The Continuation of Flexible/Alternate Seating

Welcome back everyone!  

As promised, I am going to bring you through the rest of my journey to having a flexible/alternative seating classroom.  If you didn’t get a chance to read where the journey started last week, you can click here to read about it.  

Last week I raved about the success I had with getting Hokki Stools donated through DonorsChoose, and the surprising ease I had with incorporating them into my classroom.  Through this success, I read more and more about what else I could do in my classroom, although we were already in the second semester.  I was all over the internet and Pinterest looking at my dream classrooms and reading about how they went about it.  Bringing in Hokki Stools was the easy part.  It didn’t change the layout of my classroom, didn’t change where the kids sat or their day to day routine.  To fully flip my classroom would change all of that.  

To be honest I was nervous.  Could my 6 year olds handle choosing their own spots each day?  Could I give up enough control to allow them to do this?  Where were they going to keep their supplies if they had no desk?   What do I do with all of their current desks and chairs?  Well, impulsive me had to dive in head first and figure it out as I went.  

The last day before spring break I had Lucy come after school.  I had been staring at my classroom for weeks trying to figure out how else I could arrange it to make this work and I needed a fresh pair of eyes.  Lucy came in and just like the partners in crime we were, we just went to work.  No desks? Let’s try it!  We stacked them all out in the hallway to experiment.  Now we needed tables.  Our building has some extra classrooms with extra furniture in them.  We scoped out any room that may have something we could use and came up with a plan.  We gathered the furniture we could and I wrote down what we needed.

The plan was to have options for a variety of sensory opportunities. I should note that I am very fortunate to be in a building with an incredibly supportive administrator and custodian.  They know of my knowledgeably impulsive ways, and laugh alongside me as I pursue them.  You know your own building and situations so you may need to consult with them first.  My custodian was kind enough to find somewhere to go with my desks and chairs, but that may not be an option for everyone.

Now for the sensory opportunities.  I found 2 long rectangular tables. One of them I had my custodian lower so that one side could have cushions/pillows on the floor to sit on, while the other side had Core disks that students could sit on. The second one I left at standard height and I bought camping chairs for it.  I had two circle tables that I used for Hokki Stools and standard chairs.  Finally I kept a smaller rectangular table that I had my custodian raise so that students could stand and use them.  I also added in a small coffee table with 2 papasan chairs.

Most everything I bought was from Wal-mart, due to the fact that I flipped the classroom in such a short amount of time.  This year it has evolved a bit.  The standing table is now 2 cafe tables and I have tall stools students can also use there.  I also have 2 Runtz ball chairs that the students love.  This process was not cheap and was time consuming, but I love how it turned out!  

Next week I’ll let you know my challenge of organizing supplies.  See you next Thursday!  

Alternative/ Flexible Seating Classroom - The Beginning

Alternative/ Flexible Seating Classroom

Hi Everyone, Amanda here!  I wanted to invite you all to take a glimpse of my classroom and my philosophy behind the set up.  We all know children are active and the higher demands in the classroom don’t help their little body’s need for movement.  I was noticing so many of my kiddos that were doing everything in their power to focus on their tasks at hand, but for some it was simply outside of their realm of ability.  

This lead me to reading about flexible seating and alternative seating in the classroom.  The whole idea intrigued me.  What really stuck with me was the following imagery:

Imagine that active kiddo in your class, we all have someone that comes to mind!   We teach

them that they need to sit “criss-cross applesauce” on the carpet, or on their bottoms in a

standard chair to show their are paying attention.  Their eyes should be on the speaker if

they are being a “good listener”.  That child wants to follow directions, that child wants praise

and to show you they are listening, so they do all of those things.  That child is now using all

of the focus they have in order to do those things because it does not come naturally and

easily to them.  In doing this, they are not giving you their full attention, they are not fully

engaged and listening, and it’s not their fault!  By allowing their bodies to have the natural

movement it needs, we are allowing that child to now focus on the task at hand.

We don’t expect all students to learn content in the same way, so why would we think they all physically learn in the same ways?  This thought led me to write a grant for DonorsChoose for 6 Hokki Stools to incorporate into my room.  I was shocked when my friends, family, and student families funded it in less than 24 hours.  That alone inspired me and reinforced the great need for these items, as well as the overwhelming support behind taking this leap.  

When we received the Hokki Stools my kiddos were so excited!  Before handing them out to students, we sat down and discussed some rules.  The rules we put in place were:

1. Sit on your bottom.
2. Be in control of your body.
3. Take care of our stools - no picking at the seats.
4. Some bodies need them and some do not. Either way is OKAY!

The biggest rule that we discussed was the last one.  These stools lead into a conversation about how our bodies are different and how some of them may try the Hokki Stool and discover it is very helpful, but some will find it is harder for them to focus and learn while moving, and that is OKAY.  We discussed how no one, not even a teacher will be able to tell them what is best for their body, it is a special responsibility that they will get to have.  

I had 6 Hokki Stools so I chose 6 students to try them out for the morning.  I purposely chose 3 that I felt would benefit from them, and 3 that may not like them.  This worked out well as one of my students lasted about 15 minutes on the stool and I could see he was uncomfortable.  I asked him what he thought of the Hokki Stool and he said, “I don’t think this is good for me, can I get a chair?”  I praised him for recognizing this was not “just right” for his body and brought him a chair.  Before lunch we sat as a class and asked the chosen students to reflect on what they thought and why. I chose 6 new students to use them for the afternoon and we discussed again before students went home.  These discussions helped students to know what kind of “signs” their body may give them as to if the Hokki Stools were the right seat for them.  

Overall I was incredibly impressed how easily these stools were incorporated into our classroom.  The students used them so naturally and took care of them appropriately.  Some of my kiddos that I didn’t think would need them, surprised me by the amount of movement they had while using them.  It just proved how much responsibility the students should have over their own bodies, because you can’t lock step everyone.  This successful experience only heightened my interest in the topic and persuaded me to dive head first into turning my whole classroom into a flexible/alternative seating classroom.

I’ll let you know more about that next week!  Can’t wait to have you all back!