6/8/2021 Belleview H.S. teacher ditches desks for couches - News - Ocala.

com - Ocala, FL

Belleview H.S. teacher ditches desks for

couches
By Joe Callahan

Posted Aug 20, 2019 at 5:06 PM
Updated Aug 20, 2019 at 7:06 PM

Haley Freeman believes her ninth-grade English students

will learn more in a comfortable, relaxed setting

About a dozen Belleview High School ninth-graders sat quietly Monday

morning inside a dimly lit English I classroom and peered toward a Smartboard.

Instead of sitting in typical desks, the students in Haley Freeman’s English class
sat on two couches and in bungee chairs. Freeman, 25, a 2012 high school
graduate of Meadowbrook Academy, welcomed the students.

One student handed out notebooks to her classmates. Nearby, computers were
positioned around the perimeter of the classroom, against several walls and out
of the way. Those computers are used for testing and by the school’s yearbook
staff.

When the students were asked by the Star-Banner if they liked the unique
classroom setting, all said “yes” in unison.

“You get to actually talk to your neighbors without getting yelled at or anything,”
ninth-grader Kyleigh Wrisley said. “And you (are) just comfortable.”

Classmate Julie Conover agreed, stating, “You feel more relaxed and less
stressed.”

Freeman, who teaches English I all day, with the exception of one yearbook class,
explained why she ditched the traditional desks.

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“The biggest reason I have my room set up like this is that our district asked us
(teachers) in training for four big things: engagement, rigor, collaboration and
movement,” Freeman said. “When I set up my room I really wanted to hit those
four things.”

Freeman said “rigor comes from behind the scenes, like I do with my planning.”

“The biggest thing is that I want (students) to be able to collaborate,” she said. “I
want them to move and, if they are talking to each other, they are learning.”

There are little pods set up around the room. The students move to different
stations to work on collaboration exercises. Her instruction includes, for
example, asking students to stand up each time a vowel is said when the class
spells words written on the board out loud.

“I really want my kids to feel comfortable,” Freeman said. “This will be the most
comfortable setting they will see all day.”

Freeman said she got the idea for flexible seating by following California teacher
Marie Morris, who has her own YouTube channel called The Caffeinated
Classroom.

“I saw what she was doing and I loved it,” Freeman said. “I was so impressed
about what she was doing with her students and how she had her classroom set
up. When I saw what Marie was doing, I said you know I am going to take this
to my administration. I am very fortunate to have an administration that is
open-minded and progressive.”

Superintendent of Schools Heidi Maier and district spokesman Kevin Christian

said a handful of teachers in Marion County have set up rooms with casual
seating. And, Maier noted, there are some creative ones at the elementary school
level that she deemed “fabulous.”

A 2016 story on the National Education Association news website, called

“neaToday,” explored the idea of what it dubbed “Starbucks” classrooms. And the
general consensus was that the concept had more ups than downs.

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The article stated children did seem to be more engaged and, in turn, tended to
have better grades. The cons were the cost of buying bigger furniture, such as
couches, and getting parents on board with the concept.

Jim Wulff, Belleview High’s assistant principal, said he and Freeman discussed
the idea last year and thought it was great.

“It gives the students a little freedom,” Wulff said. “I loved the idea right away. I
tease the students. I say, ‘Just because you don’t have a desk doesn’t mean you
don’t have to do the work.’ I think she is going with it well.”

Wulff added that students love “to hear each other’s ideas.”

“We have found in many cases that more learning is going on when a student
teaches another student,” he noted, adding they are finding it is the best was to
disseminate information.

Freeman worked at Silver River Marine Institute, an alternative school, for one
and a half school years. She transferred to Belleview High in the middle of 2018-
19. This will be her first her first full year at Belleview and the beginning of her
third year overall.

“My background is in behavior, so when I came here I knew I was going to have
a whole new caliber of students,” Freeman said Monday. “I wanted to
accommodate them the best that I could to prevent behavioral issues that end up
sending them to an alternative school.”

Joe Callahan can be reached at 867-4113 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com.

Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews

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