Last week my husband and I vacationed in Ogunquit, Maine. We took a sunset cruise out of Perkins Cove, which gave us a wonderful opportunity to explore the coastline from a different vantage point. Just a few minutes after our boat got into the open water I noticed a woman sitting out on a rock reading. I nudged my husband and urged him to look. I think he was more impressed with the fact that someone hiked out to those rocks just to read, while I was taken with that, in addition to the measures this woman took to get away with a seemingly important book.
Seeing this woman reading in a place where no one could bother her reminded me of the focus spots my fourth graders had. During the first week of reading and writing workshops, I’d allow students to try out different places in the classroom during independent reading and writing time. Students were invited, the following day, to try out a new spot. By the week’s end, I’d ask each child for their top two focus spot preferences so that I could assign them (yes, assign!) to a focus spot for the duration of the year. NOTE: Students had different spots for reading and writing workshops.
Having this assigned spot, which was chosen by the student, eliminated distractions or desires to sit near a friend when a substitute teacher was in the classroom. Focus spots also led to quicker transitions since all students knew where to go and stated working immediately. On the rare occasion when students would try to switch their focus spots without speaking with me, I’d invite them to find their spot again. There was never an argument when it came to going back to one’s focus spot because that’s just the way it was in our classroom.
Not all classrooms are large enough for focus spots. However, if you can find a way to allow students to find a spot that suits them, and allows them to do their best work, then productivity will increase, thereby creating a richer community in both your reading and writing workshops.
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I started doing this, accidently, my first year of teaching. I had a grade 5 class, and one boy had grown a lot over the summer. He just couldn’t get comfortable in his desk! Finally, I suggested he work at the table, and he loved it so much he asked if it could be his permanent seat. Soon others were asking to join him. Now that I have younger students, many of them also have problems getting comfortable for writing and choose to lie on the floor, or sit at the reading table, or work in the hallway. It drives some of the other teachers in my school crazy when they walk in and find my class spread out all over the place, but I love it! A lot of my students focus best when they are squished into a little corner, or under a table with fewer visual distractions.
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I like this idea too. I already allow my kids to choose their seat for the day. I believe our moods dictate where we might sit on a day to day basis. So when they enter the classroom, they may pick out a table that suits them for that day. There are single desks, two person, three person, and four person tables. The kids move around a lot during the day and might work on the floor, in the library, or on a rug but their table spot is there for them if that is what they need. Now…I can see that perhaps there is a place that may suit each of them for reading or writing. Thanks for the seed.
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I love this idea of students choosing their own focus spot – for the year. This would eliminate the moving around that goes on during the year which wastes precious reading/writing time. Thanks, Stacey!
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My favorite reading spot is a dock on Lake Caspian in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. So hard to leave that spot!
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