Post #1: Flexible Seating--A Process, Not 'Stuff!'

“Our next solution makers won’t be cultivated in desks and rows.”

-The Space: A Guide for Educators

Pausing to reflect on the first half of our school year, it is incredible to think about how much of an impact flexible seating has had on improving our classroom culture.  It started as #onenewthing...but it was HUGE!  It was so empowering to watch students take accountability for their own learning habits and direct their own learning throughout the day.

After spending hours and hours over the summer checking through Kayla Delzer’s resources, our redesigned classroom was slowly starting to take shape in front of our eyes!

As we attempted to bring the Starbucks atmosphere into our classroom in order to promote collaboration when needed, and enough choices to accommodate our variety of learners, I had no idea how much of an impact flexible seating would bring to our classroom in just a few short months.

Looking back, I can see how much flexible seating changed how our school day is designed and the workflow within our classroom. Often, I believe when people think of flexible seating, they think of all of the “stuff.”  Wobble stools, floor spots, barstools, and coffee tables are all great--but I don’t believe that alternative seating options define flexible seating.  I’ve started to view flexible seating more as a process, rather than things.  If students are expected to “sit and git” while atop a barstool, how much have we really improved our learning environment?

Thanks to some summer reading, the perfect #booksmash came together and provided us with the perfect mindset heading into the new school year, making sure we weren’t swapping out chairs and desks with “stuff.”  While searching for new tools from The Google Infused Classroom (Holly Clark and Tanya Avrith) to help our students “make thinking visible,” The Space: A Guide for Educators (Rebecca Hare and Bob Dillon) seemed to marry the same concept, but with classroom design as the medium, rather than technology.  Providing learning spaces that promote collaboration and also a medium that would allow students to make their thinking visible was the final piece to tie our room together.

It has been amazing watching our students thrive this year as they have had the opportunity to refine their 21st Century Learning Skills on a daily basis!  It took a while for us to navigate this new classroom dynamic, but as a class, we were able to find a workflow that worked for us.  It was definitely uncomfortable at the start, but I can’t imagine our classroom without it and I certainly can’t imagine going back!