Flexible Seating... Isn't It a Right Fit for Everyone?!

Alright peeps, I may sound a bit cray cray but there is just something that has been bugging me since school got out and summer break began last week. Yes. Yes. I know many teachers do think about what they are going to do, implement and teach for the following school year before school even gets out for the summer, but here's the thing. I don't have to think about any of that! I get to enjoy my summer break and then begin my year of maternity leave in September. Yup, you got that right. Thanks to the good ole' Great North (aka Canada) I get to enjoy a whole year of maternity leave. So if I get a whole year before I go back into the classroom to teach my littles, what in the heck could be bugging me you might ask. Well, it's this wonderful thing called flexible seating, free choice, going table-less, or what ever else you want to call it. 

(classroom image from 1910, Google)

(classroom image from 1960s, Google)

You see... this year after reading many different blog posts and observing different classrooms inside and outside of my school district I decided to go "table-less" (for the most part- we kept 2 tables) once my kinders returned from Christmas break. It was marvelous and since then I have never looked back! I put a lot of time and effort into creating a classroom environment that allowed for flexible seating, and I was only beginning. I still have so many items and things I can't wait to try and add once my year mat leave is up, but that's another story. Here's where I find my brain in a bit of a pickle... while I love love love this idea, I don't quiet think everyone else in my school or the district is up for the challenge. I guess I should add in here that I found it the complete opposite of a challenge though. This last week of school as I was helping my kinders get mentally prepared for grade one I began to panic in this little head of mine. "How are they going to survive?" "All of these workbooks and worksheets, really?" "How are they going to sit patiently and all day in their desks?" Obviously, I know they will survive and I know they will do great but I just wish there was more student choice and flexible seating among ALL of the grades in my school. Maybe I just think more this way since I get it. I was one of those kids! I could not still quietly and patiently in one spot all day. I was totally that kid that needed to have choice and a bit of freedom. Did I get it? Nope. I was required to sit at a desk to do my work alllll through school. I wasn't a fan of school, sitting there, doing work all day and would have loved if I had a teacher who gave me some choice/options.

(classroom image from 2000, Google)

This year my school district did an amazing job at making sure our kinder teachers stay well connected with some awesome PD sessions together, as well as one PD session where we (teachers from different grades & schools in the district) got to tour other classrooms & schools in our district. Our goal was to think and make one change in our classroom from our experience. I heard SO- many (like practically every teacher involved in this particular PD session) state that they wanted to change their classroom set up to a more student led and community based learning experience. My biggest problem with all of their presentations is that almost all of them said they feared to allow such a change. They were not willing to get rid of the desks. Fear can be a good thing, but when fear keeps you from letting your students be successful is when it is not a good thing. I tried to explain to them to just "JUMP!". Take the leap. I did it! Did I do it perfectly? No. Could it have been better? Probably. But did it work and my students succeed in our transition to more flexible seating? Absolutely! Isn't that what matters after all.

(classroom image of the 21st century, Google)

So teachers if you are out there and you are scared about taking a risk, please just try it. After witnessing the power of flexible seating with my kinders this year I 100% believe that it can be beneficial for EVERY FREAK'N CLASSROOM and EVERY grade. Can I get an Amen?! :) Too many times this year I heard our "Boss Lady of Kindergarten for our district" (that's what I'll call her) mention that children need the opportunity to play, explore, discover and create. I know this is true for kindergarten, but isn't this true for every grade? Isn't that how children learn in every grade? If not, than no offense, but I wouldn't want to be in your classroom because I am one of those kids who needs to move, visualize, create and explore in order to learn.

Okay. I will step down off my high soap box for now because I have some great blog posts I found on Flexible Seating that I found helpful and that I think everyone should take a look at. Plus, I want to share with you what flexible seating looked like in my classroom this year.

This is what the classroom looked like when I stepped into it in October (I switched schools due to the original kinder teacher taking another position).

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Incorporating flexible seating in my classroom didn't happen all at once. I started off by just going table-less with the exception of keeping 2 tables for messy projects & for students who preferred the tables. My first step was to get rid of 3 out of the 5 tables in our classroom & going out to the local dollar store to purchase enough bath mats for every student. 

My classroom then looked more like this after Christmas break.

 The children got to decide where they wanted to sit and if they preferred to work with others or by themselves for our center activities.

Since we have lunch in our classrooms we decided to make our big carpet like our big dinner table. This allowed for all students to chat with each other while they ate their lunch. I thought at first that it would be super messy but it wasn't. 

As you can see, sometimes a child would prefer the table.

 We have community supplies & the children are responsible for getting what they need for their activity. I love that this required them to be problem-solvers.

I also have enough clipboards for every student in case we are working on something where we all need one.

 This IKEA tent was actually being used as our Market during our community helpers unit, but at other times it made a great place for children to have some distraction free time while they completed their work.

Towards the last few months in school I was able to order a loft, 2 wobble stools, 2 bean bag chairs & 2 floor chairs for my classroom that allowed the students to have more choice. I would love to continue to build on this over the years. I know options for flexible seating can take time and money.

Reading this Edutopia post by Kayla Delzer from Top Dog Teaching was like my Hallelujah moment! Kayla got my wheels turning and had me imagining all of the possibilities I could do with my classroom & students if I just gave them the chance. She even shares what flexible seating looks like in her 2nd grade classroom here. Check out her classroom and ask yourself "Does my classroom look like a 21st century classroom or a classroom from the 1960s (minus the peace, love & happiness part)?". 

