Stools, Step Couches, and Rocking Chairs, Oh My!

Walk into any learning space in Spring Lake Park Schools and you may see students on wobble chairs, lounged out on step couches, reading in a cubby or sitting in a space-age pod chair. Movable furniture is helping our spaces be more flexible than ever to support the learner and the learning.

Second graders are working with teacher Natalie Laciskey to write a paragraph. They have been learning about the changes in weather and how plants, animals and people prepare for those changes. They are writing to inform younger students how they need to get ready for winter. (Wear a jacket at recess!) This kind of authentic writing doesn’t happen overnight in the second grade.

“The first paragraph students in my class ever wrote, we wrote together,” says Natalie. “Now that we have flexible furniture, students can unlock their wheels and move their chair and desk to where they need to be to see the board.”

Students move their furniture around throughout the day depending on the task. For Socratic seminars, student-led discussions, they move furniture to edges of the room and make a circle with their chairs so all voices can be heard. As kids slide and roll, it may look chaotic, but it works. 

Spring Lake Park Schools had a project that was part of the 2016 bonding bill that included upgrading furniture across schools to support personalized learning. The project stalled when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Over the last two years, furniture funds set aside pre-pandemic were finally used to bring more flexible seating and surfaces into classrooms.

What are we learning today?

Pictures of classrooms from the 1890s, feature individual desks and chairs lined up in perfect rows. That image could be replicated today in many classrooms across the U.S., and there is a time and place for that kind of setup, however many workplaces have moved away from models of that era and into a new future.  

“As a nation, we have moved from a knowledge economy to an innovation economy and having things be so structured is just not how workplaces function today” says Hope Rahn, Executive Director for Learning & Innovation. “We’re collaborating. We’re rearranging all the time to fit what’s happening. While there are some types of learning experiences that are best suited for desks in rows, having that same setup across the school day and across all learning experiences may not be the best way to prepare kids for the future."

Hope sees space and furniture as critical elements for any learning experience.

“The question has to be - what is the learning that our kids are engaging in....and then what is the right space and furniture set up for that learning,” says Hope. “We have the flexibility to do that now across our schools. We can design for the experiences that will help students reach the goals. We can ask, ‘How does the furniture and use of space fit into that learning design?’"

Andy Walsh’s middle school math classroom has koi tables (rolling tables shaped like fish that can be formed into a variety of shapes) and a few comfortable seating options.

“We can change group sizes quickly as well as pull up chairs that move well and are comfortable,” he says. 

It’s a benefit to the learning to have desks that move so easily and can create many options.

“I have the tables at the beginning of each period placed in 14 pairs pieced together, and then depending on the day they move into different configurations,” says Andy. “If testing, they are all separate, and if working on projects or special problem sets that might need more voices to figure things out, the tables get moved into fours, sixes, or eights.” 

Learners learning how they learn

Wobble chairs, step couches, rocking chairs, high stools, pod chairs. . .  there are a lot of choices. Some kids choose a wobble chair to help them keep a little movement that helps them concentrate. Some prefer a chair with a back. Some still prefer the floor (It’s ok!). The type of seat can be an important component of learning styles and preferences.

“How we design learning, including using the furniture, can help our learners discover how they learn best,” says Hope.

Natalie has four different types of chairs in her room. She was a little afraid that students would argue over the chairs. For the first couple weeks of school, it was a little clunky trying to figure out how to navigate the choices.

“Students have now settled in and use whichever chair works best for them,” says Natalie. “They truly enjoy choosing their chair and table spot for the day when they come in. It gives students choice and autonomy which leads to more engagement.”

In Andy’s math classroom, middle schoolers are also figuring out what works for them – and what doesn’t work. 

“It seems that the students do well with the koi tables and pull up chairs,” he says. “Sometimes when students use the comfort options they do well, but sometimes they get too comfortable and actually struggle with attention, focus and work.”

A space and seat for what you need

Having flexibility within a classroom is one thing. Taking it beyond a classroom is another.

“If we're using furniture and space in a way that helps our kids know themselves as a learner, it also requires us to think differently as educators about what I think of as ‘my classroom,’” says Hope. 

In Spring Lake Park High School’s science wing, there are nine science classrooms, five with lab spaces, and nine science teachers. Rather than trying to make all types of learning experiences fit into one classroom "owned" by the teacher, science teachers reserve a space that makes sense for the learning experiences that day. The options are labs, close walled rooms, open walled rooms and the science atrium.

When students enter the science wing for class, their room assignments for the class period are published on the digital screen. Students get a feel of the expectations of the day based on the room.

“They know it may be more flexible learning at your own pace in the atrium, and more direct instruction in B130, and more lab or group work in B132,” says Rachel Andrisen, chemistry teacher and curriculum lead. “It keeps them on their toes a little bit to engage with the space and tailor it to their needs.”

Each room has different types of furniture which can be more applicable for students to do labs, or group work, or independent study, or direct instruction. There are rooms that have more whiteboards where students can model their thinking. 

Rachel thinks students like to “switch it up.” It adds that element of novelty to the day.

 “Students tend to share their opinions on the best and worst rooms,” says Rachel. “If they don't like a room one day, I say, ‘There is always tomorrow!’ And as a teacher, I try to pick rooms that I know my students work well in based on their personalities and needs as well as the course needs.”

Through intentional design, space and furniture become elements that help students develop self-direction, critical thinking, collaboration skills and more.

I feel so strongly about the furniture and its potential to help support the learning. It directly supports the development of our career and life competencies – those foundational skills kids will need in their future. Hope Rahn, Executive Director for Learning & Innovation

Flexible learning environments includes the flexible use of time, space and resources. It is one of the core components of Spring Lake Park Schools’ approach to personalized learning.