South Haven News

By Michelle Tevington

Seating charts are the base of elementary education. As students move into junior high and high school, slowly seating charts disappear. In elementary school, we know that students are not mature enough to make smart choices about where to sit. They will often choose to sit with their friends, not in the best position to learn. There isn’t much of a difference with older school students and elementary.

A seating chart is a drawing showing where particular people will sit at a gathering. Proper room arrangement provides a comfortable learning environment. This is essential because students thrive in a comfortable learning space. As time goes on students will learn which behaviors are acceptable and expected in each location in the classroom.

By creating seating charts, you are creating clear expectations for your class. Seating charts can help reduce the amount of sidebar conversations. Being able to separate students who talk during the lesson frequently. You can place students who often grasp topics quickly with a student who may need assistance more frequently. By using seating charts, you can have smoother transitions between class activities. Having an assigned individual from each area of the classroom to help with these transitions.

By utilizing seating charts, you can introduce students to a more diverse collaboration. Every teacher has two students who they have never seen speak before. By separating friend groups, you can open up new possibilities for relationships to be built with their peers. Students who are shy and more closed up may have something great to say. By having them speak to a set group of people, they may grow comfortable with those individuals and share what they have to say.

There are also loads of different learning styles. By grouping students according to their learning styles, you can offer a better learning experience for all students. In some cases, this means visual learners with visual learners. Other times, this could be a visual learner, auditory learners, and tactile learners placed together to benefit the whole table. By knowing exactly where a student is placed and why, you can better assist them, whether this is guidance for the group assisting one individual, or you working with a whole group it benefits most.

Having students spread out across the room, you also have the opportunity to call across the room and not at the “Chatty table.” It can be hard to get answers out of students who don’t want to participate because they already know they’re going to be interrupted. If groups are well balanced everyone has better opportunities to engage in class discussions.

With assigned seating there is more responsibility for your belongings in your space. Spilled water bottles, overcrowded desks, and stolen class materials are all reduced issues. Some of the teachers I took classes with have had assignments per seat you sit at such as janitor who assists in cleaning spills, team captains who collect materials for their group, and a teachers aid who helps a substitute if they need it. This system is great, except in these classes, but the students could still freely change seats. This can result in distractions and arguments taking up time for class.

A large population of students in high schools across the country are involved in athletics. Being involved in sports can result in injury. With a seating plan, you can accommodate for students who may fall injured during a sports season. Instead of the whole friend group repositioning to a table closer to the door, you swap said injured student with a student at a more accessible seat.

Some students will have a 504 or an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Students with these accommodation may need more assistance during class time. Strategically placing them can help you get to them quicker, place a para being near them, and limit regular students throwing a fit over the help that student receives.

There is more of a time requirement on the educator when creating seating charts. Having to match learning styles, personalities, strategically placing students where discussion will be varied, and preventing students who dislike each other being near each other all takes time. Some students find discomfort with assigned seating. They find themselves separated from their friends who they already have bonds with. It is important to teach students that building relationships with more than a few of their peers will benefit them. Structure allows students to know what to expect. They don’t have to worry about an unpredictable class setting.

Seating charts bring several benefits. Peer to peer relationships being built, variety during class discussions, and structure to classroom format. I think it is important to have seating charts in all classes. The benefits of a seating chart outweigh the extra work that has to be done in order to create them.