Flexible Seating Task 3: Putting it All Together

Once I made the decision to move to more flexible seating choices in my room, I knew I was going to have to make a decision on how many desks to lose. My room is just too small to have a full class set of desks and then a good variety of other options. I started with this sketch:

I knew I needed to have enough table top spaces in my classroom for all of my students to eat lunch, for science labs, for art…. some activities require table tops, and I didn’t want to lose that. Things have changed since that original sketch, but not a whole lot.

Ryan came in and lowered eight desks for me. Four of them went as low as possible for kneeling, and 4 went to the first set of holes for the crate seats. The kids have requested that those go up one hole as they say their knees hit, so back to school, he will go to raise those ones.

As I made the change just after Spring Break, this was the “before” shot. The floors had been waxed, and everything was pushed to one side. You can see the adjusted desk height in this photo.

I only have one Wobble Stool and one exercise ball currently. I will be requesting more on the PAC wishlist next year for sure. I purchased this exercise ball used for $2. It’s an ideal size for my taller students, but my shorter ones struggle with it. I’d like to get a bit of size variety.

I’ve also got 3 wiggle seats in my room – the one pictured here and then two of the wedge style. Kids love to sit on these on chairs or on the floor.

A view of my carpet area, and then the kneeling and crate seats in the background.

Here’s a super quick scan of my room now. You can see that I adjusted from the plan by adding a second set of trapezoid tables. It gives my classroom way more space, yet the students say they prefer it because it feels like they have more table top space! I have way more seating options than every before and my room feels so spacious!

Read my other flexible seating posts!

Crate Seat Tutorial

Bath Mats as a Kneeling Option

Reflections