CLASSROOM

MANAGEMENT
 ORGANIZING THE PHYSICAL DESIGN OF
THE CLASSROOM

▪ Arranging the Students’ Desks

▪ Developing a Physical Layout

▪ In the Students’ Voices

THE PROCESS OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
PHYSICAL DESIGN OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
CLASSROOM LAYOUT
 Organizing the Physical Design of the Classroom
▪ The first component of the process of classroom management is the
physical design of the classroom.
▪ According to Walter Doyle (2006), one of the main factors determining
how much time teachers spend organizing and directing students and
dealing with inappropriate and disruptive behavior is the physical
arrangement of the classroom.
▪ The number of studies that explicitly examine how the physical
setting influences student behavior is limited.
▪ In a classic study, Carol Weinstein found that physical
arrangements primarily affected students’ attitudes and behavior
rather than their achievement.
▪ She also found that it was important to separate areas that serve
different purposes and plan clear pathways for movement between
these areas.
▪ Weinstein (1979) also found that the density of students within the
classroom space affected the frequency of their misbehavior.
▪ In dense classrooms, students are crowded into a relatively small
space.
▪ In less dense classrooms, there is more space per student.
CLASSROOM LAYOUT
 Organizing the Physical Design of the Classroom
▪ Students were more attentive, less distracted, and less aggressive
in classrooms with lower density.
▪ In order to provide students with the necessary space to learn, you
will need to make thoughtful and purposeful decisions about how
to arrange the students’ desks as well as other important classroom
furniture and materials.
▪ It is helpful to remember that one factor influencing some of these
decisions is class size.
▪ Sometimes the ideal environment that you envision for your
classroom may need small modifications.
▪ You will need to be flexible and creative when organizing the
physical design of your classroom.
DESK ARRANGEMENTS
TYPES OF DESK ARRANGEMENTS
 Arranging Students’ Desks
▪ Classrooms have an action zone which is the area of the classroom
where students interact most frequently with the teacher.
▪ When desks are arranged in traditional rows, students who sit in
these parts of the classroom benefit from having more frequent
interactions with the teacher.
▪ It is very important to be aware that teachers have a strong
tendency to interact disproportionately with these students.
▪ You may compensate by circulating to all parts of the room during
your lessons and making sure that you are interacting equally with
students in all parts of the room (Evertson & Emmer, 2012; Savage
& Savage, 2010; Weinstein & Romano, 2014).
▪ Unfortunately, there is little research on the effects of different
desk arrangements.
▪ In one study, when students were asked to complete assignments
independently, their work involvement and efficiency were higher
in traditional rows than in clusters (Bennett & Blundell, 1983).
▪ To help you decide what arrangement of student desks might work
best for you, Chinn (2012) describes the advantages,
disadvantages, and underlying theory of four common desk
arrangements.
 Arranging Students’ Desks
▪ Traditional Rows
1. Theory—This arrangement conveys a message that the teacher is
the authority, standing in front of the room and “transmitting”
knowledge to the class.
2. Advantages
a. It is easy for teachers to move around to any desk in the room.
b. It is easy for students to look at the teacher when he or she is talking.
c. Students may be less distracted by peers because they are not sitting
next to them.
d. Teachers can readily monitor whether students are paying attention and
understanding the material because they can see all of the students’ faces.
3. Disadvantages
a. Students cannot easily work in groups and have to move desks around
in order to work together, which means short group tasks cannot be easily
accomplished (i.e., five minutes to discuss a topic).
b. Students cannot see each other during group discussions.
c. Students in the back often cannot hear students in the front row, who
are facing toward the teacher
 Arranging Students’ Desks
▪ Clusters
1. Theory—This arrangement emphasizes the importance of students’
working together to construct knowledge.
2. Advantages
a. It is easy for the teacher to move around and talk with individuals or
with groups.
