Should classrooms have flexible seating?

Flexible seating encourages students to find their best spot to stay calm, focused and productive. As one teacher said, "There is no better way to show your support for a student-centered classroom, than creating a classroom from a child's point of view." In her opinion, comfortable students are engaged students.

Are seating arrangements in classrooms good or bad?

Student seating is one of the easiest, most cost-effective classroom management tactics available to teachers. As an antecedent intervention, seating arrangements may help to minimize or eliminate problem behavior without the need for consequence interventions (e.g., differential reinforcement or punishment).

Why students should have free seating?

Many teachers say letting kids choose where to sit helps them learn how to make good choices. Some teachers point out that students are often more comfortable speaking up when they're sitting near kids they like the most. “If kids are happy and comfortable, they are more willing to learn,” says Umland.

Why schools should have comfortable chairs?

Comfort: Comfortable seating can help reduce physical discomfort and fatigue during long periods of sitting, which is especially important for students who spend many hours in a lecture hall or study room. The right seating solution can help them stay focused and engaged during class.

Why is flexible seating important in the foreign language classroom?

If there are seating options, the teacher can more easily use cooperative learning activities, which are more effective than traditional activities in motivating students and showing students that language is a means of communication and not only a subject for memorization.

Flexible Classrooms: Providing the Learning Environment That Kids Need

What are the top 10 benefits of a flexible seating classroom?

Top 10 Benefits of a Flexible-Seating Classroom: The Smith System has put together a list of ten benefits of a flexible seating classroom, which includes choice, physical health, comfort, community, collaboration, commitment to learning, communication, sensory input, and fun.

What are the disadvantages of flexible seating?

What are the disadvantages of classroom seating?

The disadvantages of both seating arrangements were increased noise level, uneven distribution of interaction, discipline problems, and decreased classroom discussion. The influence of classroom seating arrangement on children's cognitive processes in primary school: the role of individual variables.

What is the research on flexible seating?

The results suggest that flexible seating could have measurable and a meaningful effect on creativity, motivation, engagement, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking – the ingredients to learning.

Why are classroom seating arrangements important?

Instructional communication theory suggests that seating arrangements can impact how the instructors communicate with students and how students interact with one another, impacting engagement, motivation, and focus (McCorskey and McVetta, 1978).

How does seating affect learning?

Studies have reported that seating arrangements impact the learning process. Students occupying the front rows are generally more attentive that those in the back. The students in front are the ones who tend to answer questions asked in class.

Why is comfortable seating important?

Poor sitting postures and unsuitable seating can develop and/or exacerbate both physical and medical conditions with far reaching consequences on the quality of life and overall well being. Sitting requires more effort than you think!

What are the pros and cons of assigned seating?

If you are doing plated meals, you MUST assign seats. Pros include: Everyone has a “home base.” For a seated meal, you know which table each meal is going to. Cons include: Assigning people, especially kids, to tables is tough, time-consuming and can lead to hurt feelings.

What is the best classroom seating?

A layout of rows with an aisle down the middle of the classroom allows all pupils to be easily accessible, which in turn means the adults in the classroom are able to support them. It also leads to fewer collisions with the corners of those deceptively sharp tables, and so fewer bruises when you get home from work!

Does it matter where you sit in class?

Yes! It does matter where you sit in your classroom, so choose and choose carefully! Studies report that where you sit in the classroom can impact your ability to learn and the way your teacher perceives you.

Why is flexible seating better?

When utilizing flexible seating, teachers have less control while students have more control which in turn improves students' engagement. Studies have shown that students who are able to move around during class are more likely to pay attention and retain information than those who are confined to a desk.

Does flexible seating help students with ADHD?

The data suggests that alternative seating can help some students be more focused and have more on-task behaviors in the classroom.

Does flexible seating increase student engagement?

Studies have shown that flexible classroom seating has a positive impact on student's engagement and academic success. Flexible seating is the practice of providing students with a variety of seating options, whether it's mobile chairs, bean bags, or wobble stools.

How does seating arrangement affect academic performance?

Results showed that students who sat in the front of the classroom, defined as the first two seats in each row, consistently did better than those towards the back of the classroom.

What is the best seating arrangement for a disruptive class?

If the first row is filled, then put your disruptive students on either end of the second row. Sit less talkative students next to, in front of, and behind the talkative student. The front of the room is also a great place to place an unmotivated student.

What are the effects of flexible seating in the lower elementary classrooms?

Flexible seating and flexible learning spaces encourage movement within the classroom. Without this movement, brain activity is reduced when as body becomes inactive thus students become motionless and learning does not take place (Harvey & Kenyon, 2013, p.

How does flexible seating impact learning?

Flexible seating gives students the option to control their physical environments in which they work best. In other words, with choices, students gain greater flexibility and control of their surroundings giving them the autonomy and comfort to stay engaged and focused.

How do you manage flexible seating in the classroom?

Why should students not have assigned seats in class?

Another disadvantage with seating charts is that students with poor vision or hearing difficulties may only be able to participate in class if they can choose their seating; and this is not always an option. Also, an assigned seating may be disadvantageous to introverted students.

Why students should not have assigned seats at lunch?

Assigned seating can also be stressful for kids who are shy. They may not be comfortable talking to people they don't know. Besides, there are other ways to help make the cafeteria a more welcoming place without having to assign seats. One idea is for lunchrooms to have round tables instead of long rectangular ones.