Our classroom is a community. It is a community at the center of others: grade level, school, city, state, country, and world. My role as teacher is to facilitate my students' navigation of these communities, as we expand their horizons. Technology is an important tool for this expansion, but we first must be grounded as learners in a safe and supportive classroom environment.
The students in my 2nd grade classroom are diverse and dynamic.
We have students that have never left their suburban hometown, and others that are world travelers, learning English as a Second Language. We have students residing in temporary housing, and others in multi-generational homesteads. All still have an excitement for learning in their eyes and heart, and need tools and support to help them succeed. School is a place of challenge and success where we can provide access to tools, materials, and ideas beyond their own experiences. Each student enters the room with a variety of strengths upon which we can build a solid foundation for exploration.
My Project
A former student approaches me about acquiring flexible seating for my classroom (in which her younger brother will be a student this year.). I asked her to write a proposal and this is what she shared: Imagine yourself in this exact situation...You are about seven years old and you have been sitting at a hard desk for about an hour now. Your back screams at you and it hurts so bad that you can't focus on your work. Then you try to move to get comfortable, but your desk makes a loud squeaky noise that accidentally distracts the class from their work. Now your teacher is mad at you for being a distraction when all you were doing was trying to get comfortable to learn! The solution to this is flexible seating. Flexible seating will change the way students think of school and let them be comfy and undistracted.
With flexible seating, students have choice and power in their learning as they choose where they sit.
They could sit on a comfortable bean bag or a cushioned chair instead of a hard desk. They could use seats designed to allow or encourage movement, such as balance stools or stability balls. They could sit at a traditional desk and chair and use pedals or bands to quietly move their feet while they work. They could stand at taller workstations or sit on the floor with lap desks. All of these options will help student experience more success in the classroom. When children are comfortable, studies show that students can better focus on their work.
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. Higgins and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
