First Grade's Flexible Seating

This year, First Grade will be trying something new! We have removed all of the desks from our classrooms and have replaced them with Flexible Seating materials, such as tables, pillows, mats, lap desks, scoop chairs and more more to come! It has been proven that students are more engaged in learning when they are active. Therefore, our goal with Flexible Seating is to provide students with the opportunity to participate in classroom activities in areas and with materials that make them comfortable, yet actively engaged in learning.

Along with the change in seating for students, the instruction aspect of the classroom will look slightly different, as well. We are really sticking to the premise that students learn best when they are active. Anita Archer, an educational consultant, states that students are only able to be engaged in learning for the amount of minutes that they are old. For example, a first grade student is typically six to seven years old. Therefore, he/she would only be actively engaged in listening to teaching for six to seven minutes. After learning this statistic, we’ve decided to change how we deliver our lessons to best fit the students needs. If you walk in to our classrooms, you will see students gathered together with their teacher for chunked up lessons for a shorter amount of time. The teachers will then send their students to work either independently or collaboratively on concepts related to the material that is being taught. While the students are working, they are welcome to sit around the room in spots that are comfortable for them. The expectation with that is that the student maintain a safe spot for them and their fellow students, and that they aren’t disrupting the learning of those around them. With this, students are able to maintain independence while learning in ways that are best for them!​