My experience is that they are a pain in the arse, the kids fiddle with these bloody things all day, they come in all shapes and are small and convenient to place in your pocket, you have spinners and clickers, the spinners are not too bad, they are silent, but the clickers are so fucking annoying it’s unbelievable, they also attract the attention of other students close by so there for causing a disturbance in the classroom.
I have confiscated a few, but I am now coming up against the statistics which say it helps learning, the kids have jumped on this and are now saying I am being too strict and I should let them use them? No way, if they just kept their heads down and worked they would all do well.
So, a small confession, I will be making a spinner from oak that I will add a carving to, just to see if I can do it really nothing more than that, however, I may offer it as a prize to the student with the highest mark at the end of the year.