When in doubt, do it.

     I don't feel well today. (Which is truly terrible as it is a gorgeous day outside on a long weekend!) I made myself go to school today to get sub plans ready. Now, I could (should) be resting so I could get better, but as soon as I tried, I panicked. How is this sub going to manage my room with the flexible seating?
      Just to give you a little background, I need to start from the end of last school year. When I was packing up my room, I told one of my teenaged helpers to recycle a lesson or something. She asked me why didn't I want to keep it and use it for next year, and I told her (a quote which has stuck with me since college), "You can teach for 20 years, but don't teach 1 year 20 times." So I go into every year determined to make it different and better. During last summer, I did a book study about increasing comprehension through inquiry circles and did the National Writing Project Summer Institute.  I also chose not to have a desk this year. I cleaned it out, gave it away, and put my computer on a small table. (Other teachers guffawed at my choice to do this. Their  biggest concern was where was I going to put my stuff.) Then during the year, I joined the Innovation Team at school. I learned about ways to offer choices for learning including assessment and spaces. Then I switched to flexible seating about halfway through the year.
     Since deciding to go with flexible seating, I have gone through ups and downs & back and forths, with trying to figure out its implementation. First, I had to try and explain it to the students. There isn't any trying - they got it! They were so excited about it they wanted to start that day! They were excited to not have a desk. Different than what I had read on other blogs while doing some research. Most of the concerns were about where were the students were going to put their stuff. Next, there had to be some ground rules we could all accept. As we discussed the rules, I learned the students were more ready for this change than I was. Kismet! And they had some reasonings behind the rules I hadn't thought of!

        Here are the 3 rules we have in our room for flexible seating. Rule number 1. You have to find a spot where you can do your best learning. Students came up with the notion that if they were allowed to sit wherever, then some students might take advantage of that and sit next to their best friend and talk all day. The students were worried about their own learning being affected! Rule number 2. You had to sit in a different spot each day. They were worried about everyone not getting the chance to sit in the 'best' spots. Rule number 3. You could only move if your spot wasn't working out and you spoke with the teacher. They were concerned people would just be picking new spots all the time throughout the day - and distracting from others' learning! They also gave absolute power to the teacher - if someone was being a problem, I had the right to move them - no questions asked. How nice of them, right?

     Now - without the desk and what to do with the stuff?  I found magazine file holders to use as desks.  They were donated to the Teacher's Closet from the local library getting rid of their periodicals. They are heavy duty and can also be purchased online (Demco) for just under $2 a piece.They also have book boxes and pencil boxes. I'm working on replacing the book boxes with small book totes which I will hang from my outdated chalk rail. Next year, I won't have pencil boxes as we will have community supplies. Somethings you just have to learn as you go.
     We started with just a few students 'losing' their desks a week. This was the highest motivator for on-taskness I have seen to date! Students showed engagement, organization, and participation - all to prove to me they were ready for the responsibility of not having a desk. It continues to evolve as the weeks pass. I have new, or really - new to my room, furniture waiting in my garage  - so the seating options can change and evolve as needed.
     I have a very busy classroom. I have 28 students with a wide variety of needs. I have a number of paraprofessionals - couldn't live without them - whom float in and out of my room throughout the day. I don't mind what others may see as wandering about the room. I have a bubbler in my room and let students use it when they are thirsty. I let them get up to blow their nose when they need to. If they have to go to the bathroom, they don't have to ask. We have a procedure in place that works and doesn't interrupt anyone. I have many partnerships established so then students need help, I'm not the only one who can or has to help them. Our classroom may not be the best oiled machine, but there are very few squeaks.
    We have now successfully made our full transition to flexible seating. I still have 4 desks in my room. I will probably keep them for next year too. The students who have them are either students who have expressed that a desk IS their best place to learn, have little to no organizational skills (despite my best efforts), or have chronic behavior issues that keep them from being able to sit and work by others without distracting them.
     Doesn't my room sound great? But remember how this all started? I don't feel well and won't be at school tomorrow. This will be my first absence since flexible seating started. I can't lie, this freaks me out! I had a very hard time trying to explain all of my philosophies and expectations without writing a book for the substitute coming in. I don't have a seating chart. The beginning of my day looks like a time-lapse movie of the inside of an ant hill with everyone going in different directions! It only looks like this because of all the jobs that occur in the morning and it only looks like that for 12 minutes. Transitions are also a chaotic time but this also allows for the brain to get an active break so great learning can occur. Should I just tough it out and go to school sick?
    AND then it also makes me also think -what do I do next year? I started half way through this year and the students were excited for the change. Now I have a whole new set of ups and downs & back and forths. How do I explain this at open house? How will I know which students should be in desks? How can I build what I have this year with next year's class that I haven't even met yet?! What if? I'm glad I didn't and don't take these questions too seriously. It will all work out fine. We teach our students to be flexible and adaptable, we must be the same.

