I am trying to decide how to arrange my classroom with 22–27 chemistry students per class. Last year, my desks were arranged in the traditional manner: rows with an aisle. This year I’m thinking of setting the desks up in pods of four or in pairs. Do you have any advice on desk arrangements?
—Melanie, Huntley, Illinois

We’ve all seen pictures of (or even experienced) classrooms where individual student desks were bolted to the floor in straight, orderly rows. This is certainly the exception rather than the rule today. But there are several factors to consider as you explore different seating arrangements.

Safety is a priority. If you’re in a typical chemistry lab, you probably have an area with lab tables and a “classroom” section with individual desks or small tables. This area is probably not as large as a regular classroom, so your placement options are more limited. Whatever arrangement(s) you use, be sure students can enter and exit the classroom efficiently and  backpacks, electrical cords, and other materials can be kept out of the walkways.

Logistically, determine the focal points of the classroom (e.g., whiteboard or projection screen, demonstration table) and be sure that your arrangement allows students to see presentations. Put materials such as handouts, staplers, calculators, or pencils where students can easily access them. If space is tight, count the number of students in your largest class assigned to the room, add one or two to allow for move-ins, and ask if extra desks can be stored elsewhere.

Review student individual education plans to determine any special seating requirements. Make sure seating arrangements can accommodate the visual, auditory, and physical needs of your students as well as any assistive technologies or devices they use. (One year my seating arrangements included space for a student’s service dog.)

No single seating arrangement is “best”—each has advantages and disadvantages, depending on the learning activities. If you use a mixture of instructional strategies in your class, you’ll want to consider using a variety of seating arrangements.

Traditional rows of desks or tables facing the focal point are often used for teacher-centered activities (lecturing, giving directions, or presenting on the whiteboard) or for independent activities (tests, silent reading). Many teachers use this arrangement as the “default.” However, there are “dead zones” in the corners and the back of the room with this arrangement; students in the front center also are more likely to get your attention. While this arrangement minimizes distractions, it also limits student-to-student discussions since students are looking at the backs of other students.

With a U-shaped arrangement, students can see each other, which fosters student-to-student discussions within a large group. This is also useful for teacher-centered presentations, as you can maintain eye contact with all students. As students work, you can zip across the inner space  to provide assistance where needed. For large group discussions, you can close the U into a circle and sit with the students, sending the message that you are part of the discussion. However, this takes up a lot of space, and some students may be easily distracted during independent work.

If you do a lot of collaborative activities, consider pushing desks together. Pairs of desks are good for turn-and-talk activities, and groups of three to four are appropriate for cooperative learning. You can also use the lab tables for small group work, unless equipment and materials are set up for another class. In pairs or groups, be sure students can still see a screen or focal point for instructions or debriefing. This arrangement could be distracting during independent work.

Here are two examples of classrooms I’ve visited where teachers had routines in place to align the seating arrangements with the learning activities:

• Students came into the middle school classroom and sat at individual desks in rows. They worked independently on a bell-ringer activity while the teacher took attendance and then introduced the lesson. The students pushed the desks together in pairs for the first activity. The teacher debriefed with them and then had each pair team with another to form groups of four for the next activity. The teacher monitored the discussions and assisted the groups. At the end of the lesson, the students returned the desks to the rows (default).

• Students in a high school chemistry class sat in a U-shaped formation, oriented to the front of the lab where there was a demonstration table and the whiteboard. The teacher easily maintained eye contact with all students as he presented the material, since no one was “hiding” behind another student. This arrangement was conducive to the think-pair-share activity the teacher frequently used. As the students did practice problems, the teacher looked over their shoulders and assisted when necessary. For group work the students moved to the lab tables. They then returned to the desks for the lesson summary.

Some teachers may worry that changing the seating arrangements, particularly during a class period, is confusing and time-consuming and that students prefer a consistent arrangement. In the classrooms described above, the seamless transition between activities doesn’t happen overnight. The teacher needs to communicate the reason for the change and the norms for appropriate behaviors.

