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Active Seating

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KINNEBAR® - Kinesthetic Desk Swing and Active Seating for Fidgety Kids

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IS ACTIVE SEATING GOOD FOR CHILDREN?
Keeping a child focused on his or her schoolwork can be challenging for any parent or instructor, especiall if that child is particularly energetic, high-spirited or playful. This can be especially true when a child has ADD/ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Aspergers, or Autism.

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Kinnebar Active Seating Solution - KINNEBAR® - Kinesthetic Desk Swing and Active Seating for Fidgety Kids

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IS ACTIVE SEATING GOOD FOR CHILDREN? Keeping a child focused on his or her schoolwork can be challenging for any parent or instructor, especiall if that child is particularly energetic, high-spirited or playful. This can be especially true when a child has ADD/ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Aspergers, or Autism.

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How to Increase Attention Spans with Active Seating

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How to Increase Attention Spans with Active Seating

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Special Needs Blog

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It's hard to sit still for long periods of time. You know the feeling. It can be especially tough for kids in school. You probably remember being a kid and getting squirmy in class. With high energy and active minds, it's sometimes a challenge for a kiddo to just stay still and pay attention to curriculum and learning for extended periods of time without breaks that engage their other senses.

Fidgeting kids shouldn't just be mandated to just sit still and focus on the task at hand. Studies have shown that students that utilize physical activity during the school day have increased focus for on-task behavior.

That said, teachers can't create an effective learning environment when students won't sit in one place. To keep little minds focused on big learning, it's a great idea to introduce active seating in a classroom setting.

What is active seating?

Active seating, flexible seating, dynamic sitting, unsupported sitting, or whatever you want to call it, gives children a chance to wiggle, wobble, or move their body in a controlled manner while they sit. This movement keeps sensory systems controlling balance and muscle-use engaged. With these systems getting the input they crave, the child is able to move their focus back to seated activities and classroom listening. "Simply put, physical activity will help kids learn better. "

Active seating options

Now you're probably wondering, "What can I use for active seating?" Glad you asked. eSpecial Needs has been outfitting parents and teachers alike with active seating solutions for years, and we've got lots of ideas to share. Check out this fun infographic we made to highlight some active seating examples that have been favorites among our customers.

Each of these examples approaches active seating from a different angle.

The rounded bottom of Kore Wobble Chairs provides allows children to wiggle a bit as they perform seated tasks. This subtle input to core muscles and their vestibular system promotes focus and attention, but in a non-disruptive way that's great for classrooms.

Featuring a non-slip surface and stability-priding "feet," Balls With Feet let users wiggle and squirm without falling over. Just a little added bounce in a child's day can really improve alertness.

Yoga ball chairs or ball chairs help improve balance, stability, and posture, while increasing blood flow to the legs. The rolling wheels and back of the chair provide more traditional stability for the user, while remaining actively sitting and engaged.

The Yogibo line of soft, versatile bean bag chairs provide cozy sensory input and stability while also allowing for movement. These are great for home-use, and they create classroom reading areas kids love to spend time in.

The Height Adjustable T-Stool is the classic active seating solution many schools reach for when working with kids who have trouble sitting still. T-stools engage lots of sensory input needs by keeping joints and muscles active, resulting in a much more focused sensory-seeking student.

The options don't end there, though. If you're in need of more ideas and choices for active seating, we have an entire section of products listed on our website. If you've got questions about active seating, contact our Customer Service Department at 1-877-664-4565. Active seating is a proven tool for increasing focus and attention in the classroom, and we'd love to help to students in your classroom reach their highest potential.

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How To Increase Attention Spans with Active Seating - eSpecial Needs Blog

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It's hard to sit still for long periods of time. You know the feeling. It can be especially tough for kids in school. You probably remember being a kid and getting squirmy in class.

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Active Seating

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If you're on Instagram, chances are you've seen these scoop rockers in action. Teachers everywhere are using them for their classroom library areas, independent work, and center seating. Many of the teachers who hopped on the trend bought the rockers at Big Lots, but they're also available at Amazon for around $50 for a six-pack.

So what is all the fuss about? Teachers say that kids love to sit in the scoop rockers. They also provide a low-profile, inexpensive option for alternative seating. Here are some of our favorite ways that we've seen teachers use the scoop rockers in their classrooms.

As a sweet reading nook...

As a spot for lounging with a laptop...

Or cozying up to an iPad...

To learn more about how First Grade Findings uses her scoop rockers, watch her give us a classroom tour.

As a chill hang-out spot...

Or a comfy place to write.

If you're still not convinced, look how easy they are to store in milk crates...

Or on a wall...

This teacher is giving us serious scoop rocker goals. ?
Have you tried scoop rockers yet? Or is there another form of alternative seating that you prefer? We'd love to hear in the comments.

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Teachers Are Freaking Out Over These Scoop Rockers

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If you're on Instagram, chances are you've seen these scoop rockers in action. Teachers everywhere are using them for their classroom library areas, independent work, and center seating. Many of the teachers who hopped on the trend bought the rockers at Big Lots, but they're also available at Amazon for around $50 for a six-pack.

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Flexible Seating Guide

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Howdy!

We're Located in Texas, too. - Visit our K12 Furniture Showroom.

SEE WHATS NEW FROM SMITH SYSTEM AT #EDSPACES

Flexible Seating's Place in the 21st Century Classroom

The foundation of today's hottest pedagogies in education - student-centered learning and personalized learning - begins from the bottom up. That means giving students a say in how they sit, where they sit, and what they sit in or on.

