Should I use a seating chart in my classroom?

Question: Should I use a seating chart in my classroom?

Answer: Seating charts can be effective tools for many reasons. First, they help teachers learn students names at the beginning of the school year. Second, they are a method for teachers to easily pass out papers. Third, they are a method that many teachers use to help deal with classroom behavior problems. Students are often uniformly distributed throughout the classroom and no claims of bias can be made.

With that said, whether you choose to use a seating chart is really a personal decision. There are some cons to seating charts. For one thing, student seating based on an alphabetical arrangement takes no issues or other disabilities into consideration. Furthermore, many teachers use an alphabetical arrangement and the students are often placed next to their friends or students with whom they have real personal issues. Second, they can cause discontent, especially with older students.

In the end, realize that seating charts are not the end of behavioral management in the classroom but simply a tool that you can use if you desire. Many teachers swear by them. But you need to have some strict rules and an understanding of why you have decided to use a seating chart or it won't make any difference in the end.