A Seating Experiment

Today was the first day back from spring break. The school year is rapidly drawing to a close. I have regular classroom time with my kids the next two weeks, and then we have our state testing. After state testing is over, we begin our space camp in sixth grade activities, so I won’t have my students much of the time. That will take us another three weeks, and then we will only have a half week for finals left!

Before break, my students and I had a chat about how they would like to see the seats arranged. I move our desks around a lot. I get bored when they are always in the same place, and I want them to be situated in arrangements best for the tasks we are accomplishing. However, I thought it was time for my students to have a say. There were several suggestions, but a common theme was a combination of rows and groups. I decided to give it a try.

Since the students had suggested the arrangement, I decided to also let them choose where they sit in the space. They were definitely very excited about this. I also told them they do not have to sit in the same place each day. They were almost shocked by this. Obviously this is not something that has ever been an option before.

It’s all an experiment, and I am interested to see how it works out. Based on today, I think it will go well. I am very curious to see if the students choose to sit in the same places as today or if they continue to venture to new places in the room.

Finally, as I was trying to put together a picture to show you the desk arrangements, I found this cool tool that helps you arrange your room:  Classroom Architect.

Have you ever tried a seating experiment? How did it go for you?

By Janelle

Space geek, science nerd extraordinaire. That's me! Want to know more, visit the About page.

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