Also known as alternative seating, flexible seating actively brings students into the classroom-design discussion. It lets them identify the kinds of furniture, such as chairs, stools, rockers, etc., that 1.) they find most comfortable, and 2.) gets them motivated to learn. The process promotes student creativity and collaboration, letting students work toward gradual change within practical constraints.

Flexible Seating or Traditional Seating? Both.

A flexible-seating classroom is anything but a dull, uniform row of identical chairs and desks. Rather, there are various types of seating spread throughout the room. They vary in shape, height, material and motion, and will include a few traditional choices, as well. Typically, students decide their spot on a rotation basis. Clearly posted classroom rules help keep the harmony.

(FYI: Flexible seating is different than active seating. Flexible seating is about providing options; active seating is a specific type of seating designed to move with a student's natural movement. Active seating should certainly be included among flexible-seating furniture options!)

Keeping it Calm and Uncluttered.

Naturally, educators, administrators and parents wonder about the potential visual circus created by classrooms of "misfit furniture." Smith System gets it. We help bring cohesive calm by using modern seating design, and we can match seat trim colors and materials. We also offer a variety of multi-purpose storage options for a perfectly organized and calmer 21st Century Classroom.

For more info:

The List of Flex Benefits Grows.

According to teachers, the flexible-seating movement is fostering a growing list of physical, emotional and academic benefits:

Choice. Students learn best when they have some control over their environment.

Community. Students learn to take turns and share supplies.

Collaboration. Students can easily pair up or work in groups.

Movement. Students can sit, kneel, wiggle, lean, roll, etc., and release excess energy, while building core strength.

Comfort. Comfortable students are more relaxed and more focused.

Sensory Input. Many flexible seating options stimulate students' sense of touch.

Motivation. Students are motivated to earn and keep their favorite spots.

Smith System Offers Plethora of Flexible-Seating Options.

Filling a classroom with mismatched, adult-sized, odds-and-ends seating is not an ideal flexible-seating classroom, nor does it promote good posture. Smith System provides many safe, durable, properly sized options:

24" standard stools for café-style seating

Oodle stools that can be stationary or have controlled wobble

Flavors multi-directional chairs and Flavors mobile chairs with castors

Noodle chairs with a patented moving seat pan

Learn more about flexible seating:

Smith System Mfg. Co.

Download Our Flexible Seating Guide:

Smith System uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our site. If you continue on our site, you consent to the use of such cookies. Learn more .

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Howdy! We're Located in Texas, too. - Visit our K12 Furniture Showroom. SEE WHATS NEW FROM SMITH SYSTEM AT #EDSPACES The foundation of today's hottest pedagogies in education - student-centered learning and personalized learning - begins from the bottom up. That means giving students a say in how they sit, where they sit, and what they sit in or on.

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Excellent tips to think about BEFORE implementing Flexible Seating.

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Flexible seating is all the rage these days, especially in elementary classrooms. Yes, I drank the juice too and I introduced flexible seating in my second grade classroom. Even though flexible seating was successful, I really wish that I would have done a few things differently before I introduced it in my classroom.

I'm starting to see something that's a bit concerning. Teachers are so hyped up about flexible seating that they are buying up every pillow, chair, crate, and tire that they can find before ever having read about flexible seating. Not only that, teacher are not making a plan for how to implement this system in their classrooms.

This is your teacher friend here speaking from pure experience when I say to pump your brakes before you begin flexible seating in your classroom. There are a lot of things to consider, and you might not want to "buy all the things" without knowing all the things.
Disclosure: This page may contain some affiliate links. When you purchase items after clicking on links or images, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I only promote products or services that I have either used or strongly believe in. Please read my full disclosure for more information.
What's the Fuss over Flexible Seating?

Let's assume that you know what flexible seating is at this point, so I'm going to spare you the long explanation. Basically, flexible seating transforms the look of traditional classroom seating. Gone are the desks and chairs in favor of pillows, bean bag chairs, stools, and pretty much anything your students can safely sit on.

If you do a quick search on Pinterest, you will see many pictures of classrooms that have been transformed. Instagram is another place to see other teachers' flexible seating finds and DIY flexible seating projects like tire seats.

This is a picture of my second grade classroom. I implemented flexible seating during the 2016-2017 school and it worked really well for my students...luckily (more on that later). Kayla Delzer explains that research shows that flexible seating "[increases] motivation and engagement."
Great, so all of my students will be focused on me in the classroom while they bounce around. Awesome, sign me up!
Ha, if only it were that easy.
RELATED: What Does Flexible Seating Look Like In My Classroom?
How Are Teachers Messing Flexible Seating Up?

I previously mentioned that flexible seating worked well the first year that it was implemented in my classroom. There are a few things that I did correctly, but I also did several things that could have sabotaged the whole thing. Avoid these things if you are thinking about starting flexible seating in your classroom.

1. Buying all the things: You ain't got no money honey! You're a teacher. Why are you spending all of your Starbucks and student loan money on stuff that might not work? The summer before I implemented flexible seating, I bought so much stuff. Five Below was my second husband and Target was my third child. I bought all of these things because someone else bought them and put them in their classroom. My thought was, "well they put these pillows in their classroom, so that must mean that it will work in my classroom too." Instagram be influencing me.

Unless you are looping up with your students, you have no clue what kinds of children are going to walk in your room for the upcoming year. You could potentially buy a ton of flexible seating options that don't work because your group of kids don't or can't vibe with it. I had a few students who were not allowed to use flexible seating because they never used it correctly. You may have students with behavioral issues that could not possibly sit on a crate seat or stability ball. Do you have a plan for those kids? This brings me to my next point...

