Discipline for Free

Considering that many classrooms are overcrowded, teachers need to think about how they can arrange students' desks so broad walkways run from the front to the back of the class and also from side to side, says classroom management expert Fred Jones.

The best room arrangement is a room with wide walkways, Jones said. However, one correct room arrangement doesn't really exist.

Jones says the typical classroom arrangement, with students desks lined up in neat rows, makes it easy for custodians to do their jobs but tough for teachers to freely walk among their students desks. Teachers should be able to get around the classroom quickly and frequently, says Jones.

Dont approach this as a Joness philosophy, Jones told Education World. In fact, talk to any experienced teachers and they think of this as a commonsense approach. Either you work the crowd or the crowd works you.

As the teacher is moving about the room, he or she can check the students work. There is a lot less fooling around a lot more time on task just by being among the kids and moving around the room. Natural teachers are doing it because its obvious.

As the teacher strolls around the room, what they keep doing is having the kids subconsciously saying, I have to keep working, Jones said. The bottom line is that a good classroom seating arrangement is the cheapest form of classroom management. Its discipline for free, he added.

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09/14/2010