Changing a Routine to Meet Student's Needs Better {9 of 31 Slice of Life}

I sat in my rocking chair and had a flashback.  Remember when you truly honored flexible seating one hundred percent and student choice.  It's the beginning of March and I'm being asked for new reading spots for the month.  Somehow we fell into a pattern of picking spots each month to help with some list of things I thought important one day.  When I began sharing the idea of picking their own seats daily based on what their body needed someone spoke up and shared, "we use to do that."  I said out loud, "why did we stop that?"  Another student replied with, " I think we had a bad day of reading the whole time."  My students don't have spots any other time of the day except for reading and writing.  All of a sudden, having spots for reading and writing workshop felt all wrong.  We had a quick discussion reviewing possible reading spots, some parameters for the number of people at our carpet space and coffee table.  We discussed the different kinds of seating options and knowing what your body needed right now, in this moment.  We also discussed how it might change day to day and to have a back up idea incase someone else is in your first choice.  We tried it on Friday and again today.  As I sat back and observed, my readers were more engaged.  Choice matters and no one knows better than they do what their body needs.

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for fostering this writing community and offering this challenge.