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I. INTRODUCTION A. Background Information Students learning output could depend on how the teacher find the perfect harmony between the syllabus, teaching style and classroom seating arrangement. The seating arrangement is just as important as the syllabus, one aspect that sometimes is not well considered by teachers. A teacher can create a perfect curriculum or creative lesson plans but all the hard work can be simply destroyed by a bad prepared seating arrangement. B. Essay Statement There are many factors contribute to determining the well-suited classroom seating arrangement. The factors may change in a daily basis vary to the class situation. It is important to create flexible rules on choosing the seating arrangement, one that can accommodate the teacher’s and students’ learning objectives. II. FACTOR TO CONSIDER ON SEATING ARRANGEMENTS Designing a classroom, should meet both the teacher and students’ learning objectives. A design should consider moving room, if it is difficult for the teacher to move around, it will limit the opportunity for one-on-one communication. On the other hand, if the room is too wide, it will detract students’ sense of community in the classroom. Before choosing the seating arrangement for the class, there are several factors that influence the configurations. A. Classroom Size and Shape Make sure the seating arrangement can work with the space and size of the class. Take a careful measure on the fixtures that can’t be moved. If the whiteboard is the center of the class, place it where the student can see it without difficulty. B. Student Age and Size Just because there are around 15 students on your small classroom, does not mean you have to abandon your desired seat configuration. The number of students in your classroom can be a factor to trigger your creative side. However, be aware on age appropriation, what works for 5 years olds, does not always works for the 20s or 30s. C. Teaching Style and Objectives The seating arrangement should complete your curriculum. As a teacher you can choose the arrangement that works with your teaching plan, based on your teaching style. D. Who is the Focus of The Class There are three focuses on class, depends on your lesson plan: 1. Teacher-centered class: The teacher should stand at the center of the class, where all students can see without any problem. 2. Student-centered class: Seating arrangement should be made to focus on the students’ movement, be it as a group or as an individual. It should encourage students to interact with one another. 3. Both: A balance between number one and two. This arrangement might be the favorite of some teachers as it presents the balanced mixture of teacher and students’ presence at class. Find a layout that can work in both first and second situation. E. Class Interaction Subject to the number of the students in the class, the teacher can decide how is the interaction between the students. 1. Minimal: main interaction occurs between teacher and student, student-to student interaction is scarce. Activities include testing and individual work. 2. Small group: Interaction between small groups in a class 3. Large group: Students engage in a group discussion with the entire class F. Learning Objectives What is the main objective of the class? 1. Knowledge: It will focus on the content of the lesson. The seating configuration will support highly in independent activity to emphasize on content learning. 2. Skill Growth: Depends on the skill choose for the lesson, be it communication, listening, as a group skill or individual skill like troubleshooting, analysis.
