Do you use flexible seating? Are you looking for information, tips, and routines for bringing flexible seating into your classroom? This blog post explains how no tables and desks works in our classroom.
Flexible seating is what’s best for our students. When I started no tables and no desks 14 years ago, people thought I was crazy (well..I am…but)…it’s been a game changer for my kids and our classroom!
Flexible Seating Research
So, what is flexible seating?
First, let me say what flexible seating is NOT. It is not stuff. To bring flexible seating into your classroom, you don’t need to have stuff. No scoop chairs, bean bags, or wobble stools (I promise…don’t let the social media pressure convince you otherwise…) Are these things great? Yes. Can you use them? Yes. If you want to use these things and can get them, PLEASE GO FOR IT!!! But don’t let a lack of stuff stop you from bringing flexible seating into your classroom. I hear so many teachers who say they want to do flexible seating, but cannot afford it. YES, YOU CAN BECAUSE YOU DON’T NEED ANYTHING to bring flexible seating into the classroom!
What Is Flexible Seating?
The answer is simple. CHOICE! Flexible seating is about giving our students choice and voice over where they learn and work. It’s a mind-shift for teachers because we’re giving up control. For our kids, it’s natural and easy. You just need to give your students a choice.
Get rid of assigned seating. Let students sit, lay down, or stand up to work. Make a standing table or lower a table to make a floor table. Flexible seating is easy to implement. And it’s FREE!
Flexible seating does NOT MEAN chaos or a loss of structure. Our classroom is a very structured environment. We have routines and procedures for EVERYTHING. ;And we have very high expectations. Just because students choose where to work does not mean we have no control or structure. Simply having kids sit at a desk does not equal structure. Structure comes from routines, procedures, and expectations that you have established, taught, and continue to practice!
Second, do you need to ditch the tables and desks for flexible seating? No. I went BIG and bold and very out of the box with no tables and no desks because our classroom was so small and weirdly shaped. Do I want every classroom to ditch the tables? YES! 1 million percent yes. But I get that it’s very scary and non-traditional. If you want to and can ditch the tables and desks, DO IT! If you can’t/don’t want to, you don’t have to!
How Do You Introduce Flexible Seating?
Here’s the answer! JUMP RIGHT IN! On day 1, as students arrive, I already have our carpets, clipboards, and crayon boxes (or morning bins) laid out around the classroom. As I greet students, I tell them they can pick any carpet and lie down, sit down, or color or play. This eases them into the idea of carpets and working on the floor without the pressure/stress of trying to pick up a carpet and a clipboard and finding a spot to work!
Our carpets are bath maths from Target and Walmart. They are 17×48 bath mats. I use bath mats because they don’t slip and move! I’ve had the same mats for 14 years and they are still in excellent shape! (Note: watch for them to go on sale and grab them!) The students are NOT REQUIRED to use the mats, it’s another choice they are free to make!
For flexible seating to be successful, you have to MODEL MODEL MODEL! PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Just like every routine and procedure in the classroom.
What About Whole Group Lessons?
When it’s time for whole group instruction, we DO NOT have flexible seating. Instead, we all gather on our carpet. However, they do have a choice here, too. There is no assigned seating on our rug, so they have to be on the rug, but they have a choice where they sit. There is also a stage and the trampoline in our whole group area. The trampoline is the seat for our boss of the day. We have a schedule for the stage. Each day, 4-5 kids are assigned to the stage. This rotation stays the same so every Monday it’s the same 4-5 kids. They know their day and they know that’s their seat if they choose it!
What About Food?
We eat a lot in the classroom because we have breakfast in the classroom and Foodie Fun Friday every week. We use SMULA trays from Ikea, which keep the food off the floor and contain any messes and spills.
After the kids finish eating, they use a wipe to clean their own trays. Again, this is something that is modeled and practiced until we do it just right! And what about cleanliness? On Friday, I clean and sanitize the trays with bleach water. We wear slippers in the classroom, so there are no shoes in the classroom, and we steam mop the floor each day, so we probably have the cleanest floor in the building!
We use a Shark steam mop. CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR MOP ON AMAZON!
We also vacuum the floor daily. We use a Dyson vacuum. Click here to see our vacuum on Amazon.
What about name tags?
Since we don’t have desks or tables, we don’t have name tags. Instead, we have a name chart on the wall. This gives the students a place to refer to when learning to write their names. The chart includes their name and picture!
Flexible Seating And Handwriting
This is one of the most asked-about aspects of flexible seating. When we’re writing, we lie on our stomachs. This helps students have more legible handwriting and has the benefits of engaging the core muscles, which are the base of fine motor skills. It also helps engage the hand and arm muscles needed for writing. Think about this…one of the things we do when teaching letter formation is vertical writing because of how it engages the muscles needed for writing. Laying on your stomach does the exact same thing.
And let me say this…how many of us sit in a chair, with our feet flat on the floor, back straight, arm at a 90 degree angle when we write…just sayin…
What About Supplies?
We use community supplies! Everything the kids need is on a shelf, and they grab what they need!
Choices
Here are the pieces of furniture we have in our classroom that students can choose to sit on and work!
You can see the choices in action! Sitting and laying down to work! Both stages were built by my dad.</div>
We do have 1 table in the classroom for students who want to work at a table!
Click the image for the table!
We use these stools as seating for the table and our small group table!