    When in doubt, do it. I'm going to nap now.

Tanya Schmidt
4th Grade

Flexible Seating: What I Have Learned So Far

Earlier this year I was presented with the opportunity to join our school’s Innovation team.  We started by reading a book called The Innovator’s Mindset. This book is amazing and has so many ideas for giving students choice in our classrooms. One of the challenges that I decided to jump into head first was flexible seating.

Implementation:

I already had a few different seating options like beanbags and rugs in my classroom, but there were very specific times that these could be used by students and I wanted to be more fluid with my seating throughout the day. I was lucky enough to have a group of really flexible kiddos this year, so we worked together to create a system that works smoothly.

My end goal was to have no assigned spots in the classroom and really allow students to choose their seats at all times. The first step was to find space for everybody’s supplies. I decided to use their book boxes for notebooks and folders. Then I bought drawers which is where students keep the books they are reading, pencils, math supplies, and other odds and ends.  They have a shelf for their pencil cases and small buckets for their coloring utensils.  My kiddos have really adapted to this well. Some of them like to carry their drawers around with them throughout the day and others like to take what they need and leave the drawer there.

The next step was introducing some new seating options for my students to choose from. I added a few bumpy seats, yoga balls, and some tables for standing in addition to my rugs and beanbags. It was important to me that everyone understood how to use each new seat. We talked about where they were to be kept when they weren’t in use, what the appropriate way to use each seat was, and how they could choose them. It was also understood that I was able to move anyone for any reason at any time.

Some bumps along the way:
Who got there first: Some students were having trouble understanding when a seat was already chosen by another student. We decided to implemented a new routine to our day. Each option for seating during all mini lessons now has a piece of velcro on it and each student has a number that they can put down to reserve their spot. This alleviated most disagreements over whether or not a seat had already been taken.

Rushing to get a seat: At first there were a few students who were rushing in the halls to get to a seat before others. We now always meet on the carpet when we come in in the morning or when we get back from recess. When we get back from specials they stay by their hook after they are done changing their gym shoes or taking off their art shirts.  I dismiss them from these locations by choosing students who are following expectations. This has also helped with some of my chatty kids as they now enter quietly which sets a calmer tone all around. Also, none of my kiddos forget to change their gym shoes before recess. Bonus!

Arguments over seating: Although their are things in place to prevent most arguments at this point, there are still a few times there are arguments. When this happens, the two arguing over the spot both lose the privilege and the spot opens up for someone else.

Too much movement: The yoga balls were new to me as a teacher. At first I didn’t know what to expect when I had my kids used them during instruction. There were two issues when I first started using them; they were distracting because students were bouncing, and some students rolled off of them (no one got hurt, but it was a disruption every time). To help with these issues we now have a no bouncing rule and both feet need to be on the floor. These rules have helped tremendously and the kids have adapted well.

Overall Feelings:

Overall, I love this change to my classroom. It was a slow process that is still being fine tuned, but the kids are more engaged in their learning and are much more focused during work time and instruction. They love having the choice of where they sit.

One big concern that I had when starting was that they would choose to sit by their friends. I was worried that this would create a situation where they would talk when they shouldn’t and they wouldn’t necessarily choose the spot that was best for their success.  I have found however, that there is much less talking than there was before and once the novelty of some of the spots wore off, they have been choosing spots that are successful for them.

I plan on making a few more changes over the summer. I have worked it out with our school custodian that my desks will be gone and they will be replaced with tables. I am also looking to add some wobble stools and a small lounge area.

I highly recommend giving flexible seating a try. There are several teachers in our building who have implemented this idea and it looks different in each of our classrooms. The main thing is to give students a choice of where they sit and find what you are most comfortable with.

Elizabeth Crain

4th Grade Teacher