Have you ever tried a 'standing classroom'?

Do you ever have those lessons where your students just can't seem to sit still? Well here is a tip you might want to try - a standing classroom!

The concept is simple. Instead of sitting, students stand up! That's right... It sounded crazy in my head too, but I had a willing group of 14 year olds who were up for trying it out, so we did!

My inspiration came fromthis news article I read and I thought, this looks interesting... so I asked my students what they thought and I was shocked that the majority of them actually were really pro the idea for various valid reasons! I'm already a believer in movement in my classrooms and incorporate that a lot, but I have never tried a fully standing classroom before!
So we decided to experiment and up they stood... 

The first thing I noticed was how I could no longer see everyone anymore, haha - some of those 14 year olds are much taller than me! So I had to stand on something to speak to everyone: not ideal, but my students were loving it!

Once students were getting on with the task I had set them, I stepped back and observed. I couldn't believe it, what looked so uncomfortable from my perspective, was actually having a really positive effect on the students. They were concentrating and smiling like crazy! Now, don't get me wrong, I did have a few Lazy Louie's who were 'tired' (aw bless - welcome to my world, son) and wanted to slob over the desk, but once they saw everyone else getting on with it they soon complied.

Lazy Louie's would rather slob over their desks...

From my perspective, behaviour was great; students weren't abusing the fact they didn't have to sit and didn't go running around the room or anything like that. Maybe it was because it had the novelty factor, but it worked better than I thought it would. They met their learning objective and made good progress in the lesson. At the end, I asked students for their feedback and low and behold, the majority of them absolutely loved it. They said it helped them feel less restless, helped them concentrate more, and allowed them to stretch their legs and move about which they appreciated. A couple if them inevitably said they felt tired and would rather sit down, but they were in the minority.

Since this experiment, they have asked me to do this again! So I tried something new and gave them the option to sit or stand this time. They all decided to start by standing up but as the lesson went on, interestingly about half of them chose to sit down! Fascinating creatures are teenagers...!

My conclusion therefore, is to combine the two strategies. Perhaps during 'listening time' students can be sitting, but during independent or collaboration tasks, students can stand up. Best of both worlds then!
Have you ever tried a standing classroom and what was your experience? Let me know in the comments! If you haven't, why not give it a go and share how you got on in your classroom!

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