b. Student can readily work in small groups.
c. Student can see each other more easily, which encourages students to
talk to one another during discussion.
3. Disadvantages
a. Maintaining attention may be more difficult when the teacher is talking,
since not all students are facing the teacher.
b. Teachers cannot easily monitor behavior or student understanding as
readily as when all students are facing them.
 Arranging Students’ Desks
▪ Pairs
1. Theory—This arrangement emphasizes the importance of students
working together to construct knowledge. In addition, this
arrangement places the teacher in the front of the room as the
authority.
2. Advantages
a. It is easy for the teacher to move around and talk with individuals or
with pairs.
b. Teachers can expect that all students will look at them when teachers
are talking.
c. Since the teacher can see all of the students’ faces, he or she can more
readily monitor behavior and understanding.
d. Students can readily work in groups of two, and by having one pair turn
their chairs around to join the group behind them, students can quickly
form groups of four.
3. Disadvantages
a. When students are doing individual work at their seats, a partner may
distract them.
b. Students cannot see each other during a group discussion.
c. Students in the back often cannot hear students in the front, who are
facing toward the teacher.
 Arranging Students’ Desks
▪ U-Shaped
1. Theory—This arrangement emphasizes the importance of students’
talking directly to each other, and it also allows for collaborative
knowledge construction by pairs of students.
2. Advantages
a. All students can see the center of the room, which makes it easy for the
teacher to maintain attention when talking.
b. The teacher can see all the students’ faces and can readily monitor
students’ behavior and understanding.
c. Adjacent students can work in pairs, usually without moving their desks
much, as desks are usually close together.
d. Most students can look at a person who is speaking, which encourages
students to talk directly with each other during discussions.
3. Disadvantages
a. The arrangement can often be crowded.
b. When students are doing individual work at their seats, someone sitting
on either side of them may distract them.
c. Work in small groups is difficult.
 Arranging Other furniture, Equipment, Supplies, and
Decor
▪ The arrangement of students’ desks is not the only important
component of the classroom’s physical layout.
▪ You will also need to decide where to place
1. your desk;
2. any additional tables or other furniture;
3. computers or other equipment;
4. materials and supplies that students use regularly, such as art
supplies, materials for science experiments, and pencil sharpeners; and
5. special centers that you might create, such as a library corner.
▪ You will also plan the room’s decor, including wall decorations
(such as posters or students’ work) and items placed around the
room (such as plants, aquaria, or student artwork).
▪ The best physical layout for your classroom will depend on your
goals, the shape of the room, and the physical constraints of the
classroom (where outlets and internet connections are, the type
and size of furniture, the size of the room, etc.)
 DEVELOPING A PHYSICAL LAYOUT
▪ Following are three examples of how our focus teachers made their
classroom layouts work.
▪ Amy: 1st Grade
▪ As a 1st-grade teacher, Amy uses a lot of cooperative learning;
thus her desks are arranged in groups of four.
▪ She rarely uses her teacher’s desk and has placed it in the corner
of the room.
▪ One of her favorite parts of her classroom is a large carpeted area
with a rocking chair.
▪ The class library is located in the same corner, so students often
choose to read there during independent reading time.
▪ Amy uses some of the bulletin boards to help manage her
classroom.
▪ Finally, to help students feel a part of the community, she has
name tags on all of the students’ desks and above their lockers.
▪ Each student is also assigned a locker to share with a classmate
and store his or her personal belongings.
AMY’S 1ST GRADE CLASSROOM
 DEVELOPING A PHYSICAL LAYOUT
▪ Anne: 5th Grade
▪ Anne uses a variety of instructional methodologies, including
lectures, demonstrations, and cooperative groups.
▪ Arranging her students’ desks in pairs allows all her students to
easily focus on Anne during the lectures and demonstrations, but
also easily accommodates partner and small-group work with little
