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Flexible seating puts students in the driver's chair, stool or ball! It encourages them to understand their own learning styles. Tables, as opposed to desks, also foster strong team culture within our weekly groups. The physical arrangement of the room supports cooperative learning and social skill development throughout the day. My students are more motivated to dig into complex content when given choices about how to work and given group processing time. My school currently only has desks available and no budget to change to tables. For this school year, I made do with traditional seating and a more individualistic organization of class materials. Now that I'm better acquainted with the school, I see clearly how flexible seating and shared materials (which I implemented in a former district) will help spice up learning for my 5th graders, just at the time they need a new spark to persevere through more challenging upper-elementary work! Moreover, these students rarely experience nice, new, out-of-the-box things, and this set-up will send the message that they're worth it! The shelving and bins will allow for team storage of frequently-used supplies. Each week, students will choose to sit at an exercise ball table, a wobble stool table, in normal chairs, a low clover table, or even a standing table. As the social dynamics in our class mix regularly, students bonds deepen. Leveraging developmentally appropriate discussion protocols and group activities amps up the learning for 10-11 year olds, who are beginning to rely more on their peers. The carpet will allow for a central meeting area and circle, which is important in our "Crew", and the easel will allow me to post morning quotes, separate from academic learning targets, in a comfortable, well-defined space. Choice and team-based learning empower 5th graders to become their best selves.
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