While teachers are reflecting on their routines, I wanted to share one of my favorite tips, Free Seat Friday.
In my opinion, one of the most important classroom management techniques is assigned seating, beginning on the first day of school. A seating chart helps to make students feel safe and included. It breaks up cliques, alleviates power struggles, and puts students at ease. Without a seating chart, valuable time is wasted as kids come in and try to decide where to sit, usually waiting to see where their friends sit, some even ask other kids to move so their friend can sit there. I think this undermines the atmosphere I am trying to establish. Assigned seating sets the precedent that I am prepared and in charge of my classroom. In addition, it allows me to grant my favorite reward: Free Seat Friday.
I want students to get to know everyone in the class and work well with whoever is next to them. So I ALWAYS have a seating chart that I change every two or three weeks. I also change the arrangement of the desks every few weeks. The first day of school I usually just make a seating chart alphabetically by their last names. I use that for the first few week until I figure out who works best where and I learn their names.
However if you would like to make it more random, and introduce some animal cognates, you can use these free seat finders in French and Spanish. I have used these animal cognates to assign seats to students on the first day of school. I printed two sets of cards: one that I hand out at the door, and one that is taped to the student desks. Students are handed a card at the door, and they must sit at the seat that has the identical card taped to it.
After the first day, you can use these cards to form groups for any activity. You can make multiple copies and have students get in to animal groups, or you can use two sets and ask students to find the other person with their exact match. I laminate my set of cards so that I can re-use them each year and throughout the year.
But here is the best part, if we have a good week, which means staying in the target language at least 90% of the time, then on Fridays they can sit where they want. We call this Free Seat Friday and they love it! They come in excited every Friday asking “Is it free seat Friday? Can we sit where we want?” It is the best reward and it costs me nothing.
I make a seating chart for each class and keep the charts on a clipboard. I use this clipboard to document everything. I take attendance on it, I document behaviors like cell phones out, I record TALK scores on it and generally write anything I want to remember on the seating charts. During class, if I pick up my clipboard they seem to pay more attention because they think I am documenting something. I call this the clipboard stroll. When they are working with a partner or in a group, I grab my clipboard and stroll around the room. Most of the time I’m not really writing anything, I’m just walking around with it, but they are very aware of where that clipboard is at all times.
I use a lot of movement activities in my lessons so students are never really seated too long anyway. I also mix them up in pairs and groups frequently, intentionally, so we form connections. If a kid tells me they don’t like where they are sitting I just say “don’t worry, you won’t be there for long.”
Even as an adult I prefer a seating chart. When I was getting my master’s degree, I was in a cohort of students much younger than me. The professors never made seating charts, and it was always “pick your partner or group” so after two years of meeting for the entire weekend, once a month, the class never really got to know each other and it was frustrating. I even like seating charts for faculty meetings. Teachers tend to stick to their departments or friends and I think we all benefit when we get to know and work with someone new, that’s how relationships are formed, and isn’t that what it’s really all about?
