In the thirty years of teaching, I have seen my fair share of the “wiggles” in my elementary students. I have also seen SO many variations of tricks, tools and strategies being pushed by schools and companies to help kids whose bodies move a lot to “settle down”, including lots of expensive and unnecessary equipment that end up being more distracting than helpful. I have also had countless conversations with parents who are at their wits end, being told their child has attention difficulties because they can’t stop moving. In 2016 the CDC published a big study where they found over 6 million children ages 2(!)-17 were diagnosed with ADHD, and 6 of 10 of those children were on medication for it- that is 1 out of 20 of all US children. Now, I am not saying that medication can’t help some children, in fact I have seen it help students I have had in my classrooms (at an older age, not 2!).  In addition, in a classroom of thirty plus students, it can be very challenging for teachers to have multiple student who bounce, jiggle, and shimmy around the room. However, I can also say in my years of experience I have seen those very children completely still as they are immersed in something they are engaged with and enjoy. I have had moments of astonishment observing these students so focused they don’t want to stop for recess. Even working online for INSL LLC, through an abstract space via a screen, I have witnessed students who start the session literally bouncing, who are then completely still and aligned within minutes after they begin drawing and writing their own ideas. What I have learned about our brains is that when we are doing something meaningful to us, we can stay engaged and focused for long periods of time. It is not always easy for students, especially those who have lots going on in their lives or in the classroom, to be able to connect with themselves to “settle” their brains. Yet, I do believe that offering more opportunities for students to add their own value to what is being taught by activating their own thinking process, can translate into more engagement, and maybe even make the “wiggles” disappear.