I just love my 2nd grade students! They make me laugh and smile everyday with their creativity, silliness, kind hearts, and love for learning and life. This is my dream job and I am grateful to spend my days with them, working together to make our community (and world!) a better place!
From day one when my students walk through their 2nd grade classroom door, my goal is for it to feel like home.
I firmly believe that students must feel safe and loved before they can trust and learn from me. This is even more important because I work in a Title 1 school district. I know that for some of my students, school might be the only place that can feel like a consistent and safe home. With flexible seating, I am further promoting that feeling of "home".
My Project
I am nearing the end of my first year with a full flexible seating classroom. It has been one of the best decisions I could have made for my population of students. For those of you that are new to the term "flexible seating", I will give you an idea of what it looks like in my classroom: My students can choose where they would like to sit while working. I have options for the more active learners, like yoga ball chairs. I also have options for the students that are most comfortable on the floor, like lap desks. I have noticed a huge (good!) change in my students because of flexible seating. They are able to work for longer periods of time because they are allowed to move. They enjoy school more. One of my proudest teacher moments this year came after our first parent teacher conferences. Several parents of students that had behavior problems in years past, credited flexible seating to their improvements. It really made me feel like I was making the right change.
I would love to add a few more seating options that would allow continued collaboration and communication between my family of learners!
For teachers, it is becoming increasingly important to prepare our students for the work force, even in the 2nd grade. As adults we know that in any job, collaboration is key. You have to be able to problem solve with your coworkers and communicate in an efficient way. By having seating in my classroom that allows my students to work together side-by-side on projects, partner read, or even just have a book chat, I am facilitating the appropriate collaboration they will inevitably experience in the future.
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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. Lind and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
