Walton Education Foundation

Children are meant to move but they are so restricted in their day to day. They are expected to just sit at a desk and focus on their work. However, children are busy so this can be a challenge for some. They begin to tap their pencils on their desks, lean back and rock in their chairs or find reasons to get out of their seats. Students have little to no say in how their classroom is presented to them. There is assigned seating and desks situated in groups or in rows. I would like to give some control to my students in their classroom, to give them the ability to decide what is the best choice for helping them feel comfortable in their environment to promote their best learning. I would like to give my students flexible seating options in my classroom.

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No Longer Fighting the Fidgets

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School:
Van R Butler Elementary 
Subject:
Teaching Quality 
Teacher:
Lauren Cook 
Students Impacted:
51 
Grade:
Date:
October 9, 2023

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

 

The St. Joe Community Foundation - $885.92

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Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 53

Flexible seating in my classroom has given my students more control over their learning environment, allowing them to be more comfortable and focused on their work and lessons. Prior to having flexible seating in my room, I was needing to redirect undesirable behaviors or off task students, at minimum, 4 times in an hour. Now, I am only redirecting once, if at all, within that same time frame. My students have really taken accountability for their actions and learning now that they can choose what they think is the best seating choice for their wiggly bodies to most benefit their learning. My goal was to have no more than 1 redirect in a 30-minute time frame, 80% of the time. I am so happy to say that this goal has been well surpassed. I am finding that my students are more motivated to do their work and participate in class. I am also having less work turned in late. In all, this has had a huge impact on my classroom in so many ways (both academic and behavioral) and I am sure it will for years to come! 

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Original Grant Overview

Goal

Children are meant to move but they are so restricted in their day to day. They are expected to just sit at a desk and focus on their work. However, children are busy so this can be a challenge for some. They begin to tap their pencils on their desks, lean back and rock in their chairs or find reasons to get out of their seats. Students have little to no say in how their classroom is presented to them. There is assigned seating and desks situated in groups or in rows. I would like to give some control to my students in their classroom, to give them the ability to decide what is the best choice for helping them feel comfortable in their environment to promote their best learning. I would like to give my students flexible seating options in my classroom.  

 

What will be done with my students

Students will be given the opportunity to choose a learning environment that is best suited to meet their learning needs. When my students’ needs are better met, they are more likely to be engaged and focused during class, leading to more successful students. Throughout the day I have 51 different students enter my classroom for whole and small group instruction. My students will be able to choose from a variety of flexible seating options to help them work on whole group, small group and independent tasks. This flexible seating will be used as a learning tool and allow my students to fidget and move as much as they need without being a distraction to others, allowing all my students to be able to focus and keep on task.  

 

Benefits to my students

Flexible seating will be beneficial to my students because it will be a way to increase their focus, engagement, and accountability in the classroom. We will be gaining back valuable class time because my students will be requiring less redirection and less repetition of instruction. They will be more comfortable and be held more accountable for their learning by having made the seating choice that is best for them academically and to control their behavior. My goal with this flex seating is to be able to get through class assignments within the allotted 30 minute time frame, having no more than one redirect required 80% of the time. In order to determine this success, I will be utilizing classroom tracking forms for behaviors.
I am always trying to find fun and engaging ways to keep my students interested while actively learning. The access to flexible seating will help me do just that. With the grant, I will be able to add multiple seating options to my classroom. This flex seating will have a positive effect not only on all my current students, but also my future students in the years to come.  

 

Budget Narrative

I will use the funds to purchase a modular foam play couch at $199.99, two wobble stools at $71.99 each, two bean bag chairs at $55.99 each, 2 six piece floor cushions at $54.99 a set, and a classroom rug at $319.99. This will all be purchased through Amazon for a total of $885.92 

 

Items

# Item Cost
1 Yourigami Kids and Toddler Play Couch $199.99
2 Studico ActiveChairs Kids Wobble Stool $71.99
3 Studico ActiveChairs Kids Wobble Stool $71.99
4 Posh Creations Bean Bag Chair for Kids $55.99
5 Posh Creations Bean Bag Chair for Kids $55.99
6 ECR4Kids SoftZone Floor Cushions, 6 Piece $54.99
7 ECR4Kids SoftZone Floor Cushions, 6 Piece $54.99
8 Flagship Carpets Schoolgirl Style Pastel Rainbow Smileys Area Rug $319.99
  Total: $885.92

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Special Thanks to Our Presenting Partners

CHELCO

The Alys Foundation

St. Joe Community Foundation

Florida Power & Light

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