Perhaps after noticing that our middle school students tend to spend a whole lot of time working on the floor (by choice) and moving furniture around to accommodate our lessons, our administrator told us that we'd have the chance to remodel our classrooms to allow for flexible seating. I was so excited and ready to jump right in to reimagining my space. I wanted intentional spaces set up for students to choose from based on regular uses (gathering area maybe to be named "The Campfire" or "The Family Room," Maker Space, Reading Nook, etc.). After reading some articles on the topic, I thought a semi-private area might also be useful for individuals or very small groups to focus in (I'm going to call mine the "fish tank" since my aquarium will be incorporated). Of course, all this will be subject to change with the students' input and in consideration of their needs. However, just trying to wrap my head around what type of space new furniture would take up left me with the need to visualize via diagram. So far, here's what I've come up with using the website Floor Planner's free mode.
My Next Year's Classroom Ideas Diagram (with my notes):
3D View:
Will it stay like this? Definitely not! But at least I have a starting point. Need more info? So, do I! Here are some great resources on the topic I've found are a great place to start (please, let me know in the comments if you've tried the switch to flexible seating or have some good resources to share):
Classroom Eye Candy (Cult of Pedagogy)
The Cemetery Method (Anne Shaw)
Albemarle County Public Schools (Edutopia Video)
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