Classroom arrangement was a huge part of getting ready for the school year every year for me. I wanted my classroom to immediately tell a story to the students. The desks in rows told them that I planned on talking at them a lot, the desks in groups gave them the impression they were leading the class (not always the exact vibe you wanted to give on the first day of school). I often changed arrangements throughout the school year and always let the students decide where they wanted to sit. The classroom arrangement isn't just about the desks however. If you have a room that feels welcoming and comfortable students are given a certain feeling about your room and your teaching style. Making sure my room was decorated in a way that wasn't overbearing but gave students the impression we were focused on learning, specifically learning AP Government was vital for me. In the last few years in the classroom it became harder for me to hang up student work on bulletin boards because I managed my classroom entirely from a Learning Management System, so instead bulletin boards became a place to introduce the topic we were currently studying and the classroom arrangement became less and less about the front of the room and more about how the students could interact with everyone in the room including myself. I found two arrangements that suited me best. The first was discussion rows, the students were in rows but facing each other. Often times there was a U Shape with students on the left and right (facing each other) and a smaller group of students facing the front of the room leaving room for presentations in the middle of the room. The second set up that I found very useful for my style of teaching was groups of four and for the most part always had my classroom in these groupings. Grouped desks were so useful, you didn't have to have students rearrange the room to collaborate, they could easily ask each other for help and the classroom really gave off the vibe I wanted it to. I wanted my classroom to be a student centered classroom where learning is placed at the responsibility of the student. I wanted my students to understand that I would facilitate their learning but if they did not jump on board they would not be handed anything for free.
As I walk around the school I work in (and used to teach in) I find that more and more teachers have moved towards collaborative set ups in their classrooms. Many classrooms are set up in pairs or groups. Many of the science classrooms only have tables for students to collaborate at. There are however many classrooms still set up in lecture rows. To be honest I am disappointed in how many classrooms are set up in traditional rows. I know how productive my classroom was without having to use rows and I find that so many times when walking by a classroom the teacher is still the "sage on the stage" and students are just being talked to rather than a more modern approach where the learning is happening with student involvement. What is very interesting to me is how many different room arrangements there are and how they really vary by subject area. You will see more groupings in Language Arts, Social Studies and elective courses where as in Mathematics and Science courses you tend to see rows. I will give our science teachers credit however, I rarely see the students in the rows except for the first few minutes of a class to give directions, they are usually up in groups around the lab stations, so they seem to have a hybrid of student/teacher centered classroom arrangements.
One Language Arts teacher actually requested tables be put in his room rather than desks. He felt that facilitated better conversations between students on the work being done in the room and likes the feeling of groupings better than individual desks. Quite a few teachers have moved towards collaborative groupings rather than traditional rows by putting the desks in pairs, the students are still in rows but have a partner to turn to during the class period for various activities. This is a huge step towards student centered learning and does give the teacher(s) more room to navigate the room while circulating during individual or partner learning time.
A lot of the evolution of classroom arrangements has been made out of our laptop program, our school has a 1 to 1 laptop program where every student is given their own laptop. Technology has played a large role in how teachers teach in our school. The teachers have more capabilities and more resources simply by giving their students the power to manipulate the material on their own laptop. I think the increase in group work and decrease in traditional rows is directly related to our students having the technology they do. Teachers also have laptops, ceiling mounted projectors, document cameras and pads that control their computers to help make them mobile throughout the classroom.
As the years have gone on with our laptop program, it has become more and more an expectation that teachers will be using the laptops in lesson planning and will be up and roaming the room while students are working. If an administrator was to walk by your classroom I believe this is what they would expect. I hope that in a few years we will see even less of the sage on the stage professorial model and move towards teachers becoming facilitators to student learning while students lead their learning.
