Flexible Seating: Creating a Student-Centered Learning Environment!
Help me give my students various classroom seating options for multiple learning styles.
FULLY FUNDED! Mrs. Rees's classroom raised $1,486
This project is fully funded
My Students
Our students are joyful, hard-working and inspirational in their stamina and resilience. They also make our school the most diverse school in the district! For example, in one classroom, there can be up to ten different languages represented. Because of where we are located, we also have a growing number of students who are in transitional housing. Whatever the challenge, our students are constantly learning from each other and inspiring one another through their differences and similarities.
The diversity of our students sets our school apart from others and has created an amazing school community!
This unique quality has also presented challenges in differentiating our instruction; specifically in reading and language arts. This only emboldens our kids to strive for more while instilling a deeper level of understanding for other's struggles.
My Project
I had, for years, the traditional classroom with rows of desks and there were, and continue to be, students who benefit from this arrangement. But five years ago, I tried something new and it changed my classroom! Although flexible seating for the classroom was still in its infancy and I didn't know exactly how it could benefit my students' learning and my teaching, I gathered some free furniture off of Craigslist and began reinventing my classroom. Students had choice on where they sit and the type of seating that would most beneficial to their learning style. It was beyond successful and it has become an integral part of my teaching and in my students' learning! Fast forward five years and all of my free, used furniture has taken a beating! It has not only lost its aesthetic value, it has lost its functionality.
New flexible seating furniture will empower my students because it gives them a degree of choice and control over their learning environment.
Students are just like adults when it comes to working! They want to be comfortable, they want community, and they want to collaborate with each other. Flexible seating allows my students to choose where they work and with whom, while giving them options to change their location every week. As importantly, multiple seating options encourage students to engage more in the lesson and stay on-task because they have personalized their comfort in class by selecting the type of seating that best suits them. Finally, flexible seating encourages students to form ever-evolving communities and collaborate with different classmates as their seating environment changes.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
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. Rees and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
