La Porte, IN: Teachers provides "BouncyBands" for kids' feet to keep them focused

Mar 22, 2019, Michigan City (IN) Dispatch: La Porte teacher fights fidgeting with 'bouncing' https://www.thenewsdispatch.com/news/article_432ab0be-ac9d-55b7-87e9-f26727ef9f38.html La PORTE – Boston Middle School teacher Natalie Watterson has come up with an unusual way to keep her students focused in the classroom – bouncing. Watterson said, she was finding students moving and wandering around the classroom instead of paying attention to her lessons…. But last year, Watterson was introduced to BouncyBands and decided to try them in her classroom. They’re elastic bands that easily attach to the bottoms of desks, giving students a place to bounce their feet, releasing excess energy so students have an easier time staying focused…. After learning of the benefits, Watterson sought funding from donorschoose.org. Her project – “Bouncing our way to success” – received full funding in two weeks time. In total, she raised $404, enough to outfit all of the desks in her classroom with BouncyBands. … The bands have been a big hit. “I have had great success with BouncyBands in my classroom,” Watterson said. … Watterson intends on bringing BouncyBands with her to the new middle school next year, and has ambitions of getting colleagues to institute them into their classrooms in hopes of making a more focused school. “I always hear kids telling me that they wish they had the BouncyBands in their other classrooms. I’m hoping that it will catch on,” she said.