Beanbag chairs, yoga balls, whiteboard tabletops and high tables with stools are all part of the way a Wareham Middle School math class has hacked their classroom.

Math teacher Bonnie Lasorsa’s sixth-grade class entered a national competition through Room 2 Learn called Hack Your Classroom. Students were invited to reinvent their learning space and show how it could have a positive impact on learning.

Lasorsa’s class won the competition, receiving $200 to help make their dream classroom a reality. Judges said they liked the class’ emphasis on student inclusion. The design included tables and a wall covered in whiteboard paint, a hot chocolate maker, high tables with stools, low tables with beanbag chairs and yoga balls and a tent or fort.

Most of these things are a reality in the classroom, with a wide variety of places for kids to sit.

“It feels like a coffee shop in here,” Lasorsa said. The most popular tables are the high ones with stools.

“We’re still working on how to choose which seat you get,” Lasorsa said. Students who score a 100 on math tests get the first pick of a seat, or some days seating is assigned randomly.

Some of the ideas for the classroom came from special education and kindergarten settings, which incorporate flexible seating and allow students to move around and stay engaged, but Lasorsa said it’s not as common in upper level classes yet.

She has more plans for the classroom, mostly from ideas the kids have given her: more whiteboard paint, a carpet and lamps. And the kids can’t stop talking about the hot chocolate, which Lasorsa said will be used as an incentive for good work.

The students all agree that the “hacked” classroom makes math class more fun.

“The whiteboard tables make work so much easier,” said Anna Ambarik, a sixth grader in the class. “It's also better for the environment.”

Stoney Ferry, another student in the class, said she likes being able to stand up at the high tables while she does her work to improve her focus.

Lasorsa said she hopes more classrooms will begin to incorporate these ideas, especially the whiteboard table surfaces, which is an easy first step.

“This classroom is a comfort zone, and there’s not a student who doesn’t like it,” she said.