My students need varied seating to accommodate the flexible seating arrangement we are trying to incorporate into preparing students for 21st century learning such as the Jellyfish Jr. chair and a rug.
This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
I teach 21 fabulous first graders in a K-5 school. We are located in a suburban area within the city or Raleigh, NC. Our school serves 329 students with 70% receiving free and reduced lunch. I would consider our population rather diverse; with 42% African American, 27% Hispanic, 4% multi-racial, 8% Asian and 19% White. Likewise, our students speak a multitude of languages including Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Farsi, English and Urdu. What a melting pot!
With that diversity also comes with a diversity in academic achievement and learning styles.
Our students receive intervention in reading for acceleration and improvement. We also have a number of clubs and teams for the upper grades to enjoy while enhancing their learning.
My Project
The first standard used to assess teachers asks administrators (and teachers) how are you preparing your students for the 21st century. Besides infusing the use of technology into their learning we also have to look at HOW we teach. Are we encouraging the use of teamwork and leadership within our instruction? Are we allowing for student-led learning where the students take ownership of their learning? At a recent professional development at Google in NYC, I was amazed at how their set up allowed for the creativity and more importantly collaboration of the employees. The thing that stood out the most to me was the seating. Ever since that experience, I have been pondering over how I can replicate that in my classroom to enhance student collaboration and cater to the different learning styles within my classroom. With budget constraints across the country it seemed near impossible. And then I learned of this website. With your contributions, my students will be able to take charge of their learning and thus foster the independence they need to succeed in this world!
Altering the seating is the first step in achieving these goals.
The circle time rug will allow student-centered discourse the common core standards are encouraging. Students can work on the speaking and listening standards by making eye contact, learning how to converse and the proper way to ask and answer questions adding to meaningful discourse. The Jellyfish Jr. chair will help those students whose sensory skills are still developing be able to participate in classroom activities in a way that serves their learning styles the best.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Armstrong and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
