Happy Friday! Well our first not a real week of Kindergarten is over. We had 2 half days this week…so next week will be our first real full week of kindergarten. LOOK OUT GIMPY KNEE….it’s gonna be a long week!
I LOVE my job. I LOVE my staches. I LOVE my school. I am loving this years parents. People, this year is going to be EPIC!
So, ya’ll know about my experiment with no assigned seats and using rugs and clipboards for work instead of tables and desks. Well…I know you’re anxious to hear how it’s working. So this Five For Friday is all about CARPETS!
Today was day one of using our carpets and clipboards. The verdict: EPIC SUCCESS!
I approached this like any other activity/lesson/skill in my classroom. Explicit instruction and modeling.
We talked about safety. (Don’t flop our your rug and pop your friends in the head.)
Don’t step on other peoples rug.
We practiced rolling up the rug.
We practiced using the clipboards SAFELY! (They bite!)
And then off we went….the result….
Our sit wherever you like rule works. Look at the engagement. And please notice JM at my table. He took the “sit wherever you want” comment literally and sat in my chair! Hey…it works!
In this picture (above) they’re working on their names. I know some people asked about neatness…well, their names were beautiful. Even better than day one when they sat at tables. The reason: for one, I think it’s because they had choice and freedom so they’re more engaged. The other is that I once heard that laying on the floor helps with handwriting because it uses the muscles so differently!
I love that each ‘stache has their own space to work. And I love all of the bright colors.
Seriously…him rolling that rug up and carrying it…pretty precious!
So day one of carpets…success. I think this is going to go very well. Do I think there will be bumps in the road? Absolutely. Will there be days when I hate the rugs? Sure. But it’s worth it. And we will work through the bumps. With glitter. Lots of glitter.
I get asked a lot about the carpets. They came from Target and Wal-Mart and were $10 a piece. So yeah, major out of pocket expense. But so worth it. You could buy a couple a month. You could ask carpet stores for remnants. Ask parents to help.
And now, it’s time for a Fabulous Friend, a freebie and a give away!
Today I want you to meet my fellow Tennessean: Gina from Third Grade Tidbits.
Gina says: “I try to use the quote “be a better you today than yesterday” as my guide for everything. We as teachers are never perfect, but the harder we try the closer we get. If I try each day to do one thing better than I did the day before, I feel like I am doing something right by my students and myself.
Head over and visit Gina and tell her Greg sent ya!
Here is a fun freebie:
And you can enter to win Gina’s Math Mania Weekly Math Practice and TWO creations of your choice from my store!
Enter below to win!
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13 comments
I love the sit anywhere philosophy! No matter what age group, the children love that freedom. Don't get me wrong, there are times where you want them sitting at their tables, but there are other times, when it really doesn't matter! Love the rugs, they look great – especially love the daily fine and gross motor skill practice they are going to get with using a clipboard and rolling up the rug!
Have a great weekend!
Alison
Teaching Maths with Meaning
I love the idea of the carpets! I am going to try having the kiddos lay on the floor with a clipboard when we work on handwriting to see if that helps. I think that little kinder kiddos have a hard time sitting still in chairs at tables that this seems like such an ideal situation. Thanks for sharing how it is working in your room. I can't wait to hear more updates as the year goes on.
Amanda
Mrs. Pauley’s Kindergarten
Genius! The kiddos will love this idea! Thanks 🙂
Can't tell you how happy I am that it worked. I have been wanting to do a “Sit where ever you want for Writing” for years and you just motivated me to get it done this year. <3
Mels
Are you assigning a color of rug, or just letting them grab any rug?
Ryan
The Disneyfied Teacher
I LOVE your blog! The carpet idea is genius. I teach FDK and have a class of 21 students. Wish I could have 13! We start the year with sit anywhere and use workshop model during the day so the kids are all over the room. I will be watching your rug experiment carefully. Maybe next year we will be table free. Looks like you are off to an amazing start! Happy teaching.
I LOVE your blog! The carpet idea is genius. I teach FDK and have a class of 21 students. Wish I could have 13! We start the year with sit anywhere and use workshop model during the day so the kids are all over the room. I will be watching your rug experiment carefully. Maybe next year we will be table free. Looks like you are off to an amazing start! Happy teaching.
I love the carpets! I think I might try this with my 5th graders because believe it or not, desks aren't always the best thing for them either! Thanks for the idea!
Last year I went to IKEA for some back to school shopping and got bath mats that I used for our independent reading work station and they were just a couple bucks a piece. Like less than $5 a piece, so that might be something to look into if anyone is interested in replicating themselves.
Hi! I am tempted to try the carpet seating / no assigned seating in my kindergarten class. I am a first year teacher so I was wondering if you have links or names of the studies you mentioned in your youtube video? Or is this idea too bold for a first year teacher? Thanks!
Love your flexible seating. How do you do whole group art activities? Do they do all this on the carpet?
What size are your bathmats? I was looking online to order and notice there are some variations. The size of yours look like they work well for the students.
Not sure of the exact size. They are from WalMart & Target. Just bath rugs.