Susie Kissinger and Caryn Canfield’s Grade 4 classrooms on the Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus are all about options when it comes to desks, seating and learning spaces. Thanks to a complete summer overhaul of classroom furniture resources, students can now decide each day whether they will do their best work utilizing standing desks with foot swings, couches, Hokki stools, Oodle stools, yoga balls, Adirondack chairs, Stargaze Recliner chairs, mats or low rocking chairs at floor-level desks. Kissinger even has a tent available for students who would prefer to read in a smaller, more contained space. Canfield’s students can also work on the floor with special caddies that provide ample space for Surface work and writing.
The classroom desk and seating options help engage students’ proprioceptive systems, which dictate how children best process input from use of their muscles and joints. More simply put, movement can help some students work and process information better in the classroom. While some students flourish in a traditional desk setting, others are more successful in the classroom when they can stand or move in their chairs.
“Flexible seating helps make the classroom more student-centered,” Canfield said. “Students become more invested in their learning when they are given choices. This allows them to take ownership, become a problem-solver, work as a community and develop decision-making skills.”
Canfield and Kissinger’s classrooms have a variety of desk height sizes including low, medium and high levels. Those levels can accommodate everything from high stools that engage foot movement to floor-high chairs that rock.
“Students choose a seat that will help them have a positive learning experience,” Kissinger said. They said the new classroom options also promote collaborative learning as some of the chairs can be arranged for group settings.
