Some additional pictures

Edutopia contacted me about featuring my classroom in an upcoming post. So I took some new pictures of the classroom to send to them. I thought I would share them here as well.

 Using the space up front under my smartboard. Typically an area left empty in classrooms. I try to use all corners of my room. 

 Panorama of the room from the point of view of my desk.

 Corner near my desk. I turned it against the wall so there was more room.

 Back corner of the room.

 A favorite area. They love the wheelie chairs.

 Back corner with high top table.

 Some still like the desks, and enjoy being in a larger group table.

 Another grouping of desks but with two seats on a bench seat.

 High top table

Another panorama from the door.

Gum is my nemesis

Well I have neglected to update this year on how things are going with my flexible seating. The positives are out there.

• Kids are engaged and comfortable. 
• I have a lot more group seating options for projects and discussions. 
• Other students pass my room and I hear them make positive comments and wish they were in there for the seating options. 

But with the positives, come the negatives

• Gum... oh my gosh gum! How lazy do you have to be, that rather than throw away your gum, you take it and stick it to the furniture? I'm talking about under the cushion of a nice papasan chair... which is now covered in sticky gum. To the back of another fabric chair. Ugh... I don't want to be that teacher that says no gum, but seriously, be respectful of the furniture!!
• Beanbag chairs - They are great, but they wear out. I had to get some replacement beans halfway through the year because they flattened. And filling beanbag chairs are not an easy task. Little white styrofoam EVERYWHERE. I looked at the YouTube cheats to make it easier, but apparently mine were the only ones that had static electricity and did not easily pour into the chair opening. 
• Disc Chairs - We had a few of these break. The bolts would come out, and then students didn't tell me, and instead hid them behind another chair. By the time I figured it out, the bolts were long gone via the custodians. I had no way to fix the chairs. 
• My room smells a bit like feet. Less cloth chairs that soak up sweat, more vinyl or something that can easily be washed. Or maybe a couch cover over my papasan chairs that I can throw in the washing machine. I've been febreezing as much as I can. 
• My round table got very wobbly. Kids are rough on furniture. Don't bring in anything that you really care about, because it WILL get trashed. It's being used 7 hours a day by big high schoolers that are rough on furniture. 

Overall I'm happy with the risk I took this year and the changes. I don't want to go back to desks next year, but I do need to make some adjustments over the summer. Not sure what those will be, but they will be coming. 

Thanks for checking in. 

Student Feedback on Flexible Seating

Reviewing for a test, playing Kahoot, and
enjoying some flexible seating. 

So we've been here one month so far. And in that month, I received more items from Donors Choose. That meant that my room got to be a bit more crowded with furniture. So we've worked to try and sort things out and make it possible to move around.
A few things that have helped:

1. Tuck your bookbags under your desks or chairs. Keep them out of the aisles.
2. No moving chairs. I tried to get the chairs where they would flow best. But I had students taking my disc chairs and moving them to other places. This caused more congestion in certain areas. So when they come in, they choose a seat based on where it is.

I figured the best way to find out about how well things were going was to actually ask my students. So here are some of their feedback about Flexible Seating.



I asked:
What do you think about how flexible seating? Give me your opinion and thoughts.

So first thing I learned was that they feel it's having an impact on well they are doing in school. 

"I like it it's more fun and I feel like I don't daydream as much in this class as I do in the others without it"

"Flexible seating has a positive impact on my work in this class. It is more enjoyable to sit in comfy seats, so I am more excited to come to this class."

"I personally really enjoy it and I think I'm more productive when working with my friends and it a comfortable seat."

"I think flexible seating allows students to learn in an environment they are more comfortable in, and this may allow them to stay more focused on what's happening in class and not if their seat is comfortable or not."

"I think that it is a great way to help kids who might have social anxiety to feel more comfortable in the classroom."

"Flexible seating has allowed me to be so much more comfortable in class, and while others may disagree it is very beneficial to my concentration. When I don't have to worry about who I'm sitting next to, or if I will be comfortable or not, I can focus better on what we are learning that day."

"Flexible seating is a great thing! Students get to have a choice of where they work best, whether that's traditional seating or comfy seats. When you get to choose where you sit, you are more comfortable and do better in school."

They enjoy coming to class because it helps make for a better day:

"The flexible seating is a great idea and it is my favorite class because of all the comfortable seating options"

"I really like it because it relaxes me and relieves some of the stress I'm carrying throughout the day"

"I enjoy it because I get to meet new people that I didn't know that well in my class before"

"It's basically the best thing ever to ever happen ever"

"It's a great addition to a classroom. Everyone works in different environments, so having different seats creates a more productive and comfortable classroom."

"It's nice to come to after hours of sitting in a desk."

Remember when you weren't given a choice? I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old at home, and I constantly have to remember that they are told when to do everything. When to eat, when to sleep, what to wear, etc... 
Well guess what? Teens are often told a lot of these things too. 
They like to be given choices. 

"I like it. I like being able to sit in different places because depending on the assignment I work better in different seats"

"I think it's awesome!!!It's super nice not to be told where to sit!!! It feels like we get more freedom and we are not restricted to one seat"

"Flexible seating gives students a different learning environment. In all other classes they include hard, uncomfortable seating that can distract from learning."

"It adds a more comfortable tone to the environment and I find it quite pleasurable to speak with classmates about schooling but also focus on the board."


What I also learned is that it's not for everyone. And there are definitely things that we can improve on. Trying to make it easy to get around, have goofballs make smart decisions, and also allow for those that need a desk to get things done.  