2. Forgetting to make a plan: The summer before I implemented flexible seating, I read as many blog posts about it that I could find. I did all of this before ever purchasing a single flexible seating item. I really dislike following trends and fads in education without researching them. I tried to figure out what was best to start with. I downloaded free items from Teachers Pay Teachers to teach my students about flexible seating. I found sample letters to send to parents explaining flexible seating. Even with all of this planning, I never stopped to think about the kids who be unsuccessful with flexible seating. Not every kid is going to be able to handle bouncing in a seat all day. The truth is that some kids are going to need to stay in a desk and chair all day. I feel like the blogs and Instagram don't tell you that part.

Besides having a plan for students who might not be able to participate in flexible seating, you need a plan for implementing it in the classroom PERIOD. If you bought "all the things" and then have to ask someone how you're supposed to make it work in your classroom, you're doing it all wrong. You should know how each piece of flexible seating will work within the plan of your classroom before you buy anything.

I messed up because I implemented all of my flexible seating options on the first day of school. I had pillows, lowered tables, stability balls, and traditional desks. We all know that the first day of school is crazy town. It was stressful to model and explain all of our seating options among the countless other things I had to explain the first day. I didn't have enough traditional desks and chairs for my students to sit in, so I had to tell them about it. They couldn't sit on the carpet all day!

What I should have done was introduce one type of seating at a time. This would give all the students a chance to practice using it. Yes, they need to practice every single piece of flexible seating that you put in your classroom! If you are a Daily 5 person you know what I mean when I say they need to build their stamina while using flexible seating as well.

Don't be mad when little Johnny bounces through the ceiling while on the stability ball on the first day of school. You set your rules and expectations, yeah, but this is a toy to him right now. You have to let your students experience each type of flexible seating, one at a time and then analyze how it's working. Model, re-direct, set expectations, set consequences...there's a lot more that goes into flexible seating than throwing random crap into your classroom and calling it flexible seating. This brings me to the next thing that teachers are doing all wrong.
RELATED: 5 Real Things to Do When Flexible Seating is Failing
3. Not reflecting on your teaching style, classroom management, and behavior management: I run a pretty tight ship in my classroom. After my disastrous first year of teaching, I got a handle on my behavior management, and I've been good ever since. That being said, I don't really like too much chaos in my room. Flexible seating somewhat requires you to let go of the traditional thinking that students should sit still in their desks.

In my classroom, you'll find students laying on the floor, sitting on pillows, rocking on Hokki stools, and bouncing on stability balls. During my first year of implementing flexible seating, I had to remind myself that all of this movement was okay. I had to remind myself A LOT.

Before you decide to implement flexible seating, think about how you like your classroom to run. For some teachers, all of the movement that can take place with flexible seating might be a little bit too much. If that's you, don't do flexible seating.
RELATED: Flexible Seating Buying Tips
Likewise, you need to honestly assess how efficiently you run your classroom. I'm talking about classroom management and behavior management here, folks. Mrs. Russell has made a clear distinction between classroom management and behavior management. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself. Let me be frank, teacher friend...if your management sucks is not on par, flexible seating is not for you right now. If you can't control your class now, do you think you'll be able to control 20 bouncing kids? If you don't have procedures for everything in your classroom, do you think you'll be able to develop a system to make sure every child has a fair turn using your flexible seating options?

Hopefully, I've given you a little food for thought before you implement flexible seating. Remember, not every trend and popular idea you see on the blogs, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram is a right fit for you as a teacher or your classroom. This was not a bashing session for flexible seating. It was more of a what-not-to-do guide for those who are interested in flexible seating. So before you spend a cool buck on that discarded rocket ship seat you saw on Craigslist that would make the perfect addition to your flexible seating classroom, make sure you are crystal clear about how it will work in your classroom. Flexible seating has been so successful in my classroom that I have declared to several of my colleagues that I'll never go back to traditional seating. Flexible seating requires some trial and error, but keep some of my suggestions in mind if you're on the fence about starting it in your classroom.
Share this blog post with a friend who's interested in flexible seating. In the comments, tell me your experience with flexible seating.

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Before You Buy That Discarded Rocket Ship Seat...A Cautionary Tale About Flexible Seating | Tame the Classroom

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Flexible seating is all the rage these days, especially in elementary classrooms. Yes, I drank the juice too and I introduced flexible seating in my second grade classroom. Even though flexible seating was successful, I really wish that I would have done a few things differently before I introduced it in my classroom.

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The goal of classroom design is to enrich academic, psychological, and sociological growth. The design of such spaces should be intentionally serendipitous and avoid prescriptive and restrictive behaviors, for both teachers and students. The design of learning spaces should increase levels of engagement, foster active learning and teaching, and support the learning goals of higher education institutions.
Challenge
If active and collaborative learning and teaching is more effective than lecture methods and individually based learning, why haven't classroom environments changed to support them? If instructor-directed, competitive environments result in lower retention scores and higher attrition, why do students continue to sit in immovable desks-"soldiers in a row", as one community college professor observed-rather than organized in groups at tables or sitting in a circular arrangement? Why haven't classroom spaces evolved to support kinetic teaching and dynamic learning?

The difficulty in answering these questions lies in the fact that institutions must align many different elements. They encompass researching learning and teaching methods and cultural and sociological trends, understanding the needs of teachers, students, and administrators, and determining how the shared goals of these constituencies can best be realized in the learning spaces throughout a campus.

