Seating Arrangement

There are many different ways to arrange a classroom's desks, and many teachers find an arrangement that they prefer over all others. There are excellent reasons for almost every kind of seat arrangement, but I want to talk about the one that I find works best, and why.

I always have my class sit in teams. Usually teams of 4, but depending on the class numbers, I have had teams of 3 and teams of up to 6 before.

The biggest reason that I prefer this seating arrangement is because I feel that working in a group and being social is easily one of the most important skills that kids learn in any given classroom. Of course the academics are important, and so is respect for authority, etc., but when you look back over your school years, you will most likely remember your friends in your class, not the dates you learned in history.

With my class in teams, it is easy for me to give a group project or a quick group assignment without assigning partners first. In teams, I can easily transition into a group competition game without having to discuss who is on what team first.

Many of my classroom structures revolve around the teams. I have a team leader every week (each child of the team is given the letter A, B, C, D, (E and F if needed) based on the alphabetical order of the first names of the children on that team). That team leader is responsible for getting the team's supplies, such as pencils and textbooks when we need them. Also, the team leader is the one who will share the team's answer on a group question.

During independent working time, while I am doing reading groups, students are instructed to whisper to their teammates if they need help. They have a specific order of who they ask first, and when they can ask the teacher for help. The teams are designed (by me) to be balanced with low and high students so that the low kids will be receiving help from high kids, and not by someone who will "help" them incorrectly. I spend a lot of time talking about coaching and how a coach won't kick the ball for you, but will teach you how to kick it, as an analogy for helping a partner with an assignment.

I also use the teams for behavior management by putting a globe on the table of the team that is doing the best at the moment. It moves around all day long, but whatever team the globe lands on gets a reward at the end of the day.

I am not too proud to admit that having my students in teams does come with some negatives too.

-It takes a great deal of class space to have the desks in teams, and it frequently doesn't look pretty and organized, because that is where I can fit the desks.

-Most of my students are not facing forward because of this desk arrangement. I ensure that they can all see the board by turning sideways, but they still need to turn to see the board.

-I have to have a tighter handle on classroom control because being in teams tends to make the kids more talkative. This is to my advantage on group work times, and my disadvantage the rest of the time.

Yet, with these negatives, I still keep the class in teams. Many times, on especially chatty days, I consider switching into rows or a horseshoe arrangement, but I never do. It is far more important to me to have the group work and group competitions and other group activities than it is for me to have a perfectly quiet class all day long.

I know that many of you reading this are already dedicated to a particular classroom arrangement, and another large portion of you won't change for another reason (space, required seating arrangement for your grade etc.), but if you can, I do encourage you to try putting your students into teams, if only for a few weeks. Try out a few team activities, and see how excited the students are about getting to sit that way. I hope you find it a rewarding experience, like I have.