Let us know how your new arrangements work!

Image:  http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/4168858547_e03f9d324c_t.jpg

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1. Clickers in the science classroom
2. Classroom management
3. Encouraging class participation

We are applying for a grant to upgrade the technology in our science department, and we’re thinking of buying “clickers.” Do you have any advice?
—Iris, Salem, Oregon

Clickers (personal response devices) look like calculators Students use keypads to respond to a question, often multiple-choice, and the results are tabulated and displayed—similar to popular television game shows that survey the audience and reveal the percentage choosing each response.

Clickers have become quite popular in classrooms at all levels. Unlike a show of hands or holding up index cards, students’ individual responses are not publicly displayed, although they can be recorded on the teacher’s computer. The teacher gets immediate results during the lesson and can modify the learning activities to correct misunderstandings, provide more in-depth examples or explanations, or move on to the next activity.

In a high school class I visited, the teacher was conducting a lesson in which students were solving chemistry problems. The teacher used a variety of instructional techniques, including a graphic organizer and guided practice at the interactive board. When the students indicated they understood the concept, the teacher displayed several problems on the board. The students did the calculations and entered their answers via the clickers. The teacher displayed a graph showing the percentage of students who entered the correct answer. Everyone had the first two answers correct, but several students missed the third one. He used the clicker software to display the number of students who chose each response and noted that one of the incorrect answers had been chosen by quite a few students. He then asked the class to figure out why that answer, although incorrect, was popular. After some thought, one student volunteered, “Maybe they thought Ca stood for carbon and they used the wrong atomic mass.” “That’s what I did,” another student remarked, and so the class experienced not just getting an answer correct, but figuring out the thought processes involved. The teacher knew he could move on to more complicated formulas, and the students were ready for the challenge.

In this class, the clicker system and its software was a component of the interactive board. The clickers were in a storage case, and as the students came into the lab, they retrieved the clicker assigned to them by number. The teacher had a record of responses, and although he did not “grade” these lesson checkups (formative assessments), he could monitor the progress of individual students from one lesson to the next

A middle school math colleague used clicker data to determine which students needed additional help. He worked with those students—re-teaching or providing more guided practice while the others worked on more challenging topics. He certainly could have used a paper-and-pencil quiz, but the immediate feedback gave him more time for the alternative instruction rather spending it checking more than 100 quizzes.  He also used clickers for pre- and post-tests to show the students their progress.

Many college classes use clickers (see the two references at the end), and I’ve used clickers with third-graders who caught on very quickly. I’ve also used them to gather feedback during professional development workshops and at parent meetings to compile their opinions in an attitude survey.

In one project I was involved with, the classrooms did not have interactive boards. The system was portable, with a remote receiver connected to a laptop. A projector displayed the questions. It was a lot of equipment to set up, but we could use it in different venues.

There are many systems to choose from, ranging from simple numeric keypads to more complicated options for entering data. Ask your technology coordinator for input on what system would meet your instructional needs and your school’s technology capabilities. Other questions to consider: Is the system compatible with the test generator/test bank you have? How easy is it to import or copy/paste questions? Can graphics be included in the questions? What kind of analyses does the software perform beyond calculating the percent correct—simple statistics (mean, standard deviation, median), graphs, or an item analysis? Can you export the data into Excel or other statistical programs? Does it produce reports for individual students as well as class summaries? When you’ve narrowed your choices, ask other teachers about their experiences, including teachers in the NSTA Communities (you’ll get a lot of information from your online colleagues).

Regardless of what system you ultimately decide on, it does take class time to administer the questions. You’ll have to adapt or create questions related to the concepts and skills being learned. The systems lend themselves to multiple-choice format (including true/false questions) and would not be useful for open-ended questions or more creative solutions, although I’ve seen ways to capture text messages from cell phones or other devices that sound intriguing.

