Stop tipping your chair. You’re going to fall. If you fall, you will disrupt class. If you’re going to tip your chair, could you at least keep it on two legs? One leg looks really dangerous. How do you keep it balanced like that? I’ve really never seen a kid keep a chair balanced on one leg before. Seriously, how do you do it? You say it helps you concentrate? Hmmmph.

But wait, there is some research out there that says tipping chairs actually can help fidgety kids stay on task. Sounds crazy. But let’s see.

Yes, there are many articles out there that support this notion, and many products that can allow kids to exercise their core muscles while doing their schoolwork. First there’s a “yoga ball.” This is a big rubber ball that a child can use in place of a chair. There is also a “T-stool.”

I have seen at least one class descend into anarchy over whose turn it is to use the yoga ball, so maybe the T-stool is more my speed. I order three of them.

The T-stool is exactly what it sounds like: a narrow bench with one leg. The model I get has a telescoping function that allows it to be adjusted to the height of the child. This is probably a good idea on paper, but this one has a design flaw. When extended fully and bearing the weight of a child, it tends to retract suddenly, spilling said child on the floor. Said child usually takes books, papers, his desk, and a fair amount of his neighbor’s property onto the floor with him. This only happens when the class is quiet and hard at work.

Maybe you would like to stand up while you do your math? Or I could let you do your math at a high counter, with a regular stool to sit on when you get tired. You like the T-stool? Why? It keeps collapsing! . . .What? That’s why you like it? Of course.

If I just let you tip your chair, can you do it quietly?