classroom design Archives - Susan Fitzell https://susanfitzell.com/tag/classroom-design/ The Modern Day MacGyver of Business and Education! Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:14:20 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://susanfitzell.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/cropped-favicon2-32x32.png classroom design Archives - Susan Fitzell https://susanfitzell.com/tag/classroom-design/ 32 32 Efficiently Rearrange the Classroom for Cooperative Learning https://susanfitzell.com/efficiently-rearrange-classroom-cooperative-learning/ Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:14:20 +0000 https://susanfitzell.com/?p=7054 Here's a strategy for rearranging the classroom for various groupings as well as an exercise for the students to expend energy and learn how to work quickly and quietly:

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Cheerful classmates posing in classroom

Make arranging the desks a game!

Secondary teachers often ask, “I teach different subjects several periods a day and I’m not always in the same classroom. How do I arrange the desks for cooperative learning and then efficiently rearrange the classroom for the next period? I can’t keep rearranging the furniture because there just isn’t enough time! So, how do I get the room back in order?” While this is not usually an issue at elementary level because teachers tend to stay in the same room all day, the question still occasionally comes up from K-5 teachers, also.

The Solution for Arranging Seating in the Classroom

Here’s a strategy for rearranging the classroom for various groupings as well as an exercise for the students to expend energy and learn how to work quickly and quietly:

  • Decide on three different desk layouts for your room.
  • Draw out the three plans on 8 and a half by 11 paper. A table format in document or PowerPoint can work well for this purpose.
  • Print the room arrangements on a different colored paper.
  • Post them on the wall by the door.
  • When the first student comes into the classroom for class, say, “We’re blue today, start rearranging the desks”.
  • As students come in they join in the effort and arrange the desks according to the diagram.

Initially, you’ll have to train students how to arrange the desks quietly, neatly, and efficiently.  Make it a game! Use a stopwatch and time them. Challenge students to beat their own record the next day. Possibly, use incentives such as awarding tickets or a gold star for rearranging the desks properly, quietly and in the time allotted.  It’s amazing how excited even our secondary students will get for a ticket or a gold star!

Leave yourself two minutes at the end of the class for them to put the desks back into rows.  It works beautifully.

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]]> Standing Stations in Your Classroom! https://susanfitzell.com/standing-stations-in-your-classroom/ Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:05:25 +0000 http://hightestscores.org/?p=1687 Help solve overcrowdoing in your classroom by setting up standing stations for those students who can benefit from the opportunity to stand!

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]]> Do you have students who can’t sit still in class? Do you have a child that can’t sit to do homework?  I had students who struggled to sit in the classroom and I realized one day that if I allowed them to stand and work off the bookcase, they were more focused and behavior significantly improved. When my son was little, he’d eat better if he could stand at the dining room table. It also minimized trips to the hospital after he fell out of his chair.

And as for myself, I can’t sit to focus. I actually create a standing station in my office with a lap desk on top of the desk and in a hotel room by placing an upside down drawer on the desk. I put my laptop on top of the drawer.

Then, there’s the problem of overcrowded classrooms. What if we asked for volunteers to stand during the secondary class period and removed some desks. The video below explains how standing stations might be the best solution for antsy students or overcrowding in the classroom!

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