Phil Rynearson of Rochester, Minnesota, is working to raise student achievement and decrease students' waist-lines-simultaneously. He's using a program developed by the Mayo Clinic's Dr. James Levine (who also created an office of the future where white-collar folks work kinetically), which forces students to stand at podiums, sit on exercise balls, or lie on mats while learning. Technology is integrated, too: Students are hooked up to iPods and computers, and to calorie-measuring leg sensors. "I don't like standing," says Mariah Matrious, "my legs get tired and I like sitting." Poor Mariah-she has yet to learn that sitting is for sickly, lethargic troglodytes. Levine says his dream is a classroom with "kids shooting hoops and spelling," like the basketball game "H-O-R-S-E." Gadfly is always down for hoop-it-up, but he prefers to bring-the-pain on the playground court, after school. As for Levine, we've got a game for him: L-O-O-N-Y.
"Fidgeting in classroom may help students" By Chris Williams, Boston Globe, March 28, 2006