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Use seating charts to organize your differentiated student groups discreetly.
Changing seats freshens things up!! It also gives you the chance to work with specific groups of students and meet their needs without it being obvious to the whole class.
In my classroom, I always had 5 table groups, but endless ways to pull my students discreetly from those table groups for differentiated small group lessons, to read leveled texts, or to have them work in various types of groups on projects, etc. Here's how I did it:
My 5 table groups were named by the day of the week - Monday Crew, Tuesday Crew, Wednesday Crew etc. Crews had certain responsibilities and privileges on their day. When we switched seats, the new table groups could come up with their own name, but for organizational purposes, they were still named "Monday Crew" etc.
At each table were 6 seats, which were numbered 1-6 clockwise around the table or left to right if they were in rows. BTW - I only had them in rows during testing or other specific times of the year, we mostly sat in groups.
organizing your students for differentiation...
Whole Tables
Sometimes I had whole table groups full of a specific "type" of student - for example, a specific English Learner level or my "GATE"/challenge learners. I found that if I sat them all at one table (or sometimes tables if there were more than 6), I could stop by their table when the class was buzzing and give them additional instruction, an activity or project without it being noticeable to the whole class.
For example, if the group was a specific English Learner level, I could say, "Tuesday Crew, you get to work with me for a few minutes" and I would sit with them to review vocab, or do a guided reading to make sure they understood the content before going back to work on a project. Another example would be my "GATE" or challenge learners, I could give them advanced tasks that suited their educational needs.
Many times, actually most of the time, I sat on the carpet with groups of students, not at a "teachers table." I feel like sitting down on the carpet, sort of below eye level of other students working at their desks or in other parts of the room, made meeting with groups of students a bit more discreet. Plus, we worked in groups all around the room so often, that it was just the norm for us.
Seat Numbers
Other times, I placed various types of students at a number spot at the table - for example, I would put a GATE/challenge learner at the number 3 spot of each table group, students who were struggling in a particular math topic at the number 5 spots, or students who I knew needed reading support at the number 2 spots. That way, during the day I could say, "3s, meet with me on the carpet" or after a math lesson, "5s, lets get together at the back table." These "levels" and/or "struggles" were constantly changing in each academic area throughout the year, so I was constantly able to change student groups based on a different academic area, project or other need - they were never "stuck" in a group.
There was only one time during one year out of my 18 years as a classroom teacher when a small group of my students sort of figured out what I was doing. About halfway through the year, I called up the 3s (or whatever number they were) who were at the time seated as GATE/challenge students and they said, "hey...we were all 2s before! We're getting to work together again!" :)
We changed seats a lot! Despite where their desk was, my students were given many, many opportunities to mix it up throughout the day, to work in different areas of the room and work with students that weren't at their "home" table.
As teachers, we have to think carefully about how we seat our students and where we ask them to work. We know as adults how annoying it is to have someone tell us where we have to sit! This will get easier as you get to know your own teaching methods and feel comfortable giving some autonomy to your students.
Always be flexible when you are setting up your table groups/desks. Some students may need their own space or more space - it's easy to work something out for them and with them. Some may like to stand up and work! They can "sit" at a desk where they won't block other students during a whole class lesson. Just try not to get stuck. Be open, observe and make changes when necessary.
I ALWAYS put my students in alphabetical order for the first week or so of the year. That helped me to learn their names in that order - it imprinted on my brain. For the rest of the year, I could picture where they sat which made it easier when I was putting papers in order, etc. See my "Alphabetical Order" example.
If you only have 25 students, put 5 at each table. Obviously its ok to have less students at each table, but I would definitely keep the 5 table groups. Most of my years I had around 30 students (one year 32, so I put 8 at my Wednesday/middle table). Another year I had 23!! so I had 4 or 5 at each table.
Every time the entire class was going to switch seats (and I was switching student groups) I printed a new copy of my seating chart and wrote names in pencil, which made it a lot easier to switch a few people around if necessary.
I always had my seating chart on a clipboard on my desk. That way, if I was ever absent or if there was an emergency, another adult would know who was who.
If you have any questions about organizing your differentiated groups with seating charts, just let me know!
Hope this helps!!
Jody (aka Ms. B)
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