After a recent activity in English teacher Rachel Appleby’s class, her students found they enjoyed sitting on the ground more than in the chairs school provides. This gave Appleby an idea: flexible seating.

“I discovered that many of my kids enjoyed not having to sit in those hard, blue chairs, and funny enough many of them had an easier time focusing. […] After doing some research, I found a lot of evidence to support that flexible seating is really helpful for student engagement and focus, especially for students who deal with ADD and ADHD,” Appleby said.

Flexible seating isn’t a new concept; it’s the idea that alternatives to traditional chairs can be helpful to students and other workers. Alternative seating includes couches, beanbag chairs, yoga balls, even standing up.

Many businesses are using this concept, such as Google, Zappos, and Twitter . At Autodesk, a software developer, there are hammocks and Adirondack chairs. Similarly, Whole Foods headquarters boasts hanging hammock-style chairs.

Appleby explained: “Employees are able to work in open, collaborative spaces. Employees are expected to be productive, task oriented and collaborative all while working in what could potentially be a very distracting environment. And let’s face it, all life is distracting, so we need to be able to focus despite the din.”

Seating that is different also allows students to be more physically active in class because they can move around more. They can bounce on a yoga ball or shift in a beanbag.

In a study of the Effects of a Classroom-Based Program on Physical Activity and On-Task Behavior, Matthew T. Mahar of East Carolina University found that “simple in-class activities can boost performance. Studies suggest that children who participate in short bouts of physical activity within the classroom have more on-task behavior, with the best improvement seen in students who are least on-task initially.”

Another benefit is it creates a more relaxed atmosphere where students can feel comfortable to take their time, ask questions, and even work together.

With this information in mind, Appleby proposed the idea to administrators who agreed that this was an interesting endeavor to attempt.

Appleby has set up a Go-Fund-Me style fundraiser with the nonprofit organization Donors Choose in an attempt to raise funds to purchase alternative seating for her classroom.

If you are interested in supporting the endeavor visit:

https://www.donorschoose.org/project/flexible-seating-brings-literature-and-c/2857308/