Successfully meeting the challenge of creating engaging and active learning environments requires collaborative vision, design, and implementation from a dedicated team that brings diverse talents and specialties to the work of achieving innovative solutions.
Solution
One example of a comprehensive effort to create spaces that foster engaged and active learning and teaching occurred at EMCC. Situated in western metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, EMCC is a member of the Maricopa Community College District, the nation's largest community college district.

With a significant construction initiative nearing, leadership at EMCC engaged a number of instructors, students, and staff to help frame the needs that could be met in new and renovated facilities. Herman Miller and its local dealership, Goodmans Interior Structures, were brought in to complete the team that would be responsible for developing a holistic learning experience.

The partnership brought together a breadth of experience and backgrounds. All had one thing in common: a desire to move beyond conventional thinking about classroom design. As part of their initial work, they surveyed faculty members to learn more about the methods they use in the classroom. Faculty ranked "creating a forum for open and free student/teacher dialogue" as their most common teaching style. It was followed by "providing instructional stimuli and facilitating discovery."

To address these needs, the team used three principles to guide its thinking:

1. An institution has the power to create spaces that promote students' success and advance teaching and learning.

2. Creating new spaces allows an institution to address the changing needs and expectations of students and faculty.

3. Learning spaces cannot constrain or prescribe a certain style of teaching or learning.

The primary challenge the team faced was to rethink classroom spaces, as these places would most immediately influence a desired change in learning and teaching methods. How could the design of a classroom support collaborative and active learning, engage students and faculty, offer means for interaction among students and faculty, and challenge and support students?

It became clear that the answer to these questions wouldn't come from incremental changes to the existing classroom model. Thinking in terms of "learning studios" became descriptive of not only the physical space attributes, but also the paradigm shift toward engaged learning and teaching.

The team initially created two prototype learning studios. Designing and creating these first two spaces took about two months from planning to creation, yet the experiment gave EMCC what it needed to affirm the direction of moving from traditional classroom spaces to learning studios.

Several months after the learning studios were in full use, Herman Miller surveyed the EMCC faculty and students who taught and learned in these spaces. Herman Miller was interested in comparing and contrasting traditional classrooms with learning studios. Research methods included focus groups with students and faculty, interviews with faculty, and interviews with administrators. An online quantitative survey of students and faculty was also conducted.

Having experienced the learning studios, students and faculty had overwhelmingly positive responses. Faculty, in particular, expressed an appreciation for the learning studios as a paradigm that better served the possibilities of experiential, constructivist learning.

Levels of interaction and engagement

The intentional flexibility of learning studios supports multiple teaching and learning styles. Without a prescriptive design, teachers are free to lecture or lead discussions or facilitate group or hands-on learning.

Mobile Intersect portfolio tables and Caper chairs make it easy for students and teachers to arrange the room to fit the purpose or preference. A circle of chairs for a full-class discussion or six tables for small group projects can be easily configured within the same space to support varied learning and teaching styles.

Intersect portfolio mobile display products can move to wherever they are needed. Larger whiteboards can quickly divide a single larger space into smaller group areas.

Wireless access throughout the spaces frees students to move, along with laptops, to where they need or want to be. Replacing desktop computers with laptops has increased levels of engagement. Students interact frequently and are more open to share information, in large part because they are not tethered to or hidden behind a computer monitor.

Because the studios foster direct and conversational relationships, they help avoid the passivity and isolation associated with traditional classrooms.
Expectations of participation and accountability
The dynamic and adaptable nature of learning studios adds an element of surprise. The unexpected opportunities the mobility of the space creates also translate to a fresh outlook on what the class might become on any given day. Contrast this with the predictability and immobility of a traditional desks-in-row classroom.

Faculty at EMCC responded favorably to the ways learning studios foster independence through group activity. Ample room to accommodate break-out groups, flexibility to reconfigure the furniture and space, and the ability to display information were all cited in follow-up research. Faculty also rated highly the ability of the space to teach students to take learning into their own hands. Teachers and students alike have a hand in shaping the learning environment.

EMCC's Roger Yohe explores with faculty how they can nurture engagement and build accountability among students. "We need to focus less on presentations and more on student learning. That's active teaching. Our job is to show students how to apply the theory, not just to teach the theory. When we give our students the tools to learn, they understand they are accountable for using them."

Learning studios also improved peer-to-peer support. Compared to traditional classrooms, learning studios permitted more relaxed, less intimidating group collaboration, while still providing academic challenge. When surveyed, students said they began to form study groups on their own or would turn to peers more often for help because interaction and participation became natural behaviors.

Learning-studio design also helped build a sense of identity and belonging. Students said the face-to-face arrangement of the tables and seating in learning studios made them more likely to introduce themselves to one another at their tables and talk about assignments or share questions.
Skills for life and work beyond the classroom
The design of learning studios intentionally builds an atmosphere of teamwork, one in which problem solving and relationship management occur on a regular basis. Tables instead of individual desks, organic spatial arrangements instead of linear ones, discussion-based versus lecture-based teaching methods-all of these can promote communications skills, teamwork, and relationship management.

Every student is a leader in a class that supports small-group work, collaboration, and experimentation. The instructor is not the only leader. "Decentralizing the teacher's zone" is how one EMCC faculty member described a feature of the learning-studio design. The learning studio also decentralizes the teacher's role. Giving and taking is an essential experience for students when they leave the campus and one that faculty play a role in developing.

When surveyed, students commented how the design of the space influenced self-directed learning by

allowing greater involvement in group activities,

helping create an environment that was more supportive of speaking up and participating in discussions, and

assisting in technology access to support research and dynamic learning activities.

