As a teacher in the twenty-first century, I am doing what I can to support today's learners. I am a 2/3 teacher in a new STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) program within an elementary school. As a new program, we are looking to design and build classrooms and a program that meets the needs of diverse, twenty-first century learners. Our STEM program serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade.
I teach a multi-age group of students standard curriculum which is infused into real world STEM situations and focus.
We will participate in collaborative learning experiences that allow us to design, invent and think in an innovative fashion. Our core subjects (reading, writing, and math) will be integrated for a real world learning experience. Students will inquire about topics and research to learn more. Overall, we are working to teach students while developing twenty-first century skills.
My Project
Over the past couple of school years I have been working hard to get a variety of seating options for my students. By having flexible seating in our classroom, students are able to make choices that best suit them as a learner. I have gotten chairs, standing desks, wobbly stools, and ball chairs. As I set up my new classroom this year, I realized that all of my options, besides standing, are chair height at table options. This encouraged me to reevaluate my flexible seating options.
With this project I am looking to get three new seating choices for my students.
These options are all for students who prefer sitting on the floor. I am looking to get some wooden lap desks for students that choose to work on the floor and a clipboard isn't always the best option. I also want some donut ball seats for students who like to wiggle, but don't want to be up high at a table. Finally, the puzzle seating works for individuals as well as groups. This modular seating option will make our room more mobile for students to move things around, depending on what they are working on.
Overall I am looking to take our flexible seating to the next level - floor level that is. I want to provide even more alternatives to sitting in some type of seat at a table and these materials will help us to do that.
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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. Sturomski and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.