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Setting Up Your Classroom

Things to Consider:

Do your students know what they will learn?

Do your students know your expectations?

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Classroom Setup Ideas

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Teach Like a Champion- Draw the Map: Controlling the environment by wisely grouping students through the seating chart

Watch this video to see how your room set up can support your classroom management

Click on this picture to read more from Marzano

Things to consider when making seating arrangements
The U
version 2
Why Choose...

  • Excellent for whole-class discussions and teacher-directed instruction when you want students to participate with verbal responses.

  • Is excellent for classroom circulation-you can quickly reach any student.

  • Does not lend itself to cooperative group activities.

  • Is probably not feasible when you have a large number of students. (more than 25-28 makes it difficult to arrange).

Groups
Why choose...

  • Is excellent if you schedule frequent cooperative learning tasks.

  • Works well for small group work and differentiation of different student groups.

  • Provides a more student centered than teacher centered environment.

  • Can be problematic when you have students who need less stimulation and distraction. Being part of a cluster may make it more difficult for them to behave responsibly, but separating them may make them feel excluded.

  • Requires students to turn sideways or completely around to see the board or teacher-directed instruction

Why choose...

WHY HAVE A SEATING CHART DAY 1?

  1. Learning students names! (helps build relationships)​

  2. Let students know you are in control of your classroom environment.

  3. Proactive Behavioral Strategies

    • Can separate problem behaviors

    • Can seat students near each other for translation purposes, academic purposes, etc.

    • Can make small groups based on needs (homogenous groupings) or seat a variety of levels together for support (heterogenous grouping)

Rows
version 2
Why Choose...

  • Is excellent when you schedule frequent whole-class instruction or when students must see the board for tasks.

  • Allows for occasional cooperative learning activities. Students can be trained to move quickly from the rows into groups of four and back to the rows when the cooperative activity is completed

  • Allows students to interact, but the space between desks helps to keep off-task conversation down.

  • Implies the student attention should be directed toward the front of the room.

  • Allows easy circulation among students.

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