Interaction through formal and informal means
For many EMCC students, opportunities to interact with faculty happen primarily in the classroom. Commuting and demands of work and home mean that many students attend class and then leave campus, so the faculty/student interactions that occur within the learning studios are essential.

Traditional classroom configurations create tacit hierarchies in which the vocal and confident students sit forward and receive more individual attention while quiet or timid students find seats in the back and avoid interaction with teachers and other students. Students said they were more comfortable talking because the learning-studio arrangements were informal. Conversations flowed more easily when the classroom was more collaborative and when teachers moved around freely.

Design considerations were also made for one-to-one opportunities between faculty and students. Celeste soft seating, Covey stools, and Resolve stand-up work surfaces create areas for individual conversations and smaller sessions.
Psychological and physical comfort
As with many community colleges, EMCC has a large percentage of high-risk students. It includes a population of first-generation college goers, many of whom come with little support from family. A number of students also have little formal educational experience or are enrolling after years away from formal education. Creating an environment that welcomes, invites, and promotes a sense of well-being can help the difficult transition and influence successful outcomes.

Students' survey responses indicate that the atmosphere of the learning studios dovetails with their expectations for higher education. The furnishings and environment communicated to them a level of professionalism, trust, and value that traditional classrooms did not. The impression they received: We are respected and valued by the college. Students described learning studios as "welcoming" and "relaxing." With the challenges community colleges face with attrition, these positive impressions may help decrease drop-out rates.

Physical comfort is also important. Products within the learning studios are ergonomically designed to provide comfort and support. For example, students commented that Caper chairs were comfortable and didn't strain their backs, even during two-hour classes.

The open design of learning studios creates a more comfortable ambiance. Students felt they could spread out their belongings and move their chairs. Room configurations varied as well, with display tools used throughout the space. Students didn't have to strain to see things or feel too close or far away, as they might in a traditional classroom configuration. Faculty cited the roominess of the space and furniture configurations as helping them to walk freely through the room, without having to squeeze between narrow aisles.

Integrating characteristics of natural environments into the learning studios was also a design goal. A mix of shapes, patterns, colors, and hard and soft surfaces infuses the spaces with variety and surprise, and helps to create stimulating learning spaces. The Intersect portfolio butterfly table has a soft form that supplies a balance to rectilinear tables. Resolve screens add a softer element to the structural components of the studios. Some studios also have soft seating to facilitate one-on-one student and faculty interaction.

For EMCC, the initial pilot of two spaces led to the construction of 22 more learning studios on campus. Renovation and updating of existing spaces continues based on the success seen thus far. Yet for these new learning studios, radical flexibility remains the operating design principle: Space, furniture, and technology are made to change on the fly. This flexibility not only makes the room more adaptable, but also increases student and faculty engagement by creating experiential and dynamic learning spaces.

In the words of one EMCC administrator: "Good design solves problems. If the designs of our spaces don't allow teachers and learners to interact in meaningful ways, why come to EMCC at all? We need to serve as advocates for teaching and learning so that our facilities truly become learning spaces."

The partnership of EMCC, Herman Miller, and Goodmans resulted in a problem-solving, collaborative approach to planning and designing learning studios. It demonstrates how success results from the shared experiences, ideas, and participation of a diverse and creative team-not unlike the experiences of students and teachers in learning studios.

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The goal of classroom design is to enrich academic, psychological, and sociological growth. The design of such spaces should be intentionally serendipitous and avoid prescriptive and restrictive behaviors, for both teachers and students. The design of learning spaces should increase levels of engagement, foster active learning and teaching, and support the learning goals of higher education institutions.

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Several weeks ago, I posted an article on my Facebook page about student fidgeting and the advantages of flexible seating. One teacher who commented was high school teacher Rebecca Malmquist, who described her own flexible classroom: "I have taken all the conventional desks out and replaced them with mostly tables and a number of different kinds of chairs; I've used garage sales and the generosity of friends to furnish my room this way. My classroom looks like a college apartment. But I also build in transitions every 15 minutes or so that require movement (to get into groups, turn something in, write on a paper-covered wall, etc). I have little to no fidgeting problems or issues with attention loss."

Intrigued, I asked to see a picture. Rebecca obliged, and then I lost my mind: "YOU HAVE THE PRETTIEST CLASSROOM E-VER," I shouted at her. "I WANT TO BE IN YOUR ROOM!!! I CAN'T STOP YELLING! OKAY, I'M OFFICIALLY STARTING A GALLERY OF BEAUTIFUL CLASSROOM PHOTOS AND YOURS IS GOING TO BE THE FIRST ONE."

And so Classroom Eye Candy was born.

Classroom Eye Candy will be a feature where I invite you to join me in ogling creative classroom design in any form. We will learn about the teacher behind the classroom and the process he or she used to put it all together. I have no idea when the next one will be or how often I will post these features. All I know for sure is the criteria: I'll know I've found the next classroom when I start writing in all caps.

Classroom Tour

Name: Mrs. Rebecca Malmquist (Twitter @beckymalmquist )

Job Title: High school English teacher - currently English 9 and 10, Creative Writing and Advanced Creative Writing

School Location: Hastings, Michigan

Q: What inspired you to arrange your classroom this way?

