Teacher Interview, Part 2: Classroom arrangement

Throughout the school year, students are in cooperative groups with assigned jobs to group members and groups change periodically over the year, as does the exact table arrangement of the groups. There are a couple main reasons for this: one, all the learning in my team is inquiry-based, and true inquiry requires teams of students; two, arranging tables in groups allows for more floor space that the teacher, even in 5th grade, uses all the time. My master teacher likes to move her kids a lot in her class, just get them moving, because it is more fun for her and for them and it is a more effective way to learn for some of them and it is a GLAD strategy. GLAD strategies are a collection of strategies used to reach all learners, regardless of ability level or language proficiency or learning style.


Despite the nearly year-round groups, the teacher starts the school year with students in rows. Students remain in rows for the first week and half or two weeks of school, then the desks are put in groups. The reasons she starts out with rows include the following: one, it helps her to get to know the kids and who works well with whom; two, the teacher really needs all of her students' attention at the beginning of the year so she can get the routines and expectations clearly understood and established; three, being in rows is a safety zone for the new kids, the kids who just moved to this school from somewhere else--they are less likely to be singled out when students are in rows; four, having rows that all face the teacher sets the tone that the teacher is the boss of the class; five, students get to know the teacher first--they don't have to make efforts to get to know many others in the beginning, they just have to get to know the teacher--she thinks this makes it less overwhelming for the kids.


Pictures will be added later. Classroom is still a mess of planning.