Funded Dec 4, 2019These new seating options have truly transformed our classroom!! Our room is sectioned into a meeting area and a table area. We have just enough chairs for all the kids, and a rug in the meeting area. However, a fact of middle school bodies is that while some kids are still perfectly happy to sit on a rug, not all kids are. So we'd been dragging chairs from one area to another. Now we leave the chairs at the tables, and the stools and cushions in the meeting area.
This may not sound like a big deal, but itis! We have gained time that was wasted moving chairs around. We have cut down on noise that is truly distracting. We have eliminated the minor altercations that happened around someone accidentally hitting someone with a chair and someone stealing someone's chair, etc, etc....It makes a HUGE difference.
Plus, the varied seating really makes a difference for these kids. Some kids have been using stools even at the tables. Some kids are happy to sit on the rug so long as they have a cushion. The rug now doubles as a cozy spot for reading. (The smaller, fuzzy rug in the photos was also bought with Donors Choose money and some of the the kids*love* it.)
The benefits of our extra and varied seating just keep unfolding. The stools can easily be moved to other classrooms when we need extra seating. We use the cushions some afternoons when we practice meditation. Thank you so, so much for transforming our classroom in so many ways!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Oppenzato