A: After my stay-at-home-mom years, as I explored the options of becoming a teacher or a school psychologist, I became an overly qualified paraprofessional for a few years at a school. While there, I noticed a need for teachers who were comfortable teaching all kinds of students. I also noticed that when a student had an accommodation for special seating, or some other really cool environmental thing prescribed by the OT or SLP (etc), they would stick out like a sore thumb. I mean, having a bean bag in your lap to help you feel grounded is awesome, but not if you're the only one with a bean bag. A chair on wheels that spins? Cool, but not if you're the only one. You get the idea. So, believing wholeheartedly that people gravitate towards what they need without even having to really think about it, I started noticing (in meetings, at my home, out in public) that most people, if given a choice, choose their spots based on some known or unknown instinct.

I vowed that my future classroom would be a place where those types of sensory needs were normal choices for anyone.

The Details

Seating:
So as long as a student's postures and movements do not disrupt others' learning and comfort, they are literally allowed to choose any number of places to land in our classroom. They can be:

on the floor, carpeted or tile

over/under a blanket, pillow, or lap-sized bean bags

on a couch, an easy chair, a Papasan chair, a traditional chair (wood), stools that don't move (with or without back support), stools that move up and down, "spinny" chairs on wheels, chairs that feel like they may tip (but don't), chairs that are plush on the seat and/or the back, or a high-backed easy chair

I did get rid of my exercise balls, because they just never held their air ... I have a dream for a balloon chair or an inflatable office chair or two ( dar Living Balloon Seat), but haven't acquired any yet.

Tables/Writing Surfaces:
Students can choose from end tables, clipboards, hard place mats, long conference tables, circular tables, rectangular tables, single tables near the teacher's desk, coffee tables, or the floor.

Manipulatives:
These are kept on my shelves for students to pick up and hold/play with: stress balls, tennis balls, plush animals, noiseless things, hard balls, plastic Slinkies.

Lighting:
No fluorescents-ever. I had a student with autism that could hear them and they would irritate him, which made me notice that I sometimes could get agitated when they are on too long, too. I have natural light in my classroom and a number of different light sources so they can always see well, no matter the time of year or day. Last year I had a student whose mom asked me to place a S.A.D. light in my room for her child, because she figured it would be the best place for the child to get a daily dose (30 min/day) and s/he fit right in when s/he sat in front of it in our classroom.

Music:
I play music every day when they come in for class; the genre changes, to accommodate all the different interests in the room. I think that adds to the environment as well.

Q: Where did you get the materials/furniture?

A: Mostly I find these things at garage sales; I buy them with my own money. I DO work at a school with a basement full of furniture odds and ends that no one wants; if I ask for a piece down there, I get to use it until someone else wants or needs it for something (that is where the cool street lamp comes from: an old prop for some play or dance some years ago). Now that people notice my classroom, I get offers for cool things to add to our classroom, and I take them.

Q: What's the deal with that rainbow wall in the back?

A: That is my affirmation wall. The colors correspond to class hours; the library card holders have numbers. Each color has 30 library card holders that are numbered. Each student has an address that reads something like this: Red 30; Blue 28. Here's a link to explain that a little bit more:

https://sites.google.com/site/mrsmalmquist/about-me/affirmation-station
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YAblJkJsW8I

If you're interested in hearing how I actually execute this efficiently for 150+ students after checking out that page, let me know. I'd LOVE it if people tried this with more high school settings; it makes a huge difference in the classroom.

I also have papered walls on which kids can and do write questions or good news (they sign and date these entries). Those are near the rainbow wall in the back.

Q: So how does it work? Do students choose where they want to sit all the time? Is there competition for the "best" seats?

A: I knew I didn't want to tie it to rewards, but I was afraid everyone would rush to all the sweet spots if I didn't assign it or have some kind of a procedure for it when I first started teaching, so I used to assign it randomly. I found it wasn't really necessary, and it didn't fit with my philosophy for making the environment in the first place. I mean, what if a kid NEEDED an accommodation in seating/lighting, and they always happened to get the couch, or whatever? I also found some people becoming proprietary, even when only assigned a spot every once in awhile, because it became the ever-elusive spot? I'm not sure. So I changed it up.

Now, I start every semester by greeting kids at the door and asking them to find a place in which they feel:
1: Comfortable
2: Capable of doing their best work

And then each day after that, for at least a solid 7-10 school days, I greet them with the same words, but I add this:
3: And it must be new to you. (Right...you cannot have chosen that place yet...yes, I'm serious...no, you can't pick a place you picked two days ago...)

After that time, it becomes natural for them to pick a handful of different places throughout the room. Every once in awhile, I go through this again if I notice that they are gravitating toward the same spots over and over again. I tell the kids I'm trying to get them to relax enough to learn and to figure out what works best for them; I remind them that what works one day may not work the next day.

Also, if a student chooses a place where s/he is not oriented to the front naturally, it is likely her/his chair is one which has been carefully placed so s/he can spin towards a speaker at any time, and I teach this as expected behavior at the beginning of the term.

People always assume that kids will fall asleep in such a relaxed environment. That's just not the case. Students tell me that the room is not only relaxing, but also makes them feel cared about and understood.

Q: Have you noticed a difference in how your classroom feels and operates compared to earlier arrangements?

A: No...because I never was a rows and desks person. Maybe that's not true...I didn't get the tables until the middle of my first year, so I had desks. Most of the kids hated the desks because they didn't fit well and felt constrained. No one ever chose them first, that's for sure. I slowly phased them out. This year, I have no conventional desks at all and I've never been asked for them.

Students tend to ask their parents to come visit during high school open houses (this is usually not a hot event for high school age students); I think that says a lot.

I'd like to thank Rebecca for sharing her space with me. I hope it inspires others to find ways to offer students choices for getting comfortable in the classroom. If you know of a classroom that deserves to be featured in Classroom Eye Candy, contact me here.

