Rearranging

We all remember the anticipation and emotions that play into the revealing of a new seating chart in elementary school. Well, maybe not all of us... but I do. I remember knowing exactly who I'd like to sit by and exactly who I would not like to sit by. Usually I wanted to sit by whatever boy made me giggle most and not near the girl that got on my nerves. In third grade, I wanted to sit by the girl who brought the best breakfast and always shared. I remember that one in particular because it has to do with food, like a lot of my memories.

However, forming a new seating chart in Ms. Foster's room has nothing to do with food. It's much more scientific. It begins with a step taught to me by my prior cooperating teacher: I sit down with some recent data to begin matching students in pairs. (Usually I do this with math scores because in Reading I have small groups already.) So I set these pairs of two and three based on one strong student and one needy student. Then I match pairs to form groups of 4 and 5, always making sure there are two higher students with two-three lower students. It helps the latter students to hear reasoning from students who understand material and can adequately convey that through verbal explanations.

These social groups get formed and then I try to see where problems might occur. To discover these I have to think about the following:
-past friendship problems
-those who cannot stop talking
-those who never start talking
-those who cannot see from the back
-current classroom couples*
-class clowns
-organization nightmares near organization pros

*This is a new thing to have to look for. I previously thought it wasn't until after spring break that students come back and discover the opposite sex, but lately my students have been pairing up like the teens on Glee. I can hardly catch up with who is with whom, though I try not to acknowledge it in an effort to passively discourage it. How else do I deal with that?

This all culminates to produce a seating chart that statistically and realistically REALLY SHOULD WORK. Then comes the careful revealing when I inform students where their new seats will be and strictly inform them I want to hear no reactions as I read each group's assignments. Because honestly, the last thing I want to hear after putting all this work into it is "Noooo! Whaaaat! AW Man!!! Ewww!" as I read names.
After we give the floors fresh scrapes and I plug my ears for a solid minute, most desks are in place. The room feels new to all of us and walking in the next morning is a tad bit exciting because Oh yea! New seat!

It's the little things.