The clickers by themselves are not a solution to improving student learning. Much depends on the quality of questions that are presented and what the teacher and students do with the results. The clickers can be an expensive, high-tech “quiz machine” or they can be an integral part of a teacher’s strategies to improve participation, determine students’ misconceptions and misunderstandings, and adjust instruction to help all students learn.

Resources:

Clickers in the Large Classroom: Current Research and Best-Practice Tips

Building Acceptance for Pedagogical Reform Through Wide-Scale Implementation of Clickers

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On my way out, I encountered a teacher who was wondering if she could still catch part of the session–ah, a fellow latecomer; alas, too late! To keep her sunny side up, I told her the good news is that Diana and Susan will be back next year in San Francisco. She smiled.

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Wikis have been called ”the quintessential collaborative tool.” In this article from the February 2010 issue of NSTA Reports, you’ll find out how teachers around the country are using wikis to collaborate with colleagues around the world, as well as to communicate with students and parents.

Do you have a wiki? Tell us about yours, and how you use it to enhance your teaching.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/34053291@N05/3948369923/

When I have a class discussion, it seems to be dominated by a few students or else no one raises a hand. How can I encourage more students to participate?
—Brenda, Warren, Michigan

I suspect every teacher has had class “discussions” turn into seminars with a few students while the others merely watch. Class discussion has a place as a strategy: debriefing after a lab investigation, reviewing, summarizing a lesson, elaborating on content, and assessing what students understand about a topic. A well-crafted discussion involves student-to-student as well as teacher-to-student conversations. However, students have learned that if they don’t raise their hands, the teacher probably won’t call on them or that some students will raise their hands immediately and monopolize the teacher’s attention.

At first, students may rebel against changing these traditions, so explain the reasons for using new strategies. While students may certainly raise their hands, you reserve the right to call on others, too, because you’re interested in what everyone has to say on the topic. You want to encourage more in-depth thinking, get a variety of viewpoints, assess student learning informally, and create a classroom environment where everyone’s questions and contributions are valued.

To call on students randomly or equitably, some teachers use cards or craft sticks with students’ names on them. A chemistry teacher I know uses a random number generator to select students. It is certainly acceptable to call on students who raise their hands, too. Asking a student to be the class scribe and write on the board/interactive board/overhead during the discussion can be another form of participation.

For questions requiring short answers, some teachers ask students to hold up individual white boards or pieces of paper with their response. Signals such as thumbs-up/down/sideways or “clap once if you agree” can provide an opportunity for all students to respond, and this can also be a formative assessment technique. Electronic response systems are an excellent way to get all students participating. You’ll also have a record of the responses. But I’m assuming by “discussion” you mean more than a question-and-answer drill, so you may also want to look at the type of questions or discussion prompts you are using and the type of feedback and comments you provide.

Another effective way to encourage participation is to use wait time. After you ask a question or pose a topic, wait four or five seconds before calling on a student. Some students (including those for whom English is their second language) may need time to compose their thoughts. The first time I tried this, I was astounded at the additional hands raised during those few seconds! Waiting is hard for teachers to do, but the “dead air” is actually thinking time, and research has shown that the students’ responses are often at a higher level of complexity. After a student’s response, use more wait time. During these few seconds the student may elaborate on the response, or another student may contribute. Before you respond, call on other students to follow up: “Do you have anything to add?” or “Do you agree/disagree?” To acknowledge those who did raise their hands, you can say “I noticed your hand was up, too. What were you going to say?”

How should you respond if you call on someone involuntarily who answers incorrectly or with “I don’t know”? Ask a few probing questions for clarification (perhaps the student did not hear the question). Rephrasing the question with different vocabulary may work or smile and say “OK, I’ll come back to you later.” Be sure to do so.

Encourage students to interact with each other by asking questions, elaborating, or disagreeing. The classroom arrangement may contribute to this type of engagement. If students are sitting in rows with their backs to each other, it may be hard to engage them in a lively discussion. For large group discussions, consider arranging the seats in a circle so that students can see each other. If you sit in the circle with them, it sends the message that all voices are valued. Another strategy is Think-Pair-Share, in which students think individually, then discuss the topic with a partner, and summarize or share their thoughts with the class.

