by Tracy Cole

As a teacher for 10 years, especially in a school for students who have learning difficulties, it has been with no small amount of angst that I try to position my desks. Desk positioning can be pivotal to the workings of your classroom. For example, you wouldn’t want students in rows for an interpersonal activity but rows would be the preference on test day. The amount of sun coming into your room can distract or even give headaches to some students while desks not touching but almost touching can cause a finger to be pinched. Some desks placed under a vent can annoy a student who struggles with sensory integration or help another student with a similar yet opposite problem. (Yes, I said similar and opposite-I’m allowed an oxymoron; I’m an English teacher and it comes with the package.)

Students need a clear view to the board, they must be able to see me and they need to NOT face the windows or the door. Sunshine and rain are more interesting to a student than any literature story and anything happening in the hallway is mesmerizing even if candy is available to the class as a reward for paying attention.  Students are extremely interested in the trash truck on pick up day and I have even suggested that a few of my students interview the garbage men as they obviously have many questions!

Like most teachers, I have tried pods, diagonals, u-shapes long ways and short ways. I have put desks in pairs, in trios, and in different shapes such as stars and triangles. I’ve sat in a circle.

I’ve done rows which inevitably end up with all the students wanting to sit in the back. This bothered me until I recognized the trait in myself. There are two reasons students sit in the back. The first is obvious; it is the position in the room normally most far from the teacher. The second reason is not quite as apparent; students sit in the back so they can lean back in their chair. The wall provides some stability to the acrobat chair leaner and students will continue to lean no matter how many times they smash their head when they fall. It’s a compulsion, even for my students who DO NOT have an OCD diagnosis.

I have even had the desks removed and replaced with small tables. This works until you find a student who won’t sit at a table. Upon examination of this issue, one may find that the reason to have desks is to allow a student to choose. Some students find it imperative to sit at a desk that is gum-less. This choice disappears when gum attaches itself to a table. For a sensitive sort who finds germs the worst thing since traffic, sitting at a table with gum on the underside is as close to torturing this type of student as you can get. Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution to every desk having gum attached unless I refer back to the similar yet different technique: you can place another type of OCD student at a gum plastered desk and alas, before your next class begins, the gum is gone. I don’t even want to think about where it goes but this outcome always pleases me! In a nutshell, a student’s inner and outer workings of their brain can be improved or impaired by the placement of their desk.

One year, in what I thought would be the most ingenious move ever; I let the students set up the desks. What I discovered may surprise you; they run out of ideas too! I still do this sometimes because they enjoy owning the set up and every once in awhile someone tries something rather unique and I enjoy the experience.

The biggest discovery I have made in the great desk set up problem is not actually in the set up itself but what occurs no matter how the room is arranged. This past year I have been measuring the desk movements after they are arranged. For example, last Monday, I set the desks up in my room about 3 feet from the walls in a great big circle. By Wednesday the desks had moved. Not side by side or in a warped messy way but towards one another. My students carry about 10 books in their backpack. They have jackets as well as all the other items a normal student would carry. They are Middle Schoolers and are mini-adult size and, quite frankly, some of them are not as fresh as one would wish. (I know all Middle School teachers are nodding their heads in understanding!) By Wednesday, ALL the desks were touching and I had a vast amount of free space in my room. True to form, there were also a few finger pinches.

The desk placement of my room has reminded me of a fundamental human law. They all carry cell phones and IM each other. They are technically much savvier than I will ever hope to become. They are Master’s of PlayStation and represent the world we live in perfectly from a technological perspective. All this said, no matter the arrangement, smell, background finger pinch, or intellect, they just want to be near someone. Geez, I love to learn from my students!

Tracy Cole has been at Sophia Academy for 6 years. She teaches English to the Middle School and is the Director of the Theater Program. She has an undergraduate degreee from Shorter College in Psychology and a Master’s of Education from Walden University.

To comment on this article e-mail comments@independentteacher.org.