No Series: Wise Seating Choices

Wise Seating Choices

Lesson Objective: Empower students to choose their own seats

All Grades / All Subjects / Independence

2 MIN

Discussion
Supporting Materials

Thought starters

How does Ms. Lassiter support students to make wise seating choices?
What guidelines are students given when choosing their seats?
How could reflection be used as a part of this strategy?

21 Comments

Rachel Thomson Apr 18, 2021 2:02pm

How does Ms. Lassiter support students to make wise seating choices? Ms. Lassiter supports students to make wise seating choices by allowing students to learn about good choices of seating. She uses encouragement and attempts to grow their decision making skills.
What guidelines are students given when choosing their seats?
1. Make a wise seating choice
2. Sit by someone who is going to encourage you to do your work
3. Sit by someone who can help you do your work
4. Two girls and two boys at each table
How could reflection be used as a part of this strategy? It allows students to address issues of talking. The students can use team work to help solve that problem and stay on task. Students begin to understand what a wise choice is and why it is important for them to make that choice.

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ioma gray Mar 29, 2019 3:07pm

I believe that allowing the students create their own seating will work well if there is discipline and order in the classroom which is established during the very first few days of school, if not the kids would always be moving their seats in an attempt to escape talkative friends. I believe that reflection could be used based classroom activities and if the students were able to complete the desired task given by the teacher sitting with the group of students that they chose to sit next too. I believe also that this practice may offer some positive points by allowing the students to learn how to curve conversation, learning responsibility for their actions of play verses academics.

If i had to provide guidelines for establishing your own seat, i would have the student truly reflect on previous encounters with they students that they a set with before and if they were able to get the grades that they expected of if they did not meet the expectations, if they could answer yes then yes, they would be allowed to sit where they wanted if not i would encourage them to look at other seating arrangements.

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zahida nazir Jun 11, 2017 5:34pm

I think,it is difficult for students to butt up together to learn or finish their task without getting into conversation or making choice to work individually or to take responsibility to get their work done.

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sarah lowe Apr 30, 2017 8:50pm

I like the idea of letting students choose where to sit in the classroom, however, I think that it would take up too much time every morning. I can imagine some students would get hurt feelings and/or just take too long deciding how to accommodate all friends. I do think think that with time, the students would get faster at making decisions as well as making good decisions. I have desks in my classroom and am not sure how the supplies inside (folders, books, etc.) could be moved around each day. Perhaps I could do a weekly seating choice arrangement.

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Sandra Delgado Jan 6, 2017 10:23am

I would love to try this in my classroom soon!

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Materials

Transcript: Wise Seating Choices

Transcripts

Wise Seating Choices Transcript

Karen Lassiter: In my classroom, I do not assign seats for students. I don't do that because

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Wise Seating Choices Transcript

Karen Lassiter: In my classroom, I do not assign seats for students. I don't do that because I think that they need to take responsibility for their own work.
Karen Lassiter: Guys, remember to make wise seating choices.
Karen Lassiter: When I tell students where to sit, I begin the year by saying, "make a wise seating choice and by that, I mean sit by someone that is going to encourage you to do your work and help you if you need a helping hand.
+++ 00:00:43.09 +++
Karen Lassiter: All right.
Karen Lassiter: As they do that, then they begin to understand who is a good person to sit by and who is not.
Karen Lassiter: All right, remember that you need to make a wise seating choice and we have 2 girls and 2 boys at every table.
Karen Lassiter: I find that it's very difficult for 4 of either sex to sit together and not get off task. So we do 2 boys, 2 girls.
Karen Lassiter: Okay, so this is 10.
Karen Lassiter: I never tell students that they shouldn't sit together because there are times that if students understand what the difficult is - why they shouldn't sit together - then they can address that issue. If they understand that theyare always talking about other things, then they can learn to curb that conersation and work together simultaneously.
+++ 00:01:30.28 +++
Karen Lassiter: Armand, where should you be?
Karen Lassiter: When you have kids that are not good partners together, you need to pull them together, aside, and as you conference with children then they begin to understand what a wise choice is and why it's important for them to make that choice.
Karen Lassiter: You don't have anybody at your table? I can fix that. I'm gonna put you right here. Is that a good place for you, Aiden?
Karen Lassiter: As students take that responsibility for their own learning, what I'm finding in my classroom is that students will choose people that will complement them and help them to get their work done. And that's a real plus in the classroom.

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