My students need a variety of seating options to provide an optimal learning environment for a diverse set of learners, including stadium seats, wobble chairs, bean bag chairs, folding camping chairs, and floor mats.
Most students at my school look forward to coming to school and are supported in their learning at home through the relationships created between teachers and parents. For those that don't necessarily have that inherent profile, the teachers work really hard to help provide that experience for them and to make school a safe and positive place to come and to learn.
Students are engaged in school because they are allowed and encouraged to express their individuality and unique learning interests.
Students are eager to participate in whatever new learning activities are available to them, and they take pride in being part of a community within their classroom, school, and city.
My Project
If asked to visualize a classroom, the classic picture that comes to most peoples' minds is a stark classroom with perfectly straight rows of rigid chairs and desks, with students silently writing, eyes facing downwards. My goal is to change that picture.
By giving students the opportunity to CHOOSE where they sit and what they sit in, you are giving them the opportunity to CHOOSE how they learn, thus, empowering them to take charge of their own educational needs.
My vision includes students working collaboratively, engaged in deep conversations and problem-solving, spread out across the room on the floor, at tables, on benches, or in small group discussion circles. I have requested flexible seating options like stadium seats, wobble chairs, bean bag chairs, folding camping chairs, and floor mats. Flexible seating in a classroom will inherently give students opportunities to practice 21st century skills.
As an adult, I cannot imagine being told to sit in a chair, at a desk, for 6 hours a day. It's unfathomable. And yet, we don't just expect students to do this, we expect them to pay attention, produce quality work, get along with everyone, and be pleasurable, all while keeping their developing bodies in stiff, uncomfortable positions all day long. Academic instructional differentiation is a commonly used technique to meet diverse mental/emotional needs of students, and it's time we start applying that same theory to the meet the physical learning needs of students, which will in turn, support their mental/emotional/social needs, and result in a student-centered classroom where all children feel safe, comfortable, and valued.
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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. Koetsier and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.