It may take a little time for you and the students to adapt to a different kind of class discussion, so give yourself time to try new strategies and model the type of conversations you expect from the students.

Here are some additional resources:
Using “Think-Time” and “Wait-Time” Skillfully in the Classroom
Questioning
Think-Pair-Share
Discussion

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I’m a new middle school teacher, and last week I had to miss two days due to illness. When I came back, my classroom was in shambles and it appeared that the students did not do any work. What can I do, short of never missing another day, to make sure this doesn’t happen again?
—Scott, Coeur d’Alene, ID

Substitute teachers are amazing. They get a call the night before or early in the morning to take over classes for subjects in which they might not have experience or credentials. They may be unfamiliar with school procedures or a teacher’s routine. Students may have the notion unacceptable behavior is okay when the regular teacher is out . Sometimes, substitutes find no lesson plans or other materials to help them. And for this, they get a per diem that, after taxes and other deductions, can be quite modest.

“Subs” have a variety of teaching experience: some are new teachers waiting for a full-time position, others are retired teachers who want to teach occasionally or teachers in between positions trying to maintain their skills. If you know in advance when you’ll be out and who your sub will be, you can prepare class activities appropriate for his/her knowledge and skills. But sometimes, as in the case of illness, you don’t have the opportunity to create detailed plans. Having a “sub folder” can be a lifesaver for both you and the sub.

Whether your sub folder is kept in the school office or in your desk, be sure it is clearly marked and up-to-date. Provide a seating chart for each period with the students first and last names, the bell schedules, and emergency procedures (e.g., fire drill directions). Attach the syllabus for each course you teach as an overview of the content and expectations.

Include several days worth of activities that relate to the learning goals for your course. Videos are sometimes overused as sub plans, so be sure any video relates to your course goals and provide suggestions for what students should do or discuss before, during, and after watching it. Unless you know the sub is familiar with the technology in your classroom, or each class has a student designated as the tech assistant, avoid activities involving devices such as the interactive white board or electronic response systems.

Avoid busywork (such as word searches or copying notes or definitions) or directions to have the students “read silently” or “work on other homework” for the entire period. (This would be difficult for them, even when you’re in the classroom!) Activities you weren’t able to get to in a recent unit are good options to include. Some teachers collect magazine articles for students to summarize and share. If your students have access to laptops, they could work independently or in pairs on online activities or to search for information related to a course topic. (NSTA’s SciLinks has suggested websites and online resources, and there is an option to create lists of favorites students can access.)

I liked to use emergency sub time for students to review and use vocabulary (even the non-science subs felt comfortable with this). One of my favorite vocabulary activities is a “word splash.” Using a prepared word list or one the students generate (perhaps from a current event or a picture in the textbook), teams of students write sentences that include two or more of the words. Ask the sub to have the teams chose 2-3 of their “best” sentences to share with the whole class to debrief. In “word sorts,” give groups of students lists of words to categorize with a description of their thinking. In both of these activities, the sub can collect the students’ work or ask them to use their science notebooks.

Even if you are positive the sub is credentialed in science and is familiar with laboratory routines and safety precautions, I would not ask the sub to do a lab investigation with a potential for student injury or requiring chemicals, live specimens, flames, or heat sources.

Include a note in your folder with any routines that should be followed at the beginning and end of the day and during each period (e.g., attendance). Provide a way for the sub to leave a status report of what was accomplished during each class along with any issues, problems, success stories, or suggestions. If, after your preparations, the substitute does not follow your plans or allows students to behave in unacceptable or unsafe ways, you have the responsibility to share this information with your principal.

Good subs deserve respect as professional colleagues and can put your mind at ease when you’re away. For a frequent or long-term sub, a thank-you note or token of appreciation is a nice gesture. I asked some friends doing some post-retirement subbing for additional suggestions. Their ideas included a clean coffee mug to use, phone codes to access the office, the name of a nearby teacher who can assist with questions or problems, and directions from your room to the faculty lounge, main office, and restrooms.

