How Standing Desks Can Help Students Focus in the Classroom

No...

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.

Speaking as a parent: do you know how you help students focus in the classroom?

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?

If you pair a tall shop stool with a standing desk, like the Stand2Learn desk and stool shown in the article, you don't have to stand 100% of the time and the desk doesn't have to be adjustable between a sitting and standing position.

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.

They're ~$500 and ~$600...

Anyone know where I can get a standing desk (don't care if it's adjustable) that isn't insanely expensive?

Remember how Agile invented the "standup meeting" specifically to leverage the fact that no one wants to stand still for over 15 minutes?

Maybe the problem is that demanding students focus in the classroom for 5 hours of lecture per day is a stupid goal.