Snapshot: Callaway Flexible Seating

Melissa Hale and Debbie Hall: So, three or four years ago, we started in and had a group of kids that 
were extremely active, and we were battling with chairs that were being flipped and all kinds of things. 
Then we started talking about what we could do to make a difference.
Melissa Hale and Diane Ruth-Lovell: What you see here are the different things that we purchased 
through the co-teaching grant. This is a hokki stool. We call it the accordion. The stability balls that our 
first grade classroom affectionately named Moe and the standing table. 
Principal Jason Guilliams: The importance is that they're mostly all teacher led, and they implemented in 
their own grade level or class. And then, other teachers in the building started to see the benefits from 
it. And it just spills over, so I really like the term that I'm giving T-tacts some credit for the whole idea of 
teacher leaders.
Denise Briggs: I think it's wonderful that I can share with all the teachers because what I often find is 
that when I have a child with special needs in one of the classes, and that the teacher starts using it with 
one student then they start sharing it with other students. If they realize that there are a lot of other 
needs out there and that those children may not have an IEP or a 504, but that they benefit.
Female student: That we can turn around, and it helps me work more.
Male student: So, I can sit by myself and work in peace.
Sebrina Ruth-Cooper: It's worked out really well. They like the flexibility of being able to move. And I 
allow them to move one or two times, if they're tired of standing, they can sit or however they choose.
Principal Guilliams: We want to give kids choices and moving them to work towards self-determination. I 
think this really plays into that, too. It just gives them a choice in their own learning.
Melissa Hale: And I think it relaxes teachers, as well because it's allowed us to become more fluid in the 
way that we teach our kids and the way that we let them take more control in the way that they learn 
too. 
One student will choose something one day and then changes up the next day depending on their 
sensory needs.  And the good thing about these is not only, they don't have to stay in the learning lab.
Principal Guilliams: With the implementation of the co-teaching has been hand-in-hand with the 
transformation of our learning lab, making it a place where all students can learn.
Diane Ruth-Lovell: All of this contributes to a bigger picture of effective co-teaching. The whole purpose 
of co-teaching is to teach students in a way that they need to receive the information to learn, and these 
are just some of the tools that we can ensure that they're getting the information. They're getting it in 
an atmosphere and an environment that helps them receive it. If someone needs to move to learn, then 
by all means we are going to encourage that and help them do that. 
Melissa Hale and Debbie Hall: So we just decided to do the whole entire class, it made a huge difference.
Principal Guilliams: Some days they like to stand, some days they like to sit in chairs, somedays they 
want to sit on the Albert or the Moe, and it just gives them a choice to make their learning style. And I 
think the other important thing is we are in a very small community. Our staff is community, they work 
really closely together. But I think building culture and building an atmosphere of safety, an atmosphere 
of I belong here, and I think that is as important as anything else we do here. Hopefully you got a sense 
of that in walking through the school and looking at the classrooms, and seeing how interactive not only 
the staff is but the students are interactive, too. They interact with one another, they interact with the 
staff, and that just builds the whole culture of the school.