1. What in the World is a Deskless Classroom?
By Jennie Parker
Third Grade Teacher
Cox Mill Elementary School

2. Why do we have desks in the first place?
Clunky wooden desks and chairs all in rows facing the teacher or board at the front of the room helped to produce generations of workers with the endurance to sit twelve hour shifts at factory work stations doing their piece of work under the watchful eye of a boss. As manufacturing became more outsourced, the paradigm shifted slightly to include cubicles and facing a screen.
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3. The Shifting Paradigm
Fortunately, the idea of workers being given a task to complete individually by a boss or manager is shifting to one of teamwork, creativity and innovation. Workers’ laptops or tablets are starting to take the place of the entire desk and supplies while also linking teammates wirelessly together.

4. “Co-Working Spaces”
In the last decade, some of the most innovative companies such as Google, Etsy and Pixar have worked to change the paradigm more significantly. With architectural designs and seating flexibility, the open-air office concept is creating spaces for the most advanced innovations seen in countless areas of industry. The focus is on “co-working” as flexible teams work using social media and the idea of community.
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5. But what are the cons?
This doesn’t mean there aren’t any drawbacks. A major study of open-air offices including cubicle cities cited that the majority of employee dissatisfaction fell into the categories of noise issues and lack of privacy.
Creators of open-air offices are beginning to work with sound design professionals to implement noise reduction technology and to create more enclosed and private seating choices for when employees have that need.
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7. This sounds good, Mrs. Parker, but my child is only eight
This sounds good, Mrs. Parker, but my child is only eight. Why should a third grade classroom be deskless?
I am trying this for the same reasons the innovative companies are:
Emphasis on teamwork (for more info: )
Increased creativity and innovation (for more info: )
Better use of space
Improved physical and mental flexibility
Better health (for more info: )
Increased focus, motivation and engagement (for more info: )

8. But what about next year when my child gets a teacher with a traditional-desk classroom?
A deskless classroom promotes flexibility in seating, so your child (who may miss the deskless design) will easily be able to utilize any desk arrangement.
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9. Without a desk, where will my child keep supplies?
Eventually most supplies will be on a student’s laptop or tablet, but I realize that we’re not quite there yet. Therefore supplies that are easily shared such as pencils, scissors and glue sticks will be provided for every student every day from the supplies brought in at the beginning of the year by everyone. If we run out, I will let you know through our newsletter.
For other supplies like folders, agendas and notebooks, each child will be provided with an organizer that they will keep with them during the day just as they would a laptop. This also eliminates organizational issues that lead to messy desks and lost assignments.

10. Is this really all that different than the previous classroom designs my child has experienced?
No. We have various table shapes and sizes with various seating choices, a carpet where we meet as a class, and areas around the room where students can meet as pairs or groups.
Most classes already use all of those designs as part of their Reading, Writers’ and Math Workshop models.
The only big difference is the way supplies are kept. However, some traditional-desk classrooms have been sharing supplies for years.

11. What about those drawbacks of noise and privacy?
Those are issues for all classrooms. It is up to the teacher to train the students as to what is acceptable when and to enforce those expectations. However, our class’s variety of seating provides for more opportunity for privacy and less noise than when students are forced together by desk arrangements.
Example of a deskless classroom with students spread out, focused, and using some areas for privacy.

12. Please support your child’s experience with our deskless classroom.
As the population continues to surge, space is becoming one of our quickest dwindling resources. We feel that very heavily when using mobile units as classrooms. Without desks, our class is making better use of space and supplies while encouraging teamwork, creativity, innovation, flexibility and active lifestyles.