I am teased all the time because I rearrange my classroom multiple times each year. In the past I have moved things around because of my need for change. I get bored or I see something isn’t working day to day so I move things. Last year, first year of my current loop, I would watch kids sit at tables and read or write in their notebooks. They looked so uncomfortable. So we had a meeting. I asked if they sat at the kitchen table to read? Just about all the students said “NO”. I told them that when I am at home reading I am stretched out on the couch. When I am working on planning for them, I sit on the floor and spread everything out around me. Not surprising, that is the way they like to work as well. So the work began to make our room a place where we could get a little more…I am not sure there is a word that fits what we were going for. This room has evolved from a pretty traditional classroom. Tables, chairs, a library, a carpet, a meeting place.. You get the idea. First, we gave away some tables. (EEK! Give away furniture?? Am I crazy? What kind of teacher does that?) We had about 6 tables with four chairs at each. We went down to 3 tables. Then we started moving things around and adding alternate seating choices. We brought in lap trays (from Hobby Lobby), patio chairs (from my deck). 
We call this the patio. Pictures frames that we fill as the year goes, and includes pics from previous classes. I asked teachers to donate any old frame they didn’t want. I have tons still ready to go up if I need them. This was different for me, I usually like things to be very coordinated. So, different frames actually made me nervous, but looks so much better than going with matching..
Some of us also like to stand when we work. Well that was easy. I bought two shelves from Lowe’s and attached them to the wall. Okay, I tried to attach them, but luckily our evening custodian heard my power tools and came to help. Hehe Not a great pic, but they are under the two bulletin boards. *I made those bulletin boards from foam board from Hobby Lobby. Had to use liquid nails to keep them up. They are never coming down.
At some point in our transformation our Music teacher was “giving away” risers. These are colorful and mobile. As you have probably noticed my room has a color theme, yellow, blue and black. She had yellow risers up for grabs. Well, of course we brought these in.
Now what would we want with that? Well not all kids love sitting on the carpet. This was perfect for us to spread out a bit and have additional seating for whole group or a work space in general. The bleachers were a great addition at the time. However, as I said this classroom evolves. Recently, the bleachers have become a “hang out”, where little work is actually completed. The bleachers had worn out their effectiveness. I offered them up and our Math Interventionist jumped on them. Actually, she wanted them for kids to sit on, but if she would like to jump on them that would be okay too.
This took the place of the bleachers. It is a table that can be a stand up work station or there are stools in case we need to lean. I know it isn’t covered in the blue vinyl that the other surfaces are covered in. I just haven’t gotten to it yet, but I will.
Finally, the kiddos mentioned they would like specific areas to work either independently, with no distractions, or with small groups. So we made Zones. We have areas that are Distraction Free Zones and Whisper Zones. Ikea had some cute frames, in BLUE! 
They work to remind us of the area we are in and what the expectations are. We also have them posted on the wall in specific areas as well.
The whole room. I also love that fact that I have five walls instead of four. 🙂 I can’t wait to see if we make more changes. I am even more curious to know what will happen next year with a brand new group of kiddos. Hmm…
