1. The Physical Setup
Seating arrangements: The seating arrangement you create in the classroom can provide an immediate indicator of your expectations. When planning your lessons, consider how the physical setup of the room will facilitate the lesson effectively and help students understand how they should engage with the material and with one another.
For example, independent work is best indicated by rows or distributed seating. If you have tables in your room, position them so that students all face in one direction. This will minimize eye contact and reduce incidental interaction. Additionally, rows will allow you to see your students’ faces and monitor for questions and help.
Alternatively, if you want students to work in pairs, you can show this to students by matching up desks or seats. You can use colorful dots to indicate pairs, too. At times, students may be just fine choosing their own partners, and at other times, your lesson objectives will dictate that assigned seats are going to be most effective. Decide before the students arrive, and have your directions posted or displayed.
If your lesson calls for group work, preset the number of students you want grouped together and arrange the seats in advance: Group work can be sabotaged by moving around and arranging furniture. Students should be seated so that they can see everyone in their group at the same time. True group work is not structured with a “front of the room” since there should be little teacher-led time once the work begins.
When your lesson is a whole class discussion, your intentions will be most clear and will work best in a semicircle or horseshoe configuration where the speaker can see everyone in the class. Better than rows, a semicircle allows students to see one another, too, and gain from seeing classmates’ reactions and being able to follow when questions are asked.
Additional materials: Reference materials help your students stay focused on the task at hand and learn how to leverage tools to meet objectives. By putting posters, bins, charts, table resources, and other materials in the physical space, you can make it clear that you want your students to have the tools they need to be successful. Providing reference materials is your way of showing that you intend to keep the students focused on what matters most during your lesson.
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