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Comfort or Control

Over the past few years, I have been rethinking some of my classroom rules and expectations.  I always thought that it was important that students  sit up straight in their chairs with both feet on the ground After all, that is what I did in school!  I also remember hating it.  It felt like being strapped into an airplane seat for six hours straight. 

 Today I looked around my classroom and noticed a change.
The "comfy" chair


On the floor

On the table

 Few of them were sitting up straight in their seats with both feet on the ground.  One student was lying across the table, another was sitting in my "comfy" chair, and another was lying across the tables! Students were reading a play, and every single one of them was engaged in what we were doing. They read  their lines with enthusiasm; some of them even adopted accents!  They looked comfortable and happy!

 This is my Read 180, so I have fewer students and more room.  I wish I had enough space in my other classes for students to spread out and get comfortable.  I do wonder what an administrator or school board member would think if they say students "learning" like this.  I would argue that my students deserve to be comfortable and learn better when they are!  I don't have to be in control of everything!

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