Section 3: Classroom Etiquette

Chapter 17: Seating in the Classroom

Following up on classroom organization and instruction in the classroom is seating, which is something that can be used strategically in many different ways. For younger students you can use it as a way to keep order in the classroom and to give students a place to be. By having assigned seating with Velcro name tags on your students’ tables (to move the seating from time to time) or even a colored X on the floor where they are designated to sit during lessons, younger students will naturally go to where they belong when they are told to go to their seats. It is a very good way to keep control in the classroom by saying things such as: “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0” and expecting the students to be in their seats by making the rules clear to them. This strategy gives students a sense of urgency to quickly be in their seat and to be listening to you, and if not, they can expect something like losing a sticker or a chance at a reward for the day for not listening to the rules. 

When it comes to older students (and sometimes this strategy even works with younger students!) you can try to use assigned seats to both keep order in the class as well as to help facilitate learning. When you are deciding where students sit in the classroom (if you have this as an opportunity) you should try to be aware of what students work well together and what students will be disruptive and stop the flow of the class. Making sure you pick proper seating is very important in order to make sure that each class flows well. In addition to keeping the class in order, you can also use seating in the classroom to help students that are struggling during classes. By pairing weaker students with stronger students, you can help guide struggling students to the right answers with the help of their peers. This can sometimes be a good method for helping struggling students, but you should be mindful and keep an eye on your pairs during group work in order to make sure that the stronger student is not just doing everything by themselves. Stronger students will often just give answers instead of guiding their fellow peers so you must keep a close eye on students when they are paired up in the classroom for group work. 

Seating in the classroom is a very important aspect that is often not deeply looked at or discussed. Having the proper seating and pairing the right students together can change the whole class's atmosphere and even make your lessons easier or harder depending on the situation. It is important to remember which students work well together and which students work best depending on where they are placed. As long as you are mindful of your students and remember both where they work best as well as who they work best with you will easily be able to have your classes run more smoothly and efficiently. Just always remember that in most situations where you have flexibility in the classroom seating that you should always be the one who picks the students seats.