Rows: Not a four letter word

-

Classroom, School, Desks, Rows, Education
Picture credit

Rows have apparently become the new 4 letter word. The more I talk to new teachers it seems that they have been brainwashed by colleges, teacher education programs, a cooperating teacher, or someone, that rows should not be used in classrooms. I’m here to debunk that sentiment. Rows are not a bad four-letter word, they are a viable option when determining how to seat students, especially during the first days of school. 

The first days of school should be used as a time to establish procedures and expectations. Students need to know and clearly understand what is expected of them. This is especially important in a non-traditional classroom where learning can be a chaotic process.  Students need to be presented the expectations using a format in which the teacher can get their attention and visually check to make sure that they are paying attention. The best way to do that...rows. Should that be followed up with role-playing activities and heavy teacher modeling? Absolutely. 

I consider rows to be the starting point to any classroom activity. I use them to focus the students on what we are going to do for that day and I use them as a way to refocus students if my chaotic classroom gets too chaotic. Yes, I have had to end many an activity and ask students to return back to their rows because they were not meeting my expectations for the activities that we were doing. 
  

Don’t get me wrong...I love pairs and groups and use them at least once or twice a week, however, there will always be a place in my heart for the trusty row. Is it my favorite?? Not by a long shot. I love the versatility and collaborativity (I don’t think that this is actually a word) that pairs offer (they are my jam). They also allow for additional space in the room, but allow easy access to all students’ desks. However, pairs do not offer the isolation that is sometimes required when the little humans in class are meeting the expectations that I have set forth (in many, many forms). 

So in short (we’ll maybe long), rows should not be frowned upon or avoided, they should be used meaningfully (yes, that is a word) to support the activity/strategy that the teacher is using for that specific day. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Questioning Techniques: Questions that Extend Responses

-
Image
  Posing the right questions to students is one of the most important techniques that can be used when teaching and assessing students.  Your questioning techniques can expose misconceptions, uncover gaps in learning, cause students to look deeper at a topic, encourage a higher depth of knowledge, and provide students with opportunities to make connections between many different topics.     Because questioning is a topic that has many different levels , I am going to HAVE to spread the techniques that I use over several different posts...Hopefully these posts will come quick and in successive order, however, due to my tremendously busy schedule and A.D.D. (undiagnosed and I which that I had even a slight case of hyperactivity as an adult) I am not sure if this will be the case... This first questioning techniques post will be about questions that require students to extend their responses .  As a math teacher, it is easy to fall into the habit of ...
Read more

Classroom Management Strategies

-
Image
picture credit Classroom management is an important aspect in teaching students.   For those who manage adults, being an effective people manager is important also.   Although the intended audience of this post is classroom teachers, many of these strategies can be used to manage adults, also. Here are some strategies that I have used in my classroom to manage student behavior: Stand at the classroom door greeting and talking to students as they enter into the classroom .   This can alert you to any student issues before the students enter your classroom.   If you notice that a student is having an issue, talk with them and try to get it resolved or diffuse it before it becomes a larger issue.   Constantly monitor and circulate around the room as a way to be proactive in your classroom management.   As mentioned earlier, becoming aware of an issue before it becomes an even bigger issue will cut down on management issues. Circulating aro...
Read more

Integer War

-
Image
                           Picture Source Here is a fun game that I have used in the past that is quick and gives students tons of practice adding integers.  This card game is an interactive way to reinforce the addition of integers .   It can also be modified to reinforce subtraction and multiplication.  The kids love it and I love watching them enjoy integers (for a change).  What I enjoy most of all is beating the student who has beaten all of the other students in the class and has an inflated ego.    Materials: Deck (or stack) of playing cards for each pair of students Rules: • Students should get into pairs. • Using a deck of playing cards, the students should divide the cards evenly among themselves. • The red cards are negative and the black cards are positive.   For example a red 10 is a negative ten. The face cards are all 10s.   • The play...
Read more