A few weeks ago, Trey asked the question, "Why aren't we allowed to chew gum?" Emma chimed in that they had heard from sports coaches that chewing gum helped with focus and settling nerves. Some others connected that process to the mindfulness work we do on a daily basis. I responded with the idea that I had always lumped in gum with candy and given district rules about candy, I asked students to spit it out. I shared also that I was happy to reconsider if we could find some research, analyze it together, and then consider whether the research that we found truly supports our use of gum in the classroom.
It wasn't long before I received an email from Trey with links that led to a handful of articles that addressed how chewing gum impacts focus, memory, concentration, and even anxiety. For the next week we analyzed these articles, looking up the studies they were citing, reading abstracts in morning meeting, and considering whether the claims they made were well founded. After being provided this evidence, I did decided that with a few rules from me that I was okay with gum in the classroom. I asked if a few students would get together and write an essay using the tools we had been learning (claim-evidence-reasoning structures, organizations, etc.) that would inform families and other teachers in our school community of why we would allow gum in our classroom.
Below I'm sharing the essay that Trey wrote to offer our reasoning from the research we read. To make sure that we are being respectful of the school rules and others' learning, I am asking that students make sure to keep the following rules in mind. First, we will not chew gum or eat in anyway that would be distracting or disturbing to others. Second, we will make sure to dispose of any trash or used gum in the appropriate places. Third, we will make sure that we reserve the right to chew in our classroom only and respect the requests of other teachers to not chew in other spaces.
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This essay is to prove to my teacher that gum should be allowed in classrooms. Her reasoning for not letting it into our class is that gum is lumped in with candy, by definition, to the district. I disagree that it is candy. My logic is that gum is harmless as long as it is not a distraction (e.g. playing with it with your fingers, smacking loudly, handing it out repeatedly to other students). I emailed four links to Ms. Whitecotton from studies that had shown that gum was beneficial to things like attention and memory. Ms. Whitecotton says that if I can write a well-crafted essay with decent claims, evidence, and reasoning gum will be allowed in the classroom. So here we go.
An article from Science Daily says that there was a study by a person named Kate Morgan from Cardiff University in Britain that had shown that gum could help improve focus. This was the gist of her experiment (I quoted this from the Science Daily article, these are not my own words). "The study involved 38 participants being split into two groups. Both groups completed a 30 minute audio task that involved listening to a list of numbers from 1-9 being read out in a random manner. Participants were scored on how accurately and quickly they were able to detect a sequence of odd-even-odd numbers, such as 7-2-1. Participants also completed questionnaires on their mood both before and after the task. The results showed that participants who chewed gum had quicker reaction times and more accurate results than the participants who didn't chew gum. This was especially the case towards the end of the task." It had shown that gum positively impacts long term memory. My reasoning is that gum should be allowed in class because if the teacher is teaching something that you will need to remember for a long time, it could help.
My second claim is that we are responsible. We practice mindfulness everyday and have done it since the beginning of fourth grade, and we know not to just absently stick it under a table or onto a wall. We have practiced being aware of your surroundings and yourself, and sticking it somewhere besides the trash is not mindful. Lots of people subconsciously do things without realizing it, and we are used to focusing in on our thoughts and actions, and it's highly unlikely that it would happen. Gum being a distraction is another one of the reasons why lots of teachers don't like gum in classrooms. We are older and know not to play with the gum and smack obnoxiously on it. As for people bouncing off the walls from the sugar, that is what sugar free gum is for.
My third and last claim is that chewing gum helps reduce stress and anxiety. According to this article: https://greatist.com/happiness/does-chewing-gum-reduce-anxiety, chewing gum helps lower the production of a chemical called cortisol. They did multiple experiments and most of the participants said their anxiety had gone down. According to the article, gum also may help you stay alert. Paired with the mindfulness experience we have, that could help us a ton in class.
That concludes my essay about why gum should be allowed in class. My reasons were that gum reduces anxiety, helps you focus, and improves memory to an extent. I tried to have the most valid reasons possible, and I hope this essay has persuaded you to allow gum in classrooms and convinced you that gum helps you focus.
