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I believe that seating arrangements in the classroom are a vital part of the learning experience for students. All students, and human beings in general, are creatures of habit but this is not always a good thing. Without intentionality of the part of the teacher, students will typically resort to what is familiar and the most comfortable when it comes to seating arrangements and/or everything else in the classroom. It is the responsibility of the teacher to mix things up an to keep the students on their toes. This applies not only to being creative in the manner in which the material is taught but also with something as seemingly simple as classroom seating arrangements. For example, I believe that it is best to change the seating arrangements regularly and to encourage students to not always sit by the same students or even in the same row or spot in the classroom. Typically the most motivated students will choose to sit closer to the teacher and the lesser motivated students will choose to sit towards the back of the classroom. I think it's a good idea to have students sit in creative ways each class or week. This will necessitate that students don't always sit by their friends, hide in the back of the classroom or even choose to sit by students who they might be tempted to cheat with when it comes to tests or individual projects. One way to mix up the seating arrangement is to have the students sit alphabetically by the spelling of their first or last names. Another example would be to have students sit according to the chronology of their birthdays. This could be used as a fun exercise by having each student stand up and say something like this; "My birthday is February 8th, 1991 and my favorite thing to do on my birthday is go to Disneyland Hong Kong." Then they will have to figure out how to sit in the proper chronological order in relation to all of the other students in the class. Another example of having the students practice their English while simultaneously getting the students in a different seating arrangement would be to have them sit according to the places they have traveled in their home country or world. The teacher could tape a large world map to the wall and ask each student to come forward and write their name next to the location on the map which indicates the greatest distance they have traveled. Each student would then share three things about their trip to that location. The Ssudents would then have to arrangement their seats from the person who has traveled the furthest from home to the student who has traveled the least. When possible, it is also a good idea to take the students out of the classroom for a portion or all of a particular class. This helps to keep things unpredictable and the teacher can use the natural props, signs and buildings outside to serve as a springboard for teaching material. This should only be done if it will help increase the student's ability to learn and see things from a different perspective. Perhaps the teacher could take the class to a park near the classroom and use the trees, birds and other things found in the park as real life teaching examples. This variety can help students to spark new creativity in their learning posture and help to keep them engaged. Teachers should strive to be creative when it comes to seating arrangements in (or out) of the classroom. Don't just let the students choose their same seats every day. Part of being a good teacher is to add variety and to the learning experience. Using creative seating arrangements is a simply way to help accomplish this goal.
