, Newberry Elementary School was able to outfit a room with the new seating arrangement.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_banner3.jpgThanks to support from DonorsChoose, Newberry Elementary School was able to outfit a room with the new seating arrangement. Courtesy photos

George Banner, right, teaches his students math using medicine balls.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_banner1.jpgGeorge Banner, right, teaches his students math using medicine balls. Courtesy photos

The medicine balls allow students to creatively use movement to help enable instruction.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_banner2.jpgThe medicine balls allow students to creatively use movement to help enable instruction. Courtesy photos

NEWBERRY — Newberry Elementary School students are bouncing as they encounter math is George Banner’s fifth grade class: Thanks to generous funding from DonorsChoose, Banner replaced his traditional classroom chairs with medicine balls.

Now, as they answer a math problem, his students can bounce four times to indicate a remainder of four. They also use bouncing to reinforce lessons on decimals. Banner has noticed as students move a decimal to the right or left that he sees them bouncing almost subconsciously.

Banner believes the whole body approach to learning helps improve student focus and increases positive learning outcomes.

“Research has proven that movement helps a child stay focused and learn at their greatest potential,” he said. “Our 21st Century training has also helped us understand the need for movement in the classroom which helps our students stay focused and learn. It was that training and research that sparked my idea for the new chairs.”

Banner cited a Human Kinetics article “How Exercise Benefits the Brain” by Jean Blaydes and Debby Mitchell. The article explains how “Exercise creates the optimal environment for neural plasticity, the ability of the brain to change. Exercise puts the brain and body into balance naturally by regulating the brain chemicals that control mood and response to stress.”

Tapping into naturally healthy rhythms can promote learning, according to the research Banner mentions.

Banner has been adaptable to the change, as have his students. In the traditional classroom students typically move around the room for group work only. Now there is more freedom to move with purpose. The chairs also promote improved posture among his students.

“With these balance chairs, my students are now getting the movement they need to stay focused. The students are even coming up with surprising ways the exercise balls can relate to the math they are learning,” Banner said. “As students are counting on a number line, converting metric measurements, or even step counting with multiplication, they are using the chair to keep count by bouncing on it. I have already noticed a behavior improvement from my more active students who are always looking for a reason to move.”

The chairs give one more tool to place purposeful movement within the classroom.

“I am extremely excited to be able to give my students this chance in the classroom and I know that they are excited to get out of the normal chair and sit somewhere more comfortable,” Banner said. “I am thankful to have a principal that allows me to try innovative things in my classroom that help my students. I would also like to thank all the people who funded this amazing classroom adventure we are having.“

Thanks to his efforts and proposal, Banner’s project was completely funded using Donorschoose.com.