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.

Why I prefer Class Cards to Popsicle Sticks

Buy the book - Class Cards

My first experience with class cards was from a Rick Morris presentation. (He has many useful tips and tools, and I am sure more of his great ideas will show up on here later). He introduced the idea, and I have sworn by it since I started student teaching.

At its simplest, class cards is a deck of playing cards, with each card labeled with the name of one student (top and bottom).

This deck will become one of your best tools.

Have you ever had that moment where you can pick one kid to do something special, maybe do an experiment, or help you with something special (that doesn't fall under your regular class jobs), and all you see is tons of hands and you have no idea how to do it fairly?

If you are like me, if required to be done without assistance, you choose a model student. But don't they get picked a lot?

These cards can help. You shuffle your deck (of however many students you have) and pick one. You can feel confident that it truly was completely random, and the kids know that you aren't playing favorites.

Okay, another scenario for you, you simply ask a question that you want someone in the class to answer, because you have just been teaching the lesson. You could call on one of the many bright outgoing students who are desperately raising their hand to get your attention, or you could call on someone who is obviously out in space and has no idea what you are talking about, but you really just want to see if random kids in the class understand it. Pick up your deck of cards. I usually take the top one, and then call on them.

The nice thing about the deck of cards here is that if that student knew the answer, you can go to the next card, and ask another question. If they didn't know, put the card not at the bottom of the pile, but a few from the top, so they will get called on again shortly.

Now, I know what you are thinking, you are wondering why my post talks about why the cards are better than Popsicle sticks, and so far I am not convincing you. Yes, for both applications above, picking up a popsicle stick will work just as well.

The #1 reason why I don't like the sticks is portability. A deck of cards, I can easily carry with my teacher guide, or reading book, or any other thing I need while teaching. I can pick cards and put them back with one hand. With popsicle sticks I have to carry my jar, and then put the sticks somewhere after I use them.

The 2nd reason I don't like using sticks is that when we are doing group reading, I want to be able to keep giving turns, but in a way so that I know everyone gets a turn before we start again, and it is even spacing. So... I use my deck, I shuffle it once before we start, and then I go through it as many times as I need during that lesson.

If we need to vote on something, I use these cards. I call on the students in the order of the cards, and then I put them in piles based on their answer. It helps me decide which movie to watch during a rainy day, or to use student answers to build a class graph.

If kids are absent, I make their cards "wild." In other words, I am letting kids tell me what they would do if they were on the Mayflower. I am calling on students from my cards, and then I come across Suzie's card, and Suzie is absent, I will say, "wild" and then students are allowed to raise their hand to be called on.

For the record, I occasionally do have class activities where I don't use the cards. Sometimes kids like to be called on because they know it, not just randomly.

When you want the kids in groups, and the grouping doesn't matter (I group sometimes based on interests or academic ability as the case dictates), shuffle the cards, deal them into decks, and there are your groups. You want a class competition? Instead of boy/girl, deal the deck in two piles, and then tell the kids what team they are on. It keeps it interesting.

I hope I have given some useful tips for how to use class cards, and I think you will find that they are much better than sticks. If you have additional ideas on how to use these cards, please comment below.

Visit Rick Morris' website here