Want to see more flexible classrooms? Watch this Edutopia video that shows several other flexible classrooms in action: Flexible Classrooms: Providing the Learning Environment that Kids Need

There's more where this came from.
Join my mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration - in quick, bite-sized packages - all geared toward making your teaching more effective and fun. To thank you, I'll send you a free copy of my e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half. I look forward to getting to know you better!

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Classroom Eye Candy 1: A Flexible-Seating Paradise

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Several weeks ago, I posted an article on my Facebook page about student fidgeting and the advantages of flexible seating. One teacher who commented was high school teacher Rebecca Malmquist, who described her own flexible classroom: "I have taken all the conventional desks out and replaced them with mostly tables and a number of different kinds of chairs; I've used garage sales and the generosity of friends to furnish my room this way.

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ALL IN on Flexible Seating and Why You Should Be Too: A Principal’s Perspective

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Here I sit…correction, here I stand at my standing desk in my office just over five months into the first year of Legacy Elementary’s e…

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Problem Solvers Now = Problem Solvers Later

I'm a firm believer in keeping the focus on what's really important: the students. If student motivation and higher engagement are truly what we want, we as teachers must adapt right along with our students in our classrooms.

To see that some classrooms look the same now as they did 70 years ago is shameful. The students we share our classrooms with don't know life without constant connectivity, Wi-Fi, and a global audience. Outside the windows of our classroom is a dynamic, fast-paced, and ever-changing world full of choices. How can we expect our students to solve problems and make choices independently if we constantly solve their problems and make their choices for them?

Our classroom environments should be conducive to open collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. This simply cannot be done when kids are sitting in rows of desks all day. If this seems right to you, consider involving your students in a classroom redesign project with the LAUNCH cycle design thinking described on A.J. Juliani's blog.

What the Research Says

Everything I do in my classroom is based on research and best practices for kids. Redesigning my classroom was not any different. I've found that some of the immediate benefits (PDF) of flexible seating include burning more calories, using up excess energy, improving metabolism, increased motivation and engagement, creating a better oxygen flow to the brain, and improving core strength and overall posture.

It's no surprise that physical activity is linked to higher academic performance, better health, and improved behavior. In fact, a paper by Matthew T. Mahar, et al. (PDF) says, "Simple in-class activities can boost performance. Studies suggest that children who participate in short bouts of physical activity within the classroom have more on-task behavior, with the best improvement seen in students who are least on-task initially."

If you're looking to convince your administrators that flexible seating is right for your students or even your entire school, my principal, Jason Markusen, has some interesting thoughts on this subject. You should also consult Erin Klein's article on brain-based classroom redesigns.

Classroom Redesign on a Budget

Redesigning an entire classroom doesn't have to be expensive, and you can get help from a DonorsChoose.org campaign. Sure, the Hokki stools in my classroom cost about $100 each, but other items range from free to about $30.

If you want to redesign your classroom on a budget, begin by purchasing some bath rugs or yoga mats, and raising a table to appropriate standing height using bed risers. Or simply take the legs off of a table and add some pillows or core discs for students to sit on. The crates pictured in my classroom cost around $3 each.

Most of the wall hangings and lamps were taken from my house, with the exception of frames from the Dollar Store. Parents are also a great resource for classroom donations. They often have money to help, but not time to give, so don't be afraid to ask.

Up Your Classroom Management

I have a strong conviction that simply swapping out desks for tables doesn't ensure higher motivation, engagement, or accountability. Redesigning a classroom or implementing unassigned flexible seating is a shift in both structure and teaching philosophy-an entire mindset shift. In fact, teachers need a keen intuition about where the students are working and their level of engagement at all times.

We must be willing to give up the power of the seating chart and truly hand over the responsibility of seating choices to our students. I've found that the more power I give up in our classroom, the more power I get back. I've also noticed that it helps my students become more self-aware about what types of seating and environment help them learn best. And they're empowered by the opportunity to have choices.

Other Considerations

We follow the Responsive Classroom approach. The supplies that the students contribute at Open House are put into a community supply crate and used throughout the year.

Each student's personal learning materials (math journals, notebooks, etc.) are housed in bins in the corner of our room. If you don't have this option, three-drawer stackers or crates of materials would be a solid substitute.

Be open to removing much of the furniture in your classroom. At the beginning of the year, I got rid of four tables, my huge teacher desk, a file cabinet, and 20 traditional chairs.

Our whole-group instruction still happens on the big rug in the middle of our classroom. This is where we spend much of our day.

Before allowing your students to self-select seats, I strongly suggest having them try all of the seating options for an entire day. They probably won't know where they learn best until they try all the options.

Students know that I reserve the right to move them at any time if they aren't fully engaged and able to work in their selected spot.

It's a good idea to have more seating combinations than students in your classroom. I never have disagreements between students about seating because I have far more options than students. However, if I did, I would settle it the same way that I'd settle an argument over any other material in our classroom.

I'm often asked, "Why should I do flexible seating this year if next year's teacher won't be doing it?" Here's my response: Teachers can never base what happens in our classroom this year on what next year's teacher may or may not do. If it's a best practice for our kids, do it now. Remember, our classrooms should be student-centered, not teacher-centered.

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Flexible Seating and Student-Centered Classroom Redesign

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I'm a firm believer in keeping the focus on what's really important: the students. If student motivation and higher engagement are truly what we want, we as teachers must adapt right along with our students in our classrooms. To see that some classrooms look the same now as they did 70 years ago is shameful.

