Flexible Seating in the Classroom

The beginning of the school year is usually rough. It takes a little bit of time to get to know each individual student. Some students need some time to figure out the rules. (Some students need to test the boundaries of the rules) This year was different for me because I was looping with my second grade class to third grade. I was so excited because we didn't have to start at zero learning all of my rules and expectations.

I learned about flexible seating this summer and was eager to try it out. Because I knew the abilities of my students, I knew they could handle the transition. I also know that my students love it when they are given a choice in the class. Quite frankly, I hate making seating charts. For some reason, making a seating chart takes me hours because it is never perfect. If I do get a good seating chart, I usually feel guilty leaving students in their spot too long. Because of all these reasons I decided to try out flexible seating in my classroom.

I decided to buy six yoga chairs and six wobble chairs for my classroom. I also knew that I would have a counter that students could sit at for some extra space. Every classroom at my school has two Hoakie chairs, so I was going to use them. A parent also wanted to donate a bike desk for the third grade classrooms. My main goal of the room was to create around thirty seating options so that students could spread out without having so many desks getting in the way.

On Welcome Back Day, I was a little worried about flexible seating. All of my students little brothers and sisters found the yoga balls right away and started bouncing uncontrollably on them. Also when students first started sitting on the yoga balls, they started bouncing uncontrollably. We quickly enforced the rules and everything has started working out.

There are a lot of things that are going well using flexible seating. I think students are quieter during work time. They know they need to be, other wise they know I will move them to a different spot. They also seem to be getting more movement in during the day. I think this contributes to less behavior problems over all. I believe that when students have the ability to make choices, their learning is positively impacted.

Things that you should consider when adapting flexible seating in the classroom:

1. Think about the classroom procedures that you have in your room. How are the procedures going to be different once you utilize flexible seating? How will you pass out items quickly to all students? In my room, I assign 6 people to be the paper passer-outers. Their job is to quickly get 4-5 folders and pass them out. This way everyone isn't moving around the classroom and we can quickly move on to the next item. 
2. What are the rules you will have with flexible seating? What happens when students break the rules. In my classroom, the students know that they need to have less than four people at an area. They also know that they need to have at least one girl and one boy. Everyone is responsible for choosing a good learning spot. If they cannot make a good choice I will make it for them. There is no warnings in this case. 
3. What about classroom supplies? Will you use community supplies? I knew from the beginning that students would not have their own space to call their own. I had to create spaces where students could store their items. I also bought each student a coloring box to store their art supplies. I have also spread out their math notebooks around the classroom so students are all going to different locations instead of crowding into one small area in the classroom.