Flexible Seating Classroom Campaign

Times are changing! 21st century learning is all about individualizing instruction and meeting students' needs in a variety of ways. These include creating an engaging and comfortable learning environment with a lot of  student choice.  I have learned a lot over the years about differentiating my instruction, but my classroom set-up has stayed largely the same. As you can see in the above photo, my kids sit in cooperative learning groups, have unique storage, and even their own plants to care for, but they are still sitting in a desk with little opportunity for movement except to a cold floor.

In asking for your help to buy flexible seating options, my goal is to give my students the option to move around the room and not stay motionless at their desks. This redesign is supported by research, like that of  Susan J. Kovalik and Karen D. Olsen.  Their “Integrated Thematic Model” focuses on ten body brain-compatible elements of curriculum development and instruction, and includes many ideas about classroom design and students' ability to stay on task. Theirs and others' research shows what most of us already know...kids like to MOVE and on-task behavior improves with short bouts of physical activity.

I work for a wonderful school district, but upper-grade classrooms are not given rugs or alternative seating. Over the years (this year will be my 24th) I have spent thousands of my own dollars on supplies and decor, but alternative seating is just too expensive. See the photo below! I want between 3-5 of each item. Please consider sharing this link with your Facebook friends who also support education! Thank you in advance for your donation!