Are you interested in flexible seating or even a bit too scared to test it out? Don't fear! Angie from Lucky Little Learners has all the Q&As you need to figure things out. I actually didn't find her blog post until after I had already went "table-less" in my classroom, but literally all of her questions & answers pretty much would be the same as what went down in my classroom. I did not create an anchor chart, but I did review how we use certain seating options and areas each morning for the first few days to help remind my kiddos of what was expected of them. I also LOVE that she says "Give your students a chance to prove themselves."

Here are some other good reads on Flexible Seating by Shannon at Teach 2 Love, TechWithJen, Kristen's Kindergarten, Tammy at Literacy Loves Company, and First Year Teaching Tales. 

What kind of classroom do you have?

Hey hey there folks. So today I went and observed another kindergarten classroom which got me thinking.... I love that observing another classroom got be thinking because I know my learning is never ending and that there is always room for improvement. I try to observe at least one classroom a year or more if possible. I observed many great things today and I have LOTS of photos to share with you. Like I have over 50 so I can't even share them all. So back to this observation having me thinking... I thought hmmm... "How do I bring more of a want for learning in my classroom?", "How can I include more scientific inquiry into my classroom?", and "Am I wrong for being more academically goal driven in my classroom?". Honestly I had so many things going through my mind that I can't even organize all of my thoughts.

 

Let me start with this. The kindergarten classroom and school that I observed believes in the Reggio Emilia approach. If you aren't sure what that is you can read more about it here. The moment I walked into the school I loved the warmth and environment of the staff, hallways & classrooms. As I walked into the kinder class the first thing I noticed was that the room was low lit with 4-5 lamps & white Christmas lights. I also noticed that there wasn't any loud and bright colours or posters screaming at me for attention. Everything was nature-based with bulletin boards covered in textured browns and branches hanging from designated areas. Not to mention this classroom has an amazing 2 story loft that anyone would love to have. How could I not notice such an amazing piece that any teacher would die to have.

 

The children were spread out around the room in groups of 3-4 where they were picking out items from a large basket and sorting the items of their choice. The children were talking with each other while problem solving the second they walked through their classroom door. After spending many minutes sorting I suddenly heard this noise. It was a low but pleasant noise. It was a clean up song that the teacher (Mrs. D) was playing which led the children to automatically start cleaning up. Some of the children sang quietly along. I just enjoyed how non-annoying the song was. lol.

 

After having a story read to them the children then got to choose what they wanted to do. Some chose to start their morning with a snack since they were hungry, some children went to work on creating a Valentine's Day card, some children went to build sand castles at the sand table, some children playing with zoo animals, some children played at the math table, and some children read a book to themselves.

 

Here are some photos of other areas the children have the choice to explore.

 

 

I asked Mrs. D why they were learning about the ocean in February and she simply said because a student asked a question about a sea shell. Mrs. D then brought the question to the class' attention by asking them if they knew where sea shells came from. That then lead to the children asking questions about the ocean. Mrs. D asked the class where they can find information, so they read books and searched on their ipads. Mrs. D brought in things from the ocean for the children. She said that the children are in complete control of what they want to learn about and she adds literacy and math into whatever it is they show curiosity in. I loved this idea!

 

Just last night I was laying in bed and feeling guilty for not having booked another field trip yet and trying to decide in my brain if our march unit should focus on planets or weather. Today it was like BAAAH-ZINGA! Why push learning of the planets or weather when the children may not want to learn about that. Well I know a few of my boys love trains and race cars, a few boys like dinosaurs (which we already covered), one of my boys is all about firefighting right now and I know for certain that one of my little girls is in love with horses. I brought this to Mrs. D's attention and asked her "Like can I really teach the children all about trains and race cars? I've never taught about those before?" Before you think anything. Yes, I realize how stupid I was sounding by thinking we couldn't learn about something because it wasn't something I've taught before or because it wasn't on my future plans. I know. I know. I am going to let go and let them lead our exploration in the classroom. Based on my children's interests I can then book field trips that go along with what peaks their interest. I just loved the way the Reggio Emilia inspired classroom felt and looked like.

 

While part of me is ready to turn my classroom completely into a magical natural wonderland like the one I visited today, I know that there are things I am NOT willing to let go of. Does that make me a bad teacher? After some thought... I don't think so. I hope not anyways. Like my push on academics, handwriting, writing and reading. I think if I find the right balance I can mix these in. Okay I said I observed SO many amazing things in the classroom today but when I noticed a few students grip their pencil the wrong way, write their name in all capital letters & not be able to identify letter sounds a large part of my body cringed. I cannot lie. Those are things I just cannot let slide. Sorry. Does that make me crazy?! BUT... those are all things I can still encourage but while working one on one with the children little by little while they choose which activities they want to participate in. I know this can happen because I was able to do it today while observing. :)

 

My classroom before was academic based mixed with play based learning I would say. Now I would like to pull more of that student led learning through their interests and curiosity. I blame my need for that academic push on the American in me. Bah ha ha. It's true! Any Canadian teacher I talk to tells me that my students do not have to read or write by the end of kindergarten. I know this is true, but I have had MANY grade one teachers appreciate my love and passion for teaching young children to read and write. Well we will see how this goes. Wish me luck!