How Standing Desks Can Help Students Focus in the Classroom
blogs.kqed.org
blogs.kqed.org
One question: do the Ikea versions remember their heights? That to me is a killer feature, because trying to figure out the "right" spot every time a desk goes up and down would make me insane.
Personally, I don't miss that at all. In fact, I think the variation is good for my back, I often move my table up and down little bits while sitting or standing, just because I change my posture.
No. Source: friend bought one yesterday.
Anyone know where I can get a standing desk (don't care if it's adjustable) that isn't insanely expensive?
I find it difficult to categorize the desk, a tool for productivity, as a luxury. I know that's just personal bias speaking, though.
The market supplies alternatives of varying degrees of quality, functionality, and design for ordinary desks. I wish there was equal demand for standing desks. Nothing ever seems to bring down the prices for them.
So you don't believe the tale that the primary audience for Hacker News are actually working on startups?
If someone can't afford US$500, they can make a desk out of a plank of wood on top of some bricks or old furniture. A standup desk is a minor modification. One can then put a bunk bed for sleeping above the desk, and thus share the room with co-founders. Co-founders can then take turns sleeping in the car.
I've made a simple desk in the past with an ikea top like this one http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S29870932/ and four lengths of 100mmx100mm planed softwood for the legs, and four big (10mmx200mm) countersunk screws down through the top into the legs. It was surprisingly sturdy, and takes a few minutes to assemble once you've got the parts.
As others have said the Ikea version is actually insanely cheap: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-standing-desks .
If you are shorter, half-height blocks are available to get to 12" of lift, or if your are even shorter, just use one layer and get 8".
I also bought a 29" wooden bar stool at Wal-Mart for $20 to take brief breaks for standing.
(that said, $500 for an adustable one is very very reasonable. that price was unimaginable 2 years ago.)
Not adjustable unless you take all your stuff off it, but a whole lot cheaper.
A quick search here shows small standing height units for as little as 250UKP including VAT and motorised ones for ~500UKP - so I expect you'll find some fixed height examples available in your state in the $250 range (assuming that prices follow the 1UKP->1USD pattern seen in what I pay for electronics and similar goods rather than the actual exchange rate which is currently closer to 1UKP->1.6USD - that may be an ill-informed assumption).
Another option for home if you have the skills (or friends that do!) is to make one. Before I got the free desk we were going to take the tools to breakfast bar furniture (which a friend had going spare after some renovations and which legs of the right sort of height) and install it in that corner of the home office.
All motorized standing desk seems to be frustratingly slow, and I imagine this is by design to offer better safety.
Does anyone know of a good non motorized standing desk at a similar or lower price?
Stop preventing them from socializing during lunch. Allow them to get outside for more than 15 minutes so they can work off some of that excess energy, both physical and mental. Stop helicoptering around them on the playground and let them be kids.
Everything else (aside from diagnosed learning disabilities) is just treating the damn symptoms caused by "experts" attempting to "fix" what hasn't been broken in schools for decades.
But don't take my word for it. Talk to a few involved parents of elementary school children. Are the kids forced to be quiet during their 15-20 minute lunch break? Have some traditional recess games such as tag been banned? Are troublesome students punished by being kept in during recess?
In fact, recess and free time are something I noticed quickly after moving from the US to Norway. The nearby elementary almost always has children outside playing. Actually playing. In wet sand, in puddles, climbing, running, soccer... so many things kids do that they would forbidden to do in the states.
Maybe the problem is that demanding students focus in the classroom for 5 hours of lecture per day is a stupid goal.
When I was in 5th grade, we did not have chairs or anything for our violin class. It wasn't fun, we had to stand for the entire class (which to 5th grade me was very annoying.) We got to sit down for 30 seconds in the middle of class as a "rest period"
That didn't make me want to go to the class. If this gets implemented you might end up making kids dislike the classroom even more.
I had this kind of setup in a drafting class in high school and a few art classes in college, and now I've spent the last 5 months with a similar setup for computer use at work and home. I probably stand 2/3 of the time and sit 1/3 of the time, and sometimes I hop up and down to really get the blood flowing or pace around when I'm frustrated with something or trying to wrap my head around an abstract concept. I feel significantly healthier these days than I did when I was sitting in a desk chair 11-14 hours a day (combined work and home).
Just as an aside, if you're going to stand and read a book or use a tablet or phone, you'll want an angled platform to avoid neck strain.
Standing in class all day would be a nightmare. I'm transitioning to a personal standing desk right now, but I would NEVER want to use one in class - school is physically tension-inducing and uncomfortable for a myriad of reasons and forcing students to stand up would only exacerbate that problem.
[0] http://www.gophersport.com/item/kinesthetic-classroom-pedal-...
During the winter I knew I would not go to the gym, so I purchased an exercise bike and used it religiously every two days. I was exercising but there was a pain in the buttocks and it was getting worse and I finally had to stop. Sitting at work caused pain after 1 hr, then 30 minutes, then 15. Driving to work caused pain. Stopping the bike did not help alleviate the problem. Went to the Dr who referred me to a physio. None of the exercises given to me helped. It took me a while to diagnose what I was experiencing - googling symptoms finally led me to a set of exercises that has helped incredibly. I am not fixed yet; I have to do the exercises ideally twice a day or at a minimum once every two days. It is much much better but it was torture when undiagnosed.
So if you have pain in the "middle of each or both buttocks" when sitting for a small amount of time, consider piriformis syndrome. If you feel you are constantly clenching your buttocks read up on it as well. The exercises to get relief are very simple, can be done lying down, and start showing promise after about 2 days. The exercises I do are on Youtube.
Which reminds me... I need to call my physio and let her know... hopefully this information helps someone else.
I wonder, though, whether or not some of both the student's and my improvements were caused by being on a different plane from the rest of the class. I also wonder what effect having some standing students in a classroom would have on the seated children. I was once told that I was somewhat intimidating when I was the only one standing in the classroom.
I don't know whether standing desks are the best option for everyone, but they're certainly a better option for some, and I'm glad to see standing desks being given greater consideration nowadays.
It turns out that I was finishing/understanding my work early and getting bored.
I think that the standing desk with bar stool combination that someone else mentioned would be a great idea for schools!