The Inefficiency Floorplan
I went and checked out my classroom. It's small. Too small. I can't even figure out how to arrange things so it works. Instead of single desks, I have those tables that seat two students per table. It's not ideal at all for hyperactive middle schoolers. What about tests? Who decided to buy these tables instead of desks, and what were they smoking that day?
I have 14 of those tables, and can't figure out how to arrange them so that I can move between them and students can move to the pencil sharpener without bumping into other people's backs. It's really cramped. If I can't move between each desk, that's a problem. Being able to move around the room is a major part of keeping them on task. It's also important to be able to kneel down at a kid's desk to help or provide input or directions while he/she is working on something.
At Webewild High, I had a humongous room. It was filled with old rickety desks and I couldn't get my hands on a file cabinet, a book shelf, or a teacher's desk that didn't fall apart when I looked at it the wrong way. Now I have 3 huge book shelves, 2 file cabinets, and a sturdy desk-- and nowhere to put any of it.
Schools. I swear.
I have 14 of those tables, and can't figure out how to arrange them so that I can move between them and students can move to the pencil sharpener without bumping into other people's backs. It's really cramped. If I can't move between each desk, that's a problem. Being able to move around the room is a major part of keeping them on task. It's also important to be able to kneel down at a kid's desk to help or provide input or directions while he/she is working on something.
At Webewild High, I had a humongous room. It was filled with old rickety desks and I couldn't get my hands on a file cabinet, a book shelf, or a teacher's desk that didn't fall apart when I looked at it the wrong way. Now I have 3 huge book shelves, 2 file cabinets, and a sturdy desk-- and nowhere to put any of it.
Schools. I swear.
Can you position the tables head-to-head? One of my kids' classrooms was short on space and the teacher placed them head to head and had the kids use folders to make walls for privacy during tests. I mean, they were first graders and not rowdy, hormonal middle schoolers, but it's a thought...
Posted by
Redneck Diva |
10:13 PM
Yeah, that's one idea. The biggest obstacle is that I want to have everyone pretty much facing one direction. Maybe from an angle or whatever, but I can't have people with their backs to the front of the room, and if they have to move much to see the board, they won't.
Whatever I do, they're going to be cozier than I'd like. I'm trying to think of potential ways to make the pair thing work FOR me and not against me. I dunno yet. Good idea though.
Posted by
Mommy Needs a Xanax |
10:21 PM
When my daughter was in the second grade, her teacher told me she and Pete, the little boy sitting next to her, talked too much. I said maybe she should separate them. She said that, when you had two talkers and you separated them, sometimes you just ended up with four talkers. It may take a little time, but maybe once you get a handle on the personalities of the kids you have, you can seat them in a way that suits you - figure out which ones can't stand each other, and put them side by side! If they don't kill each other, at least MAYBE they won't talk to each other, either.
Posted by
Anonymous |
6:38 AM
One of the Basementia teachers put her tables end-to-end, so she had long rows across the room, about 8 kids per long table, with 4 tables. She shook up the seating chart every quarter. She had everyone facing the board, and could walk down the long rows to look over their shoulders. One end of the tables was against the wall. When I had to fill in for her a couple times, I noticed that there was NO getting up and wandering around in a room like that. Only one route to the pencil sharpener or desk. She kept bins by the door for turning in work, and a stacky thing with extra copies of daily worksheets. That way, if they'd been absent, they knew to pick it up on the way in when they returned. If they forgot...oh, well. It's their responsibility to get the make-up work, and she didn't have to go looking it up when they decided to ask, and she could tell complaining parents, "They all know where to pick up their work the day they come back. It's not my problem."
Posted by
Hillbilly Mom |
3:27 PM