Advocacy
Math and Movement...
on a bicycle built for one There is a quiet, but constant hum coming from the corner of Josh Lambert’s math class at China Middle School. It’s almost so quiet you can’t hear it—but if you look in the corner of the room you know exactly where it’s coming from. Two students are continually pedaling away on stationary bike desks—moving and answering math problems at the same time. “I had the idea before I knew bike desks existed. We have 80-minute math classes—it's a long time for kids to sit and listen to adults; I wanted some way to get them to move,” said Lambert, RSU 18 EA. That’s when this energetic teacher approached his principal with the bike desk idea, wondering if they were a real thing in hopes of keeping his students motivated and engaged for the duration of his class. Shortly after, the simple discussion of “does something like a bike desk exist?” Lambert said he had a catalogue in his hands with exactly what he was looking for. “It's a pretty inexpensive solution—it was no epiphany, really. I just wanted some way for the kids to be active in the classroom,” said Lambert. The extra activity appears to be working. “I’m energized when I’m on the bike. I have morning math classes and I'm very tired, but this keeps me awake and it makes me really focus on my work rather than slumping in a chair. When I'm on this I'm really ready to work,” said 8th grader Morgan Presby. Since this is the first full school year with the bikes in the classroom, Lambert doesn’t have any hard data to show if the movement is improving test scores or overall math performance, but he can say with certainty the pedaling is making a difference in the overall concentration of his students.
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Maine Educator • December 2015
“Individually on a day-to-day basis it helps, absolutely. It takes out that nervous energy, and that little bit of motion is all it's going to take,” said Lambert. The school bought the cycle desks through a “Lets Go!” program grant from Inland Hospital in Waterville. Each desk, purchased from the company FitDesk cost $375. Lambert says the inexpensive solution to keep kids motivated has turned out better than expected. Students have no problem taking turns on the bikes and even get excited at the idea of how far they’re pedaling while working. “We got to travel all the way to Virginia,” said Morgan. While physical fitness was never the main goal of the bike desk it has become a secondary benefit. “One student on the track team biked 20 miles in class. Fitness wasn't the primary use of them but I'm never going to tell them stop pedaling,” said Lambert. So on students pedal, moving and learning excited to tackle the - Josh Lambert (RSU 18 EA) next math problem on a bicycle desk. “I like how I can focus on physical and mental activities and there is even a spot where you can put your pencil on the bike desk!” exclaimed student James Hardy.
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It was no epiphany, really. I just wanted some way for the kids to be active in the classroom.
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