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Some elementary schools on a “year-round” or “modified calendar” are about to begin a new school year on Monday, and many others begin in September. Children from my “fours” classes are among the new kindergarten students and I feel so protective of them even though I believe they are ready for the the work, the larger school building, and sometimes a larger class size. After his first week in elementary school my son told us, “They have so many rules there.” New rules in the new school with a larger class size and a larger student body—he soon acclimated to that school’s culture but it was  a process.

Learning and teaching are easier when children feel comfortable. Read  what children say as they tell what new children need to know about starting school in the International Journal of Transitions in Childhood website links to full text papers from the European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Annual Conferences.

I remember my first day as a parent at a preschool, wondering how all the other parents seemingly knew what to do—where to put the cubby bag and tuition check, and where to find extra paints, the mop, and the key to restock the paper towels. There was institutional knowledge that was unwritten. Once we become part of a community we may no longer see the need for posting such information. As teachers we can take the lead to increase the comfort level of new students and new families by sharing the unwritten “rules” and culture of our classrooms.

Here are my suggestions for families participating in science activities at one co-op preschool:

• Participate in the activities as an explorer. This will encourage your child to do so.
• Make observations after giving the children a chance to do so (but adults do not have to share all the knowledge they have).
• Ask open-ended questions that can have multiple answers, such as, “What do you see happening?”
• Don’t answer most questions—that’s the children’s job! Instead say, “I wonder how we can find out?” It’s ok to leave questions unanswered, especially when the details are more complex than they are ready to understand (a fine line!).

Do you have special practices to welcome new students and families to your school? Tell me about them by clicking on the word “Comments” below.

Peggy

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“Would you like to be a student in your classroom?” This month’s guest editorial says it all when it comes to classroom management. A well-organized science lab with students that are engaged and enthusiastic—it doesn’t get any better than that! But it takes a lot of planning, effort, and reflection to make it so. The articles in this issue have variety of suggestions from many perspectives. I would encourage teachers at the upper elementary and high school levels to browse the contents, too.

The best way to solve discipline problems is to prevent them from happening. We science teachers have an advantage—interesting content and hands-on investigations to keep students focused and engaged. In Managing Inquiry-Based Classrooms, Classroom Management and Inquiry-Based Learning, and Classroom Management, Rules, Consequences, and Rewards! Oh, My!, the authors share their teacher-tested strategies for making the science classroom an engaging and safe place for learning. Classroom Management: Setting Up the Classroom for Learning illustrates several ways to configure a classroom for various learning activities. For information on laboratory safety, I’d recommend the NSTA publication Inquiring Safely: A Guide for Middle School Teachers and the NSTA Guide to Planning School Science Facilities.

In addition to the resources suggested at the end of the articles, check out SciLinks for more information on classroom management. I’d also recommend the work of Robert Marzano and his book Classroom Management That Works, in which he synthesizes current research on the topic and provides practical suggestions based on this research. If you or any of your colleagues are members of ASCD, you can read the book and the companion handbook online for free!

When students are off-task, our first question should be “what’s the task?” Most middle school students are motivated by interesting assignments and being able to work with each other. Science Scope always has suggestions for interesting and challenging activities and assessments, such as Cartooning Your Way to Student Motivation (I’ve also seen teachers ask students to respond in a haiku format or as a tweet.)

I was surprised by the content of the article Teaching: A Reflective Process. After using an asseement probe, the teachers developed an an interesting activity to model the water cycle and address the students’ misconceptions. SciLinks has more activities and information on the water cycle.

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For the first time, I’ll be teaching two different subjects (biology and environmental science). Do you have any suggestions for how to organize my unit plans, lesson plans, and other resources?
—Don, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

I’m not an organized person by nature. So when I taught four different courses in two different labs, I had to force myself to create a system to coordinate four sets of resources and documents and archive them from one year to the next. It was a struggle, but eventually I was able to use my time to revisit and revise lessons rather than recreating them.

