FLEXIBLE SEATING

Enhancing Engagement And Learning In First Grade Classrooms

BY MAURA C. CICCARELLI, FREELANCE WRITER

Walk into Ann Sullivan or Meghan Donlon’s first grade classrooms this year and you may have a bit of a surprise.

Some kids may be sitting on the floor using a laptop stand as a writing desk. Others put the platform on top of a desk to let them stand up and work. A low coffee table lets students sit on the ground and work together. Others sit at a regular desk. But, some use a pedal machine or sit on a “wobbly stool” that lets them move all day long, if they want.

To control messiness, supplies aren’t kept in desk cubbies. Students retrieve the activity-specific bin— labeled with their own “magic number”—from a shelf. Flexible seating options have been around for a long time but recent research, particularly following the challenges students and teachers faced around the country during the pandemic, showed that student engagement increases when students get to choose comfortable learning spaces.

“Whether that be standing, sitting, kneeling or pedaling while participating in group and individual work, all students have discovered their unique way of working,” says Sullivan, who has been teaching for 11 years and is a Tower Hill parent to a high schooler and a recent grad. “It just brings a level of calmness to your classroom, because they are doing what their body needs so their minds can focus on what you are teaching.”

Donlon, who has been teaching for 14 years and is parent to a 2022 graduate, adds: “For example, a student who needs movement throughout the day benefits from sitting on a wobbly stool where they can bounce and move all day. When your body is comfortable and doing what it needs then your mind can focus better.”

In addition, some students who struggled in kindergarten with attentiveness in the 2021–2022 school year showed few issues in the fall of 2022 when they had the flexible seating options in the first grade classrooms.

“It’s been fascinating to see,” says Donlon.

The equipment and supplies were funded by the Home and School Association, along with classroom budgets. The teachers also got creative by looking for low-cost or free furniture and supplies available through online groups or thrift stores.

Spreading The Word

Interest in the flexible seating approach has grown, after the two teachers presented their approach to the Lower School faculty.

“We’ve had one-on-one conversations with our colleagues, teachers have visited our classroom to observe the flexible seating during lessons, and classrooms have reached into their budgets to adopt some form of flexible seating,” says Sullivan. Some Middle School teachers have expressed interest as well.

Both teachers noted that flexible seating approach fits well into Tower Hill’s philosophy, which includes: “...The school encourages each student to develop a sense of personal worth and to recognize, understand and accept the individuality of others.”

“The pandemic definitely had an impact on our decision to move forward with flexible seating in our current classrooms,” adds Donlon. “While Tower Hill was somewhat of an anomaly and stayed open in the fall of 2020, we had very strict protocols in place for our in-person learning. Seeing students sitting in desks six feet apart all day and wearing masks, unable to share manipulatives, work in small groups together for an extended period of time and, more importantly, were missing the social aspect of school are what fueled our desire to begin flexible seating this year.”

Flexible seating doesn’t mean a free for all, however. Although students sign up for where they want to sit each week, they still have to rotate through the different choices so they get comfortable with learning in multiple situations. The teachers developed clear rules for how the students were to behave while in the different seating arrangements.

“I think they like them all, because they never felt stuck in one place,” Sullivan says. “If they didn’t particularly like the floor seating that week, they went to the yoga ball/wobbly stool. I think the variety is definitely what they love the most.”

Donlon adds, “When students have a seating choice, they are most productive. Just as we differentiate the curriculum to meet our students’ needs, we found it was important to differentiate our space as well.”