YAY! We have chairs AND they are awesome! – An overly excited student

New School Struggle

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This year I had the amazing opportunity of starting a new school in our town. I knew that the journey would be difficult. Especially the beginning, however I was not prepared for all that unfolded during those first few weeks.

When we were first told we were allowed to start moving into our building, my grade level partner and I were so excited. We could not wait to decorate our classroom and office spaces. Our ideas were endless! Then, reality hit. To say I was let down by my classroom and how the office space was designed is an understatement (a post for another time)… but mainly, I could not wrap my brain around the fact that not all the furniture ordered for our school had arrived!

Needless to say, we started off our year in folding chairs. I know, I know… folding chairs are not comfortable! What made things worse, was our students did not understand why all their other classes had normal student chairs and in my room – they didn’t.

Worth the Wait

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A few weeks into the school year, there was a large shipment of chairs that was delivered. I remember seeing them and thinking, “these have to be our chairs.. they just have to be!” Sure enough, they were and they were amazing!

My principal had told us that our room was one of the rooms that was getting one of her favorite pieces of furniture ordered. Using these chairs, I can see why.  Ruckus chairs are amazing! Especially for students who have disabilities. The Ruckus chair design promotes student movement and lets them choose how they relate to their learning spaces.  It also helps foster student engagement! YAY!

When my students came into class the day after our chairs were delivered, their eyes lit up! They were so excited to have chairs. One of my students exclaimed, “YAY! We have chairs AND they are awesome!” as he wheeled around in one testing it out. Before I had the chance to show them all the cool ways they could sit in them, they were figuring it out on their own. I looked around my room and smiled as they positioned themselves in the chairs the way they liked best.

As frustrated as I was in the beginning, I cannot begin to explain how well things have worked out. The layout of our classroom, the uniqueness to our furniture, the flexibility given to students… it has simply been amazing. It has been more than worth the frustrations and feeling like I don’t know much. More importantly, it has been more than worth the wait.

Favorite Sitting Positions

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Now that we have had the chairs for a few weeks, it is always so fun to see the ways my students chose to utilize them. However, there are definitely a few positions that are clearly student favorites! These positions are demonstrated in my pictures throughout this post for you!

Main positions students can utilize:

• Sitting straight forward
• Rotate their body to sit with their legs on either side
• Straddle the back 
• Sit on top of the back rest (yes! It holds your body weight!)

Students also have the capability to roll their chair! This has allowed them to be able to turn their seats in whatever direction they need to face instruction. They can also easily move their chairs from one group to another, if needed. The possibilities have been endless!

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