My colleagues used to call me the binder queen of unit plans (I’ve since progressed to electronic files). My school had a written curriculum for each course. Rather than storing the curriculum tome in the file cabinet, I took it apart and put each unit plan in a separate binder. I also inserted my lesson plans for that unit as well as copies of the assessments, handouts, and other notes.

For lesson plans, the best thing I ever did was to get rid of the spiral “Plan Book” with its 2×3 inch block for each class period. There wasn’t enough room to record the plan for an entire lesson, other than a cryptic “pp. 52-56 #1-5″ or “Algae Lab” which was not much help the following year.

Does your school have an official lesson plan format? If you’re using a framework such as Understanding by Design or 5E, there may be sample lesson plans posted on the project’s website. If you don’t have a suggested template (and there are schools that don’t require teachers to have written plans) here are some features I would include (keeping in mind that a lesson may span several class periods):

Annotate the lesson and unit plan, either on the document or with a sticky note. Reflect on what went well as well as what did not work (and what you did to fix it). Describe in detail any modifications to activities or assessments. Correct any typos or other errors right away.

A colleague suggests color coding course materials and finding a clip art logo for each course (e.g., a microscope for biology, a tree for ecology). Put this in the upper right hand corner of any printed page and use it as you sort through the papers on your desk.

Ask your technology coordinator if your school already has any online organizational tools and take advantage of the organizational features on your computer. You can color code the folders and files on your computer or change the folder icon to your course logo. Have a folder for each course and a subfolder for each unit. With an electronic system you can archive PowerPoints, photos, podcasts, and video clips as well as hard copies of lessons, handouts, and assessments.

In addition to backups on the school’s server, invest in a flash drive, and backup to both regularly. Flash drives are especially helpful if you use different computers at home and in school. As an alternative, you could store your files in a file sharing site, such as Google Docs, which would enable you to access and edit the files from any computer. Files stored there also maintain a version history, so you can go back to earlier versions of lessons as needed.

In addition to electronic files, I still like the concept of binders, where I can flip through an entire unit or workshop without opening lots of files. Once a binder queen, always a binder queen!

Creating a system is time-consuming at first, and you’ll modify it as you discover what works best for you. This investment will pay off the next time you teach the courses. Good luck!

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Read “Safety First” by Sarah Pounders and you can reassure your director and students’ parents that you are informed about how to avoid potential health hazards in eating food from a school garden. Did you guess that washing hands is one of the safety steps to take?

Sarah writes, “Grow it, know it, try it … love it! Educators and parents across the country are using this philosophy to get young gardeners hooked on fruits and vegetables.” Children in my classes take to gardening even when it’s a new experience. The crops that we can grow and harvest before the end of school include snap peas, chives, oregano and other herbs, and strawberries. In a small (1m x 3m) raised bed garden there is room for just a few plants, enough so every child gets a taste of what we grow.

Children seem to observe most closely when planting or watering. Some try hard to keep their clothes and shoes clean, sometimes because of personal preference and sometimes because of parental warnings. To keep it a positive experience, I try to help them limit the mess. Child-size tools can help them control where the dirt goes. How do you handle this in your garden?

Maintaining even a container garden requires a commitment to water and weed. Neglect is the main difficulty faced by the gardens at my schools (I’m not at each school every day). Gardens do best with some daily attention—not hours and hours but at least a few minutes to water when needed, look for “wildlife”, or tie a plant to a support. The rich environment of the school garden is under-used. Sometimes the peas children planted in a raised bed don’t grow taller than a few inches because children were allowed to climb up into and through the bed to look through the fence. Other times children are not made aware of the Cabbage White butterfly caterpillars chewing up collard leaves. Without adult encouragement to attend the garden, zinnia seedlings may dry up rather than sprout up.

I need some advice on how to enlist other teachers to help the children water at least a few times a week, and spend a few minutes talking about any changes. Or maybe I should be planting hardier plants!

Tell me what to try,

Peggy

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