Did you know that some schools are changing the traditional desks for exercise bikes? We discover what they are for and why they are offering so many advantages and benefits to many children.
Bicycle desks? Where would we think of placing a bicycle desk for our son? Certainly not at school! The children must be and remain in their places throughout the 5 hours of classes established by law. They have to learn and passively absorb all the knowledge.
This vision of the passive student who remains in correct silence and order is gradually disappearing from our educational system, taking into account the poor results obtained. The sustained attention of a child is 45 minutes (speaking of elementary courses), so pretending that they continue throughout the 5 hours exceptionally attentive is impossible.
Currently, methodologies are being carried out that encourage practicing 5 minutes of exercise before starting the lessons in order to activate the brain. In this way, it has been shown that the performance of students is undoubtedly increased and the energies that have accumulated throughout the morning are discharged. Thus, the need for movement or fuss in the classroom is reduced in the session after performing these exercises.
However, when we talk about restlessness in the classroom, the need for movement and energy discharge, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) immediately comes to mind. Is it good for these students to get excited before starting the day’s lesson?
More and more children are diagnosed with this type of disorder, so it is increasingly common for a teacher to be in contact with him and have the need to adapt to his needs.
Some methods that teachers use after the experience is to turn the student in question into an “errand boy” so that he can move and focus his energy.
Also be more flexible when it comes to moving around the classroom. However, this creates differences and possible conflicts for the rest of the students, for example: Why can “Antonio” get up to sharpen 200 times and I am asked to wait for the class change?
Being aware of this situation, Mario Leroux decided to make a difference: he invented the bicycle-desk.
What does the bicycle-desk consist of?
Her name describes her. It is a desk that instead of having a normal seat, has a chair with the gadget of a bicycle. In this way, the student, when he feels the need to move, simply pedals and discharges the energy that is left over to be able to continue focusing on the task.
Education professionals have confirmed the benefits of this device and a Canadian school is already implementing this system as, in some cases, substituting medication for some students (always depending on the cases).
Research affirms that after 15 minutes of pedaling, students with this type of disorder are prepared to learn in the best conditions.
Does it work for all students?
The need for immediate movement that ADHD presents is not presented by another type of student without any type of disorder. As we have been saying, the exercise before the lesson is very positive for both types of students. However, the bicycle-desk that is so beneficial for students with ADHD, for students who do not present it are a source of distraction and divert their attention.
The mind of a child with ADHD is full of stimuli and it does not have a filter to separate the relevant from the irrelevant that is why he loses attention and cannot concentrate. But if we put at his disposal a stimulus that requires coordination and concentration, we will reduce the amount of stimuli that reach him and we will focus him on the task of learning, giving him the possibility of movement that he needs.
Therefore we can say that bicycle desks are specially designed for those students who have some type of disorder and who continually feel the need to move.
Where to get a bicycle desk:
For now, this newest technique has not reached Spain, so we will hardly be able to get one. However, there are tutorials on how to create a desk with these characteristics.
In relation to schools, having to have special characteristics such as not emitting any type of sound so as not to disturb other students, the option of making it yourself would be more complex. It is also important to say that this type of school furniture would cost about 900 euros. Something that most schools cannot afford.
