Who is it for?
Teachers who are prepared to take risks with their classroom configuration and seating plans.
Outline of the idea.
Dare to be different and remove ‘straight row’ teaching! Dare to be different and seat your students in a different place each lesson! Dare to be different and provide the students with that magical ‘element of surprise’.
To begin with assemble your tables into groups of 4 -8 students, allocate team/table monitors and create team identities using colour, numbers and/or names. Add your team/group identity colour, name or number using laminated card discs, laser cut plastic (D/T), paint or tape. Allocate a student to a team upon their entry into your class and mix this up from week to week. Never sit them in the same seat or in the same team…………they’ll get too comfortable!
Try famous names as teams. Emily Player at TVA uses designer’s names and uses this as the basis for homework and assessment tasks. Tim Mardle at TVA also provides ‘group starter activities’, which are always wrapped on the tables and require the whole team to participate, discuss and compare.
How it worked out.
Students don’t become complacent. Students share ideas, concepts and thoughts with ALL members of their class. Students enjoy the element of surprise when they open up their package/envelope to study their first activity and/or starter. Students can be moved up and/or down teams if the teams are arranged based on ability. Teachers love the opportunity to take responsibility for the groupings: minimises disruption, immediately assigns a late student to a table and above all promotes independence, competition and sharing. A lot more useable space around students and easier to get to them!!
Next steps.
TVA curriculum innovation group may require the tables to be configured and named slightly differently based on project themes.
Use Sims photographs to eliminate the issue of learning new names.