disruption to the lesson because students can easily turn their
desks quickly and quietly to form larger groups.
▪ Anne likes her desk to be placed in the front of the room, but off to
the side.
▪ One of the most used areas of the classroom is the small table in
the back corner.
▪ Students also love the wide-open carpeted area that Anne uses for
whole-class meetings.
▪ Students can choose to work there during independent work times
throughout the day.
▪ Unfortunately, Anne had no choice of where to set up the
computers because the Internet connections are located on a single
wall.
▪ To make the room less cluttered, Anne did not add extra chairs in
front of the computers.
ANNE’S 5TH GRADE CLASSROOM
 DEVELOPING A PHYSICAL LAYOUT
▪ Tim: 9th Grade History
▪ Tim’s high school history class frequently engages in discussions
and research projects.
▪ Because of this, he believes that arranging the student’s desks in a
horseshoe design makes the most sense and facilitates his ability to
hold an effective discussion.
▪ He prefers to use a stool rather than his desk during the
discussions because it enables him to get up and circulate easily
and make both eye and physical contact with all his students.
▪ His stool is placed at the front of the horseshoe, while his teacher’s
desk is off to the side.
▪ Since Tim’s class also conducts a lot of research on the computers,
there are five computers located across the back wall.
▪ In addition, he has developed a research center at a large table
along the side of another wall so that students can work together
on their research projects.
▪ Since he has only one bulletin board, he uses it to display student
work and is careful to keep it up to date by changing the work on
display once a month
TIM’S 9TH GRADE CLASSROOM
 IN THE STUDENTS’ VOICES
▪ Students asked to provide three adjectives that describe their ideal
classroom, they responded in the following ways:
▪ “Big, fun, and neat” ( Jack, 3rd grade)
▪ “Colorful, open, and inspirational” (Chelsea, 8th grade)
▪ “Fun, productive, and happy” (Chris, 10th grade)
▪ “Colorful, captivating, and current” ( Jessica, 12th grade)
▪ Students were also asked to expand on the idea of what makes a
classroom feel welcoming.
▪ Some their responses were the following:
▪ “Welcome posters, our names on things like desks or lockers” ( Jack, 3rd grade)
▪ “Inspirational signs, motivational quotes, and bright colors” (Chelsea, 8th grade)
▪ “I think people make a class welcoming. Also, the way the teacher presents
herself helps too.” (Chris, 10th grade)
▪ “I think a classroom is welcoming if there is an open, bright feeling with lots of
current and motivational decorations on the walls.” ( Jessica, 12th grade)
▪ In addition, students shared their thoughts about the arrangement
of students’ desks and the placement of the teacher’s desk.
▪ Some of their comments follow:
▪ “I like the students’ desks in groups of three or four so that your friends can help
you with your work.” ( Jack, 3rd grade)
▪ “It depends on the subject matter. In math, I like rows. However, in science, I
like them pushed together for partner work. It depends if I have to concentrate
more. I also don’t like to be cramped when I am working.” (Chelsea, 8th grade)
NEXT GENERATION CLASSROOM DESIGN
 KEY POINTS
▪ The physical arrangement of the classrooms has a direct influence
on how much time teachers spend dealing with disruptive behavior.
▪ Arrange the furniture in ways that allow you to circulate and
interact with all students.
▪ Create adequate space for interaction.
▪ Minimize traffic problems.
▪ Create an aesthetically pleasing environment.
▪ Showcase student diversity.
▪ Match the physical setting to the instructional goals and specific
students’ needs.
▪ Involve students in the design of the classroom.
 PUTTING KNOWLEDGE INTO PRACTICE
▪ Jarod teaches 6th-grade language arts. He has to make do with a
small classroom.
▪ On table 1, he keeps the handouts for the day. Students turn in
homework by stacking their papers on table 1.
▪ The bookshelves are where he stores additional textbooks that his
classes are not currently using.
▪ Table 2 is where he keeps reference books that students need for
current group projects that are the focus of the class for the next 2
weeks.
▪ Evaluate the physical layout that Jarod has developed for his
classroom.
▪ What additional questions would you like to ask Jarod about his
instructional style or teaching context that would help you better
evaluate his classroom?
JAROD’S 6TH GRADE CLASSROOM