The first arrangement is the one I always start the year off with…the typical groupings (pods) of 4 to 6 desks, depending on the number of students in my class. I begin solely by evening out boys and girls the in these groups to the best of my ability since I know nothing about the children. Once we’ve started school, I then start moving the students around based upon need. I usually try to give in a week or two (sometimes just a day or two for some children!) so as not to “rock the boat” too much for the children trying to get accustomed to my classroom. Once I learn more about the children, I then try to group the children like this: one high, one helpful, a couple average, and one low. This makes the groups very mixed in their strengths and needs and is successful for group learning.

The second arrangement I usually do a couple off different times during the school year…the U shape. I make the desks in the shape of a large U, then I place a table in the middle. This is great because I can easily monitor the childrens’ work by walking around the inside of the U. Partner work is still doable, but group work doesn’t work as well. The table in the middle is very useful for doing small group work, while still being close enough to help anyone else that might need it.

I usually try to change up my groupings every month or two…just to separate the children (sometimes they get a little TOO comfortable), place them in different spots around the room, and create needed change every once in awhile!

I hope this is helpful for you when arranging your students’ desks!!

-It helps the perfectionists and or gifted students who have to always be on top of things.
-It helps the behavior-prone students because they have a sense of stability.
-It helps special needs children because they need consistency.
-It helps you with lesson planning (and it makes your day go by smoother and quicker!).
-It helps parents because they know when things are happening.
-It helps coworkers because sometimes you have to correlate your schedules, and on and on and on.

So, get in there and get that ball rolling! You’ll be glad you did in the long-run!

Don’t over-do it!!
My first open house I had way too many gifts for the kids, an at-home back to school project, snacks, drinks, music, a million different forms for parents to pick up, sign up for, fill out, etc…AND I had this brilliant idea that I would have my very first “mini-conference” with each parent that came in…oh yeah, I sat down with them and actually wrote stuff and everything! For those of you that have been teaching for awhile, I hear your snickers! All of the previous stuff is WAAAAY too much! Looking back, I had great intentions, but I think it made people uncomfortable.

The best thing to do is to make it as simple as possible for all involved! Children want to come in, find their seat, get a prize, see if they have buddies in their class, say hi, and leave. Parents want their children to be comfortable, they want to get a quick “feel” of your personality (be yourself), they want to see what supplies they should buy, some want to let you know how they can help out, and there are a few who want to let you know way too much about their child! The best way to take care of all of this is to label the childrens’ seats, give them a small gift, and make packets (in large manilla folders) for parents to take home and look through. Include things like rules, schedules, expectations, procedures, teaching style, sign up forms for aiding in the classroom, transportation info., child information cards, and so on….Make a note on the front of the folder of what needs to be returned and what doesn’t. This ensures they will look through it… There will be one or two items they need to fill out at open house, but this makes it all run so much smoother.

They come it, say hi, see their seats, get their info, look around, and say so long! It’s as easy as that…AND you don’t have to clean up cookie crumbs, sort through the stacks of paper, turn off the music, and on and on and on. There will be a few who won’t even come in, so you can just hand them their packet on the first day of school!

Good luck! You will do great!

1. First things first- TELL THEM THEY ARE LOVED AND THEY ARE SPECIAL. These little ones are most likely going to put you on a huge pedestal and they need to feel that you notice that. I always tell them that I love them now and I will love them everyday from now on. There might be some things I don’t particularly like, but regardless, they need to know they can always come to me and I will always listen. I will always treat them the way I’d like to be treated and I tell them that I expect the same (towards myself and towards one another).
You Are Special

This is a great book that I always read on the first day. After I read it, the children write about what makes them special.

2. RULES, RESPONSIBILITIES, PRIVELEGES…We usually have a “pow-wow” pretty early in the day on the first day of school. I let them know that they will have so much fun in my classroom (I will sing, dance, wiggle, laugh, etc…) as long as they can handle it. I have the children tell me what they feel are good classroom rules, and then I show them my list. From this point on, whenever they break a rule, they have walk to the rule chart, tell me which rule they broke and how they broke it. They don’t like this and it usually really works! We also talk about how certain things are privileges. We do a chart that lists the differences between rights and privileges…

Multisensory Strategies: Lessons and Classroom Management Techniques to Reach and Teach All Learners

This is a neat book from Scholastic to use if you are teacher like me- one that really seeks to teach to the senses. I try to include all sorts of learning styles and senses into my lessons (we are always into something!) There are specific ways to go about having an active but controlled classroom and this book will help to get you there!

3. BE POSITIVE AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN! Since day one of my personally teaching career, I have always tried to stay as positive as possible. The children truly respond to praise and will thrive upon it. My students move clips—they all begin on “Sunny Day” (great day!), and most of them stay there. If misbehavior occurs, they are warned, and from there on they move clips (windy day, cloudy day, rainy day—with consequences for each). For every negative note I send home, I try to send home 2 positive notes (brag notes). The children also know that I try to choose at least one child a week to “phone brag” on. I call up the parents and just let them know how great their child is doing. ALL children would love to have their parents praise them for positive behaviors at school. I also award “warm fuzzies” to the children when I’m proud of them. These are just a few ideas to improve classroom management…

The following book is a great way to help you include positive talk into your own classroom!

Positive Teacher Talk for Better Classroom Management

This book gives many situations and scenarios that happen in a typical classroom and suggestions for settling the issue in a positive way!!

Positive Discipline: A Teacher’s A-Z Guide

This is a wonderful article from Instructor in which 9 teachers share their ideas and experiences about what they feel works to establish classroom management from the very beginning!
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3609

If you have other ideas or tips for classroom mangement, please share them below!