For those of you who don't know, earlier this summer, I wrote a grant on Donors choose - flex seating grant asking for supplies to start flexible seating in my classroom. I was so thrilled when it got funded! I also attended an EDCAMP this summer hosted by our district. This is where I learned A LOT from other educators about the benefits of flexible seating. You can read more on my blog post -----> EDCAMP. This is where I found out about another opportunity to apply for a grant. I GOT IT! I received A THOUSAND (WHA?!?!) more dollars to purchase flexible seating options for my students! I was super thrilled!! So, after much thought and debating, meeting with my building principal about the best options, buying the right supplies, and discussing this with some colleagues of mine, I decided a good time to start it out was now. I used my extra time on Thursday afternoon after parent teacher conferences to set up the chairs. I had some help from my super awesome coworkers. We had them all blown up and put together in no time! Have I mentioned how much I truly love the people I work with?! <3
Anyway, so I knew that a whole room full of bouncy ball seats and wobble stools wouldn't just go over in a snap with 6 & 7 year olds.....my purpose is not to disturb learning, but enhance it (wink wink) so I decided to start small. Right now, the ball seats and wobble stools are all back at my back table. I have 8 set up total (plus the lap desks, stability disks, and go anywhere chairs that have been getting used since day 1 of school). So we are good to go!
First thing this morning, we went over some "rules" for our new chairs. Here's the anchor chart I came up with. Shout out to my awesome teaching partner Ashton! She now has a TPT store and makes cool posters and stuff! I love how creative she is! I claim that I knew her first and I was her mentor! (So I get this stuff for free... BAM!) Anyway, here's a link to her TPT STORE FAB FIRSTIES for the flexible seating posters. She really is so talented and I am so supportive of her new store and that she's sharing her creativity with the world! We are both using the flexible seats from my grants together - I am so happy to have another soul to talk to about starting this adventure!
<---You'll notice the chart has the "WHY" right at the top. We use these for learning! It is all about THEM! I just wanted to make sure they knew exactly why they were using these in the first place!
So, today, we started using the seats, and this is sneak peek of what writer's workshop looked like today
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| Zachary using a Zenergy ball chair |
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| Calley using a stability ball chair for writing |
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| Bella using a stability ball to write |
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| Emmett and Sloan using lap desks to write |
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| Christopher using a stability disk on his chair to write |
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| Derek using a wobble seat to write. |
Stay tuned as I update you on our progress! I believe it was a very focused writer's workshop time when everyone felt like they had their just right spot to write. Now, the challenge is getting them to really decide what's truly best for them! Once the "newness" wears off, they will realize they like to stand, wobble, bounce, or just sit with a chair that has a back. We are all different!
Now for a class update:
- We have a new student since my last post: Derek!! We have loved welcoming Derek to our class!
- Zachary lost a tooth
- Calley lost a tooth
- Who hasn't lost a tooth ??!:)
- We had 100% attendance at our parent teacher conferences! :)
- London got a new dog!
- London's mom and dad got married!
- Sloan went to the pumpkin patch!
- Gianna's brother bought her a book from the bookfair! She was so surprised!
- Gavin went to the Zoo! He saw coach Hart and Hunter there!
- Finn went to the Zoo too!
- We did a reader's theater last week! It was adorable!
That's all for now!
PEACE
~ Shelly
~ Shelly
