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Seating Arrangements
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6 thoughts on “Seating Arrangements”
Absolutely. I use the green laser pointer and meet them at to door to point them in a different spot every two weeks. But let them choose those first couple of days so you can know which combinations need to be strategically separated.
…let them choose those first couple of days so you can know which combinations need to be strategically separated….
I like that. Alphabetizing right away doesn’ t let you see the problem clumps. Very interesting!
I did the let them sit where they want to thing for the first two weeks for a couple of years, over which time only one girl every figured out how I was sorting out friends, but for me that doesn’t feel above board enough. I tell my kids for the first weeks I’ve got to know what their names are (true that), and then after that they usually won’t be sitting next to their friends because I need to have the class seating be as boring as possible. Why? Because I’m so boring that the only way I can come across as interesting is to make everything else as boring as possible. BTW, that’s also my stock answer that I whip out whenever they ask me if they can have class outside on a nice day. “Nope. That would be too interesting, and I’d suffer by comparison.”
That said, after the first quarter is over and I have a solid handle on the class and know who is friends with whom, I don’t really care that they’re next to friends for a couple of weeks. The school year is a marathon, not a sprint, and occasionally we need variety from the variety. On my holiday weeks second quarter on (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.) I let them choose their partners to sit next to, and then draw a thermometer with four slots on the board. I tell them my concerns with friends sitting next to each other, and let them know I’ll fill in a thermometer slot each time the class gets disruptive. When the four slots are filled, it’s back to assigned seats. If they go a full day with no new disruptions, I’ll erase a slot. I’ve done a variation on this for three years now, and never have had to re-assign seats. Especially on days when they get two slots filled back-to-back (these are holiday weeks, after all), they get the message and self-enforce religiously.
The interesting thing on comments I get is less about having to be next to so-and-so, but in how much they track which different parts of the room they are in (“I was in this corner two rotations ago!”). I think viewing the class from different perspectives really changes the experience for them.
Absolutely those different perspectives really change the experience. It also creates brain novelty. I love your idea of how to keep the room responding during those weeks leading up to the breaks. That is a tough time for all of us to hold onto our energy. Great ideas!
I start on Tuesday. I never thought about having pre-arragned seating on the first day. I usually let the kids sit wherever they want and they sit that way for the year. Two or three kids claim the couch on the first day and by that time they have already claimed it as theirs. Other students dare not sit on the couch. I wonder if other students are territorial about their seats in the room. Maybe a two week rotation isn’t a horrible idea. You have me thinking, Herr Black.
You know Drew, now that you mention it, one of the reasons why I’ve moved away from having them chose their own seats the first week or so is the territoriality of it that gets spawned by that. Kids totally want to stake out their territory; I need to establish that those are my seats, not theirs. The first few weeks are about establishing routines and procedures–creating an environment based on our terms–and first assigning the seats and then mixing them up is at its essence a procedure that says a) this classroom here is a shared space and b) I’m going to take responsibility for making and keeping this space safe.