How to Hack your Classroom Seating:  Future You Will Thank You.

What do you do when you are a first year teacher of 500 students, 10 grade levels, and more than 23 homerooms?  Get crafty, of course. 

I bought multiple packs of colored circles in the clearance bin at Walmart.  Tip:  You can get great deals after Back to School season is over, or any holiday really.  Take advantage of the sales and squirrel things away for next year...that's how you furnish a classroom for cheap.   

These circles came from a welcome banner set, 24-pack, and are approximately 5-6 inches in diameter.  I think I spent $.25 a pack on clearance.  I had purchased a pack before clearance and they were around $4.99 for 24.

Laminate the circles BEFORE you write on them.  Sharpie comes off with alcohol and my internship teacher always had a spray bottle of it on hand.  Nail polish remover works well, too.

Punch a single hole in the top of the circle and put a colorful reinforcement circle around it.

Choose a color for each homeroom and write each student's name on it in order of your classroom roster.  Not only will your grades be easy to collect and alphabetize, it makes taking attendance much easier.

Each tag should have:

Student's First name (Middle)

Student's classroom number/seat/station (circled on the top)

Homeroom number or code on the bottom (makes it easier to find when flipping through students)

Here's the genius part.

Hang the circles on shower hooks (see photo below) 1 pack of 12 = $.99

Hang the hooks on Command Hooks ($4.99ish a pack?)

Watch how easy it is to teach students to flip to their name upon arrival or get their station ready for the next class.

Why is this beneficial?  This year I was a new teacher in a new school and I challenge myself from the very onset to learn each child's name as early as I can (ideally within the first or second time I see them).  It makes classroom management easier if I can call on students by name and it makes a HUGE difference in the amount of respect they feel from me if I have taken the time to learn their name.  The second piece is that in a world of similarly colored uniform tops (ours are red and white polos, but on PE days they're all in gray t-shirts) and similar hairstyles, most kids look the same from the back.  Now, if I am helping a student across the room, I can glance at a student's seat, notice their hand raised, and call their name correctly and quickly.  I am a visual person and all the little word cues around the room help both me and the kids.  It's genius.

I am a technology teacher and my students sit around the room in a U-shape, then a small island in the middle.  Not only has this been a practical time-saver, the circles have held up well and the students can help me take care of them!  Next year I can move the circle with the child's class or I can erase the circles and start again.  #omgenius