Flexible Seating: Creating a Classroom of Opportunity

Teaching has always been an ever changing profession. Every year we face new kids and new challenges. We worry about ‘our kids’ after school hours are over and wake up in the night to jot down lesson plan ideas (or maybe that’s just me). However, out of all the challenges we face, the lasting one is age-old: every child is different. I can honestly say there has never been a case of a child being the same as another. Similar situations or problems, maybe, but no children are ever the same. So the question that all teachers have to tackle is: how do we reach every child if they are all different? They all need the same reading and writing skills, right? But, what if what we need to do is simply offer children the same skills and let them choose their own learning path? With this in mind, I have come to realize that my job is not to teach Language Arts, but to give every child the opportunity to learn in their own way.

This is a simple concept with a powerful undertaking. I’ve thought a lot about this in the ten years that I’ve been in education. It’s something we go to professional development for and read books about and try and fail in our classrooms over and over again. So why is it so difficult to figure out how to provide more options for kids? The good news is that in the modern day classroom, the possibilities are endless. Nowadays administrations are more open to new ideas, grants are available, and students are eager for change. For me, careful research and planning landed me on my latest venture to find an answer: flexible seating.

This not-so-new concept looks to ditch the classic desk and chair arrangement for something more, well, flexible. Most commonly used in smaller spaces, it gives kids a way of having more options in how they take in information in the classroom. It suggests that sitting in a desk and chair isn’t the only way to learn. When I first pitched the idea, my administration was wholeheartedly on board, but the idea certainly raised eyebrows from others. Common questions included: They are going to write essays while sitting there? You are going to teach them while they sit like that? Is there really a way to have any classroom management with kids like this? The answer was obvious to me: yes, if done correctly.

I eased into this ‘way of life’ with just a carpet in the back of the room with a few pillows and lap desks and labeled it “The Nook”. Then as I stood in front of it I suddenly felt slightly weary and unsure if I could sell this to middle school students. Would they buy into this idea? Will my class turn into a chaotic zoo? Doubt started to overwhelm my certainty.

When the kids came in and saw it for the first time, their reactions alleviated my nerves. In a time when kids are growing up too quickly, and they are more tech savvy than ever, the idea of sitting on a carpet to learn about commas was more thrilling to them than I expected. Although the concept of a comfortable space to work in is nothing new, it felt new to students. It was almost as if they were surprised that I trusted them to have these options. Of course we set up rules, but as any parents or teacher knows, rules don’t mean anything without respect. By giving the kids this option what I was really saying was, I trust you. They felt empowered. They wanted to show that respect back by taking care of the things I was giving them access to. Students were excited to come to class and lessons suddenly became more engaging simply because of one chance I was willing to take.

Watching them rotate reading comfortably in this small space made me realize that just as there are different ways of how to learn, maybe that needed to apply to where they learned as well. Differentiation wasn’t just a tool for how to teach, but for how to learn. I started replacing desks with bean bags, nest chairs, and yoga balls. With a rotation system in place, my room was no longer accommodating just the student who wanted the classic desk and chair, but the many students who needed something else.

When we were full swing into flexible seating, I decided to ask the students for their opinion. 98% of students preferred the rotating flexible seating and the negative comments I received mainly concerned sitting at a traditional desk as part of the rotation. I kept a traditional desk option thinking there would be some students who would still prefer to have a desk and chair, but the results showed the opposite. No students actually wanted the traditional desks. I was also particularly interested in why the students wanted flexible seating. 51% stated being comfortable helped them focus. One student stated, “I finally feel like I know what works for me to be able to focus,” while another said, “It gives me a better attitude about learning.” Having a non-traditional classroom was actually helping students understand their own learning and actually enjoy it more.

From the survey, there was one response in particular that spoke to me: “I like flexible seating because it’s one of the few choices we get as students.” It hit a chord for me because as adults we sometimes forget how much of a child’s life is structured, particularly in school. We forget that kids need to have the freedom to be able to learn about themselves. The modern classroom needs to have opportunities for kids to learn what works for them to be successful and we need to be comfortable straying away from the traditional. Because I decided to take that risk, my students have the freedom to find what works for them as an active participant in their own learning experience all while smiling.