How can giving 2nd grade students a seating choice impact engagement?

Seminar Title

How can giving 2nd grade students a seating choice impact engagement?

Modified Flexible Seating

2nd Grade

1st Grade

Mathematics

Reading

Are you forced to complete your lesson plans and grades while sitting at a desk at school? If you are like me you’re probably more comfortable doing this work while laying on a couch with Netflix on in the background, standing at a counter, or sitting at a small table in your classroom. Now while we are not allowed to play Netflix at school we can give students a choice in how they sit while they work. I am excited to share about how I incorporated student choice into my classroom by giving students a variety of seating options. My main question was what impact student seating choice would have on engagement. If you want to talk about how flexible seating worked in my classroom, come to my session!

My research was guided by the question: How can giving 2nd grade students a seating choice impact engagement? Through my research, I found an overarching theme of student choice allowing students to have power of their learning. I found four essential concepts of: environment, engagement, motivation, and awareness. My research was showing patterns that correlate to flexible seating, as well as the power of student choice. A review of literature suggested that by students more choice in their learning, they will have increased motivation and engagement. This was used to help me set up a learning environment that welcomes student choice by incorporating self-selected seating into the physical environment of my classroom. Instead of the typical desk and chair set-up, I had a variety of seating choices from students to select from. After implementation of appropriate behaviors and procedures students were allowed to choose the seating spot of their liking. Data was collected on how students’ beliefs and preferences on school, momentary time sampling of engagement, and a record of assignments completed. Through this data I hoped to find patterns supporting student choice in seating would increase engagement in their academic work. Through my action research I found an increase in engagement while students had selected their own seating options. However, the impact was not at significant as I would have thought. I have found that there was an increase in the number of students that completed academic assignments while in a self-selected spot. I also found mixed findings with momentary time sampling of engagement. Out of the six students that were recorded, two students had decreased engagement while four had an increase. As a result from my research, I found that students with sensory needs or emotional and behavior disorders had higher engagement due to their individual needs being met and their send of power being fulfilled. Since the overall patterns showed increased completion in assignments and higher engagement, I will continue to use a flexible seating model and allow students to have a choice in where to complete their work.