Hi everyone, I posted a week or two ago asking how people set up their classrooms. I went to school today to finish setting mine up, and think I have a layout I like. I'm tired of the traditional row formation that I have used year after year, so I need something that's a little different. I did a face-to-face setup (desks on opposite sides of the room facing each other), with my teacher's desk in the back of the room. There's also a table that I used to have in the front (where I put handouts, students turn in assignments, etc.) that I moved to the back. It was too hard to move around with the table where it used to be. I think this layout allows me to get from student to student a lot more easily, but I'm just afraid of students being too on top of one other. In rows, the desks were a little more spread out. What are your thoughts? I would appreciate any suggestions, since I have another week to completely move things around before school starts! Thanks, Joe
I think it looks great. The desks do look a little crowded, but it may work ... consider how many 6 foot plus tall students you have. If legs won't fit under the desk comfortably for an hour, what will they do? Turn to the side and clog the aisle. Moving them to the front might allow them to stretch out, and they may not be blocking seeing from shorter students behind them.
I like it! I almost went with that set up this year. I like being able to reach students quickly so this set up works well. I never use standard rows.
Thank you both for your comments. KU, I know what you mean about the tall students. I usually assign seats alphabetically at the beginning of the year, and they are always the first ones to request new seats because they're not comfortable in the ones they're initially assigned.
I like the setup. As you walk up and down the middle aisle, you are only a few desks away from students in the back row.
I like it.... I like your set up! I teach elementary but I have a really good friend who teaches high school and she just did this same type of set up. I agree, if you have someone tall, place them in the front or at the end, to try to give them a little more space.
We have a couple of teachers with rooms like this, and they work really well. I can't do this arrangement because we watch many movie and it would be hard for students to see the screen.
I do my room this way too. With these kinds of desks, pairs/groups are a pain because you can't get in from one side so the desks are always getting moved apart. Do expect the desks to migrate towards the center of the room (mine always seem to anyway.) I really like this setup though, nobody's too far away (and I have 33 in a class so that's important.)
That's my favorite setup. I never have kids more than a couple of desks away from me. The first year I had my own classroom, I went rogue and arranged my desks that way. The rest of the school was in traditional rows. Now we have very few traditional rows.
Thanks again, everyone, for the feedback. I would say that half of the teachers in my department (there are ten of us) use some variation of this setup, while the other half use rows. My department head said he likes it better this way since he now has an easier way to get to my desk when he comes in to observe :lol:
