Arranging Student Desks to Fit A Lesson

As I create lessons, I think about how I want my classroom to look and feel when delivering the lesson.  Should the students all be facing the front of the classroom? Will the students be working in pairs? groups of 3? of 4? of 5? or more? Do I need one desk for every student? Can I survive with less? Or, do I need more? How many students do I have in each class? What should the lighting be like? What do I want the students to see on the walls? Should I divide the classroom with (butcher paper) partitions? What are the objectives of this lesson, again?  These are just some of the many questions I ask myself when I think about preparing my classroom for a lesson.

Today, I want to focus on student desks. Arranging desks is a successful tool to enhance student engagement and maximize learning in the classroom. Some teachers keep the same seating arrangement all year long. These teachers should ask themselves if there is any rearranging they can do to enhance their lesson prior to delivery. For some teachers (i.e. those with smaller classrooms, tables instead of desks, chronic back issues, etc.) the challenge is greater. But, for many of us, the opportunities are knocking on our door!

Because I change the desks around 3-4 times a week on average, I rarely assign seats. My students come in, find a seat and begin their Do Now, which is posted on the SmartBoard.  They aren't allowed to save seats. At times, based on the activity, I will find it necessary to assign groups; and therefore, I will have a seating chart posted on those days.  To eliminate student complaints on those days, I let students know the first week of school that it is a privilege to sit where they choose in my classroom and it is my right as a teacher to assign seats when I feel it is necessary.

Here are some of the ways that I have arranged desks in my classroom. In the models below, I use 25 desks.  That is more than I have had to use in the past on a regular basis, but I think my class sizes will be a little bigger this coming year, so I wanted to try it out.

This is one I use the first week of school when I want kids to focus on me (facing the SmartBoard in the awkward corner).  I usually teach students procedures using verbal and visual instructions and modeling.  I also tell the students a bit about myself and let the students share about themselves too. 

I use the above seating arrangements a lot when I have groups of 5, 4, or when my students are working in pairs. The top two are also good arrangements for 4-5 learning centers. 

I use this arrangement for test days. Students face the walls allowing me the ability to see all computer screens from the center of the room.  The multi-purpose table usually has a labeled space for students to turn in extra credit study guides, paper copies of the test (just in case technology fails), and a 'Tell Me What You Know' handout to complete after the test that diagnostically assess prior knowledge of the upcoming unit. 

I use this seating arrangement when I really want to drive something home and use direct instruction.  Students sit close together and close to the front of the classroom. 

I have only used this when I play Histor-opoly with my students as a review.  More on that in a later post...

This one is a fun arrangement. I have only used it when teaching about the Battle of Vicksburg because students sit in the middle of the circle of desks and pretend like they are living in "caves" on the hillside as the Union fires upon the city. I can see this being a great arrangement for a review game like Telephone Pictionary or something similar.

This is the arrangement my fellow Social Studies teacher and I use when we have all our students together for a Constitutional Convention.  The two desks in the back represent Rhode Island, and are not used during the Convention, while the other 12 sets of desks represent each state. The desk up front is reserved for George Washington.

This is my typical Minute To Win It (M2Wi) set up. I have three teams of students who must perform challenging tasks in  under 60 seconds in preparation for tests.  There are over 35 different M2Wi activities that I have used in the classroom.  There will be many more on those in posts to come...

I used this when I wanted to pretend that my students were "taking a field trip" to an archaeological site in the classroom. They had a guest speaker named Bob the Archaeologist (me) to present different artifacts that day.  It's a nice change from the regular look as the back of the classroom gets some much needed love and attention.  It's not a bad set up for a guest speaker.

I've used this arrangement when I have wanted two teams or learning stations in which I didn't mind really large groups. 

I usually either sit in the middle of one of the stations and lead that more directly or move between groups to monitor progress, provide feedback, and answer questions.

I use this for a simulation on the American colonies and their relationship to Great Britain and others in Europe. 

The middle of the classroom has rows of blue butcher paper representing the Atlantic Ocean.

I use this arrangement when my students will be moving around the room doing picture walks 

or acting as "museum patrons". 

 These are just some of the many ways that I arrange my classroom throughout the year. I'm hoping to get a bit more creative with my space this year.  Students seem to respond with curiosity when they see a new arrangement. It gets them interested in being in class before I've said anything at all.

If you arrange your desks in a particular way, I'd love to hear about it!