she says that the room itself needs to be flexible and with this philosophy of flexibility I was able to have those conversations with my class about what seating works best for them and how to deal with it if someone gets a choice you wanted, or if you feel someone is \u201chogging\u201d the seat. Recently we just got a brand new quarter round bench seat. I didn’t even think to have them take turns with it like we had to explicitly do back in October when we got the bungee chair. Then one day I heard it: \u201cYou can have the quarter round for writing.\u00a0 It\u2019s my home base, so it’s only fair you get a turn with it, too.\u201dI still sometimes have to say ‘work it out or no one gets it,’ but that comment showed me we were on the right track! <\/span><\/p>\nHave these seating changes affected any other part of the day?<\/h3>\n Courtney:<\/strong> Each lesson has time in the meeting area for learning, sharing, and reflection as a whole group. Then, students choose a space to pursue their learning. <\/span>Students are able to change their seating during certain times of the day to create cooperative learning environments. Often they move through multiple locations throughout the day, depending on what we\u2019re doing. <\/span><\/p>\nCorey:<\/strong> Really, the whole day has shifted from what we\u2019re teaching to be more focused on what the students are doing. That\u2019s what the space has prompted.<\/span><\/p>\nWhat are the biggest challenges and successes about changing the classroom layout?<\/h2>\n\n\nChallenges: <\/span><\/h3>\n\nChoosing seats.<\/strong>\u00a0Some students still spend significant time choosing a seat, or needing to be moved, and some seats are more popular than others which can lead to conflict.<\/span><\/li>\nInappropriate use of furniture. <\/strong>Some items we purchased aren\u2019t ideal for kids of this age group, for example, students bounced excessively on the stability balls distracting everyone!<\/span><\/li>\nDurability of items.<\/strong>\u00a0Kids are tough on furniture and some items are not holding up well.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\nSuccesses:<\/h3>\n\nHigher engagement and self-direction. <\/strong>For example, in ELA, students are more engaged when they have work to complete, and they are able to flexibly move their seating to change activities, like from independent reading to small group student-led book clubs.<\/span><\/li>\nCommunity.<\/strong>\u00a0Students have pride in their classroom and enjoy choosing home bases (their go-to spot for the day). They are also able to evaluate and decide how to arrange classroom furniture based on the task.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nHow did you make it happen?<\/h2>\n Corey:<\/strong> Last year we found that we were moving our furniture old setups around quite a bit, which prompted conversations about how things could be improved. Our students were very involved in the design process. They helped decide on furniture and classroom layout, and even surveyed other students for input. <\/span><\/p>\nCourtney:<\/strong> We also worked together to think about our goals for the space and what types of activities students would be doing — would they be using their Chromebooks a lot, writing by hand, talking or working together as a group? Once we finalized our plan, we were able to apply for grants so that we could purchase the furniture. Donations are another way to go, and thrift stores often have finds that can be repurposed.<\/span><\/p>\n(Editor’s note:\u00a0 Imagine the WOW factor of involving students in the grant-writing process!)<\/em><\/p>\nWhat advice would you give to folks considering this?<\/h2>\n Corey:<\/strong> Flexible learning environments are not a quick fix; they are a long-term shift in the way learning happens in the classroom. You have to scaffold and add options a little at a time. Introduce a few new seating options at a time in the beginning, and spend time clearly modeling expectations on how to use the seating. <\/span><\/p>\nCourtney:<\/strong> It\u2019s also helpful to have students create a contract with you, addressing things such as how to decide who sits where, when, and for how long: essentially together as a learning community you want to outline how you\u2019ll use the space and manage conflicts. And you need to return to this conversation regularly and reflect on how things are going, multiple times a day at first, and then at regular intervals or whenever an issue arises. <\/span>Don’t give up if a problem like talking off-topic arises. Instead reflect with the students to come up with solutions. <\/span><\/p>\nAnd a teacher-directed temporary loss of the privilege can keep work moving forward if negotiations get stuck. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBoth:<\/strong> You should totally do it!<\/span><\/p>\n\n
<\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\nCourtney:<\/strong> Flexible seating allows students to learn comfortably while thinking about where and how they learn best. These skills then transfer into their academic learning and form a foundation for making other choices. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCorey:<\/strong> Flexible seating also fosters more classroom discussion and problem-solving. Finally, flexible seating completely changes the culture of your classroom! The classroom is no longer “my classroom” but rather it is ours. It fosters more student ownership of learning and allows the teacher to place more responsibility on students. Ultimately, we have seen our students come out of this as independent learners and leaders in their learning!<\/span><\/p>\nHow could you change your classroom seating to foster more engagement?<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Physical aspects of a student-centered classroom Sometimes what seems like a little change can make a big difference. That\u2019s what two Proctor Elementary School teachers recently confirmed when they decided to incorporate flexible seating into their classrooms. It\u2019s been such a success that now every classroom in their school features some sort of flexible seating … <\/p>\n
Continue reading “What flexible seating looks like in action”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":16349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[480],"tags":[577],"class_list":["post-14398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flexible-classroom-spaces","tag-proctor-elementary-school","post_format-post-format-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14398"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14699,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14398\/revisions\/14699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"flexible](\"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/flexible_classrooms.jpg\")
<\/a>Sometimes what seems like a little change can make a big difference. That\u2019s what two Proctor Elementary School teachers recently confirmed when they decided to incorporate <\/span>flexible seating<\/span><\/a> into their classrooms. <\/span><\/p>\n![\"Flexible](\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/dGi6CtYW97o\/maxresdefault.jpg\")