"I like it! But i think its a little crowded"

"I like flexible seating, but some shouldn't be able to sit next to each other."

"I think it's a good idea but it just has to be carried out the right way. In your room you have lots of different types of seats in different places and they make it hard to move around in the room. Like giant chairs taking up floor space to move. also I think there is too many different seats besides desks."

"I like it! But i think its a little crowded"

"I prefer a regular desk."

And then there are those that I need to reach out to, in order to make sure their needs are being met as well. 

"I don't really like it"


One thing that I have learned in my 8 years of teaching is that it's not my way that matters, if it's not working for the kids. I want to reach out to my students and make sure they are happy and content. So I ask them. I use Google Forms a lot to ask for help. They fill it out quickly when they enter my room and then I can look over their answers when I get a chance.
At the end of the year I do surveys and ask my students what they liked and didn't like about my class. They are allowed to stay anonymous. I want them to feel they can be open and honest. Even if it opens me up to getting my feelings hurt. Which really rarely happens. Kids are kind.

My Adventures in Flexible Seating

This is my 8th year teaching. I spent three years at a charter school in Detroit, another three teaching in Rochester, and now I am teaching in Grosse Pointe, and it's my second year there. But this is the first year that I'm finally embracing new ideas and new philosophies.

I can remember when I student taught, and my prestudent teaching mentor had a comfortable chair in the room. All the kids loved it and constantly wanted to sit in it. I thought it was pretty cool. Flash forward to my time in Rochester. I shared a room with another wonderful teacher, who also had a comfortable chair. I asked her about it and she told me it was her "bad day chair". If you were having a bad day, sit in the chair, enjoy a little. But you couldn't take it every day.

So last year, I had my own classroom, after sharing for quite a few years. I decided to get a few comfy chairs of my own, and they were a hit! Though sometimes a little too much. Students would fight over them, or race to get to them, etc. Near the end of the year I had to put two of the three away because it was just causing too many issues.

Over the summer I began to think more about it, and do more research online into what other teachers and classrooms are doing. And this is when I discovered what has completely transformed my classroom this year.

Flexible Seating.

The many hashtags out there, #flexibleseating #desklesstribe #StarbucksMyRoom and so many others. Day in and day out I would stalk Twitter to see new pictures that were being put up about it. I wanted to see what others were doing and start to plan for my own room.

I hunted garage sales and found butterfly chairs, a round table with wheely chairs (big thanks to my mom for that find!), I got carpet remnants from a fellow teacher in Rochester, and also spent some of my own money on a few new chairs. I brought in a double papasan chair that I've had since I was a kid, and an old Ikea coffee table that had just been taking up room in our basement.

My classroom was starting to come together.

I also turned in DonorsChoose.org. What a wonderful website! I was able to find more items through their partner websites and listed my donation page. During the first week back to school, I shared it with the parents of my students through my welcome newsletter. And wow! Did they ever come through for me! DonorsChoose was matching every donation up to $50, so between that, and my super generous parents, I was fully funded within 24 hours of pushing send on the email. AMAZING!

And because the majority of the materials I ordered came from Amazon, the boxes showed up almost immediately! I would come back from lunch and find a mountain of boxes stacked in my room.

So we started setting stuff up. From DonorsChoose I received some Big Joe bean bag seats, two high top tables with bar stools, and a bunch of oval disc chairs and bean bag filled ottomans. The kids are so creative with the uses of all of the items. I love to see where they choose that day to get comfortable.

When the year started, my classroom had 32 desks. Now I only have 12, and those are rarely ever all filled. Some students prefer them, so I didn't want to get rid of them completely. The rest use clipboards, or smaller tables I have. The Ikea coffee table on the ground has been pretty popular, especially when they use the Big Joe bean bag seat next to it.

I was worried that this wouldn't work as well for high school kids because they are bigger and just take up more space. The majority of tweets and blogs I saw involved elementary school kids who can get comfortable in almost any space. But my freshman have embraced it and found spots that they are comfortable!

I've had staff walk in and literally seen their jaw drop.

The struggles that I've had to overcome was dealing with where to put the desks. First I checked with administration about avoiding my room when it comes time for the state testing, but unfortunately we are limited on space, so that was not an option.
So then I needed to figure out what I could do with my desks so they would be easily accessible for the days of testing. I would need to reassemble my room for those days with around 30 desks for testing purposes. I wasn't worried about my own personal tests, because I typically test on the computers in the lab. But they could just as easily use clipboards in the classroom as well.

I have loved seeing how quickly my students embraced the changes. But what I also loved was seeing all the parents take a seat during the Back to School night we had last Thursday. My favorite was seeing a mom sprawled out on the bean bag chair, feet propped up on an ottoman! Awesome!

The parents have been so supportive. I had so many approach me and tell me how happy they are that I am trying something different. Or how they had already heard about my room from their kids after the first few days.

My goals... give my students a learning environment that is comfortable, encourages community, encourages collaboration, and somewhere that they look forward to entering.

We are two weeks in. I haven't given my students a seating chart. I've seen them engaged in the lessons and conversations. I've seen them try out new seating areas on a daily basis.
I haven't had one student fall asleep. I've only had to speak to one class about making sure they are doing work while in the classroom, that it's not just a hangout place.


So two weeks in, I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful that we will continue to have a successful years. I'm hopeful the furniture won't break and will make it through the year in decent shape. I'm hopeful the custodians don't hate me too much for my carpet remnants and harder to navigate classroom. I'm hopeful that moving the desks back to the classroom won't be too difficult come testing time.

Check out some of my pictures. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @mrscaralis and let me know if you have any questions about this experiment in flexible seating.