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Becky Fisher, the director of educational technology at Albemarle County Public Schools, is interested in learning about the thinking that drives student choice. "What we're really striving for are those choices that have a lot of thought behind them. We want kids to really be strategic about where they go," Fisher says.

She painted the picture of walking into a classroom and seeing kids:

Lying on the floor

Sitting at low tables on their knees

Standing up

When Fisher walks into a classroom, she asks the students the reasoning behind why they choose their particular learning space.

"Why are you standing right now?" she asks one TK student.

"Well," says the student, "we're using math manipulatives, and I move better when I'm standing up than when I'm sitting down."

Fisher once heard a kindergarten student articulate that she was a belly reader. She loved reading on the floor while lying on her belly, her class was reading, and that's why she was sprawled out on the floor. "That's awesome that, at five or six years old, you know your preferences," Fisher says. And that's critical to their work.

Justin, a seventh grade student from Sutherland Middle School, was also able to articulate his preferred learning environment. He chooses a table and chair, unlike the couch that many of his fellow students choose. "When I get down into a couch and am more comfortable, it's almost like it's a bit distracting. It's not exactly the environment I want to be working in, but for the other people, clearly they have their optimum working environments," Justin says.

Krishan, also in seventh grade at Sutherland, likes that his teacher gives him a choice in how he works. "Since she lets us choose, we ultimately choose what's best for us. We work better together and individually," Krishan says.

The First Step

According to Lisa Molinaro, the principal of Woodbrook Elementary School, the first thing that needs to happen for Albemarle teachers to successfully create a flexible classroom is:

The teacher must have a vision for his or her room.

The teacher must be willing to say, "I'm going to throw out some of this stuff. I don't need this traditional schooling equipment."

Design a Collaborative Learning Space

"We're really looking at how we support kids working collaboratively," Fisher says. "And we can't do it if we're isolated in rows and every kid is an island."

She believes that Albemarle classrooms work well with these design elements:

They have at least three kinds of classroom seating.

They use flexible bookshelves.

Instead of individual workspaces, they use large round or rectangular tables, or put four desks together to form a more collaborative space.

"You'll see flexible bookshelves that can be moved so that the room can be totally opened up -- or little nooks and crannies can be created -- so that everybody can see everybody, and we can participate as a community," Fisher says.

Create a Variety of Seating Options

"My kids love to be under things, behind things, around things," says Collins about her second grade classroom. "We have five-gallon buckets in my room that we sit on. We sit on crate seating that I made in my backyard out of a crate and some plywood and some foam. And I also just threw a lot of pillows on the floor."

For classroom seating, Collins also uses:

Fund Your Flexible Classroom: The DIY Approach

Teachers at Albemarle use these low- to no-cost strategies to furnish their classrooms:

1. Seasonal purchase: Teachers purchase furniture from college students the week that they leave campus after graduation or for the summer. This is the time when students often want to get rid of most of their belongings, and they will give them away or sell them at a cheap price.

2. Parent donations: Teachers ask parents for furniture. Cheryl Harris, a seventh grade language arts teacher at Sutherland, asks her parents to donate furniture at the beginning of the year. She started to build her collection by saying, "If any of you have a couch or a chair that you have just sitting around, the kids would like to read on it, and it could be a reading corner." The flow of donations grew and grew from there because parents wanted to contribute to their kids' learning environment.

3. Previously used: Teachers purchase items in good condition from a Salvation Army or Goodwill. Second-hand shops in upscale neighborhoods or college towns will usually house quality finds.

4. Crowdsourcing: Teachers set up a crowdfunding campaign, like DonorsChoose, Classwish, or GoFundMe, and have their students send their online campaign to family, friends, and parents to raise money for classroom furniture.

Fund Your Flexible Classroom: The District Approach

Over the past ten years, Albermarle district leadership has been very intentional in changing the physical nature of classrooms. Although not every classroom in its 26 schools has gotten a makeover, when the district budgets for a furniture-replacement cycle, there are some core pieces to redesigning a classroom. Before picking those core pieces, teachers need a vision for redesigning a classroom, and they should be willing to get rid of the traditional school furniture for more innovative pieces.

When comparing quotes for traditional and more innovative furniture, Fisher was delighted to learn that the cost is almost the same. "You pay roughly the same amount, and our durability has been good. There has been no reason to not go in that direction," she says.

When Albemarle "does" a room, you'll see:

Flexible seating: Albemarle provides at least three different choices of seating for students -- so you might see a stool, a beanbag, or chairs that look more traditional but allow kids to rock without tipping over.

Teacher stations, not teacher corners: Instead of a teacher corner taking up 25 percent of the classroom, teachers have workspaces similar to students' workspaces. The amount of real estate teachers now use is minimal, giving more space in the classroom for creating student corners, or the ability to move furniture around.

Flexible tables: Many tables have wheels on them, making it easy to reconfigure a room. Albemarle also chooses big tables, round or rectangular, to support collaborative work. Tables can be written on, as well as flipped up, converting them into whiteboards. They also come in different heights -- some are standing desks, others are more traditional heights, and some are low to the ground.

Evolving the classroom space to meet students' individual needs impacts how they learn, how they interact, and the entire classroom experience. Moran has noticed that when a learning space evolves, students' work improves immensely, their grades improve, and "just the conversations they have with each other are so invigorating to hear," Moran says.

Resources

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Flexible Seating Elevates Student Engagement

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Becky Fisher, the director of educational technology at Albemarle County Public Schools, is interested in learning about the thinking that drives student choice. "What we're really striving for are those choices that have a lot of thought behind them. We want kids to really be strategic about where they go," Fisher says.