Every day I feel like my students are playing a twisted high school game of musical chairs. I painstakingly created a well thought out seating chart, pairing high achievers with students who need help, bilingual students with ELLs, and considering the IEP recommendations for "Preferential seating up front," separating those who get rowdy when they are together and the students could care less. As soon as I've finished taking attendance they are out of there seats and next to that empty one by their friend, chatting away and often disrupting class while I try to lead discussions. One kid doesn't even sit. He spends most of the period standing and milling about between two tables. Part of the problem is the empty seats. The classroom has seating for 42 but this particular class has only 32. That's 10 empty seats. While this is an improvement to the not-enough-seats I was having at the beginning of the year, it seems to create more temptation and ability for students to sit wherever. On the other hand, why shouldn't they have some autonomy? In our classes we have studied how the authoritarian environment of high school makes for unpleasant learning experiences. In college no one tells you where to sit. And if they aren't there for a particular reason (like helping their peers) then why not give them some choice? Maybe next seating chart they sit wherever as long as they aren't disruptive.
4 Comments
Kelly Fromm
10/26/2013 02:27:17 am
I was surprised when my 8th grade master teacher had a seating chart for her students (I guess I didn't remember 8th grade that well), and I asked at what age students are allowed to choose their own seats. I remember we never had assigned seats junior and senior year of high school (and I don't think the other two years either), but we would always end up sitting in the seat we chose the first day. I wonder if it worked for my classes because they were usually honors/AP classes, or maybe it was the school culture? Perhaps it was the demographic. My hypothesis is that the students in your school (and they come from my school) aren't used to autonomy (rare group work, minimal freedom) and when given it, don't know what to do. But if a seating chart isn't working so well anyway, maybe it's worth a shot?
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Erin
10/26/2013 04:00:45 am
Alyssa,
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Alyssa,
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AuthorAlyssa Navapanich. Chemistry teacher in training. Archives
December 2013
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