organizing physical space
During my time as a long term substitute teacher, I was able to implement my own seating arrangements on a daily basis. When I first started, the teacher I was working in place of had a seating arrangement so that I could learn the students' names better, but I didn't like the way it was set up. Half of the students' backs were to me, so I changed the arrangement after I learned a few names. Almost everyday after that, I had the students move the desks so that they would be better set up for the work we would be doing on that specific day. I've done rows, double horseshoes, pods, debate groups, inside-outside circle, Socratic Seminar set up, and many other types of strategies for utilizing the space in my classroom. An example of how I started with these classes can be found below, the students had been in this seating arrangement for about a month. They get a little confused about why I move them around so much, but when I explain to them that it's for the purpose of the lesson, they seem to understand and help me to be successful in those different situations.