Live and Learn - Seating Charts

Figuring out a structure for seating charts can be challenging. There are many options out there.

My first year teaching, I decided to make a simple chart that had all 6 class periods on the left side, and student names beside the class period. I taped them to the desks before students arrived, and unfortunately I had issue with this method all year long. When students got bored they would peel the tape off, and rip the name tags off. After replacing the name tags once, I also noticed that there was a gummy mess left behind. It's still there to this day, as you can tell from the picture.

My second year teaching, I have chosen to write numbers in sharpie on the desks. Each student is assigned a new seat number each quarter. I have seen this method from other teachers in the building, and on Pinterest as well. It definitely is an improvement over last year's mess. However, I still have an issue with it. The numbers slowly wear away either naturally or aided by bored students and their erasers. I often do see students taking an eraser to the sharpie numbers. I have lectured about respecting property several times, and I still see students trying their hardest to erase the numbers during class. Frustrating! Even so, they eventually start to come off, and I have to take the time to replace them. I have re-written them about twice this year already, and we are only at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. Other than that, it has been very helpful.

What mechanism do you use for your seating charts?

Live and Learn - Time is of the Essence

While implementing centers this year, I have learned a great deal of things. One of which is that time constraints can affect your classroom management.

This year, I have implemented centers two days a week. However, I gave my students too much time to complete each center. Students would breeze through their current center in about 10 minutes, and then find undesirable things to do with their spare time. My rational for giving them 15 minutes for each center, was the fact that I am teaching a remedial math class. I thought my students would need the extra 5 minutes to complete the center activities. For some students this is true, but for many time isn't the issue.

If students are busy, then they are less likely to be disruptive. Simple things like setting your timer for a few minutes less, and spending that extra time reviewing a concept or making announcements at the beginning of class can save you a few headaches in the long run.

Of course this does not work for every student in the room, because you can't catch all the flies with one brand of honey. This will reduce your discipline problems some though.