Students work on assignments while sitting on yoga ball chairs in Chelsie Allen’s sixth-grade class at East Fairmont Middle School.
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Chelsie Allen’s sixth-grade English classroom has no desks, but that’s not a problem.
When you walk into Allen’s classroom at East Fairmont Middle School, the first thing you may notice are the green, circular-seat chairs lining the tables. These are yoga ball chairs, which were purchased through donations to a project idea Allen had come up with.
Allen, who’s in her first year of teaching, researched different methods of keeping children focused, especially those children who have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Before the yoga ball chairs, Allen would provide some students with clipboards to allow them to walk around the class while they were working.
“I noticed that having the students up and moving around helped them to be able to focus on what we’re doing in the classroom and to be less disruptive,” Allen said.
She researched a way to change her classroom environment to allow for movement without disruption. She found a few options, including pedals on chairs.
“I liked the idea of the yoga ball chairs because not only can they bounce on them, but they also roll around…
