So, you’ve heard all about the benefits of flexible furniture and now you want to start incorporating it into your classroom. But how do you do this effectively?
Learning more about the classroom layout could give you a better understanding of how to effectively use flexible school furniture. Buying a range of fun and flexible desks furniture options won’t yield the best results, you need to select and implement flexible school furniture with intent to see the best results.
Change the layout of your school furniture
As we’ve discussed previously, “the way in which your classroom is set up can have a direct impact on the effectiveness of the lesson and the learning potential of the students.”. You may notice a huge change in the behaviour of your students simply by rearranging your existing furniture.
So, rearranging the classroom tables and chairs that you currently have to enable individual and group work is a good way to start the transformation to a more flexible learning environment.
You don’t have to throw out your existing school furniture to create a flexible learning environment. You can slowly introduce flexible seating options like wobble stools and ottomans into your classroom to see how your students respond.
By slowly introducing new pieces of school furniture, you’ll be able to assess which classroom desks and chairs students respond best to, to direct you on which pieces of furniture you should invest more in.
A flexible classroom is all about giving students the choice of where to sit. This involves not only enabling students to decide where and who they would like to sit with, but also what they sit on.
Since every student has different preferences, it’s important to get a variety of flexible furniture options like lounge chairs, ottomans and sit to stand desks to ensure each student is able to choose the most comfortable seating option for them.
It’s in the name – a flexible classroom means adaptability, reconfiguration and movement. Investing in lightweight and portable furniture will make the process of building your flexible classroom much easier (Especially in the beginning phases).
Investing in furniture designed to meet the demands of the classroom task will give you more control in driving the desired work ethic from students because you can reconfigure the classroom as you need it. Mobile school desks or lightweight classroom desks are ideal pieces of flexible school furniture to invest in as they can be easily moved or transported to accommodate for changing tasks.
There is no single classroom layout that suits every classroom activity or every student’s personal learning preference, that's why when you’re building your flexible classroom, you need to accommodate for both individual and group work.
This means ensuring that students have the option to sit on a clustered table if they work better in groups or on a single desk if they prefer to work individually.
Creating an effective flexible classroom is trial and error. Some pieces are simply more effective than others. If lounges are proving to be a little too comfortable for students to pay attention in class, maybe consider removing them from your main learning space and move it to your reading or quiet space.
Different pieces work best for different environments, so keep this in mind before you write off any piece of flexible furniture. Assess how your students use each piece of flexible furniture when they’re engaged in a classroom task and which pieces students gravitate towards.
Trial and error is the process that almost guarantees that you’ll be able to create a flexible learning environment for your students.
We already know the benefits of flexible furniture, so why wait to create a classroom your students will thrive in? Contact our team of specialists at Reed Furniture for a free consultation on building a flexible learning environment.
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