- Episode Highlights
- Transcript
The way we arrange our classrooms says more than we think. From the placement of desks to what’s on the walls, these choices quietly communicate expectations, priorities, and student roles.
This episode explores how to design a classroom space that fosters student collaboration, encourages rich discussion, and supports active learning. You’ll come away with practical strategies for defronting your classroom, rethinking desk groupings, organizing materials, and creating wall displays that elevate student voice.
No matter your classroom setup or budget, these approaches will help you create a space where community thrives and students feel a sense of belonging and purpose.
Hello again, Meaning-Makers. Today we’re going to discuss a task that, for me at least, is as fun and exciting as it is hard and challenging. We are going to talk about setting up our classrooms for the new school year!
Although seemingly insignificant, the way we arrange and organize our classroom actually has a big impact on our students’ learning and behaviors.
Our classroom setup inadvertently communicates to our students what we prioritize and value as teachers, as well as the type of experiences they can anticipate.
Children make generalizations about the behaviors that will be expected of them simply based on the placement of furniture, how workspaces are arranged, as well as what and how much is displayed on the walls. It is important to be mindful of this to ensure we are sending the messages we want to send to our students about their role in the classroom community.
Today, we will explore ways to set up a classroom that focuses specifically on fostering a community of collaboration and discussion.
Defronting Your Classroom to Promote Collaboration and Perseverance
The first, and possibly most significant tactic to cultivate student collaboration and discourse is by defronting your classroom.
This idea of defronting the classroom was sparked by Peter Liljedahl’s book, Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics. To say this book is packed with invaluable information is an understatement, and I just have to say, if you haven’t read it yet, it’s a fascinating read.
In Chapter 4 of the book, Liljedahl addresses how the arrangement of furniture in a classroom influences students’ ability and willingness to collaborate and stick with problems longer.
What Is a Fronted Classroom?
In his research, Liljedahl discovered that in a fronted room, regardless of the arrangement of student desks or tables, students assume that order and compliance are most valued by the teacher in that classroom. They also infer that their primary role is to watch and listen to the teacher.
So, what is a fronted classroom, exactly? Well, simply put, if there is a recognizable front of the room, and the teacher regularly places themselves in this area, this is a fronted classroom.
Liljedahl’s research uncovered that in this arrangement, students receive the message that the person standing at the front of the room is the supplier of knowledge, and if we’re honest with ourselves, this person is typically not a student.
What impact do you suppose this has on students’ internalization of their role as a learner? Does it support the idea that they will be learning from each other? Not likely.
How to Defront Your Classroom
If we want our students to expect to be active participants in their own learning, we could start by defronting our classroom. The most straightforward way to do this is by setting up tables, desks, and chairs so that the students are facing each other, rather than facing the front of the room.
When defronting the classroom, we are also quite literally removing the front of the room. Generally speaking, the smart board, the teaching station (in whatever form that might be for you), and classroom rug are typically positioned toward the front of the room.
Consider rearranging these items so they are visibly separate from one another. Simply making these changes to defront your classroom is a pivotal step toward fostering collaboration and discourse among your students.
Arranging Student Seating for Maximum Impact
Possibly the most complex task of setting up your classroom is figuring out where and how to arrange student desks or tables. If you have desks in your classroom, arranging them in groups or clusters not only aligns with the concept of defronting, but also best supports collaboration and mathematical discourse.
How Many Students Per Group?
So next comes the question, “How many students do I want in each group?” and “How many groups will work best in the space I have to work with?” Grouping more students together, for instance, 6 to 8 students per group, allows for fewer groups and possibly more available space outside the center of the classroom.
However, more, but smaller groups, say, groups of 2 to 4 students, allow for more walking space between the groups, which could allow for easier movement throughout the room. Smaller groups may even make it easier on you to navigate from student to student as you circulate the room during a lesson or activity.
Using Group Tables as Math Stations to Maximize Space
If space is limited, table groups can also be utilized as stations during math or reading rotations. Each table or cluster of desks can be set up and equipped with specific manipulatives or materials tailored to certain types of tasks. Placing a storage shelf or cart can help with the storage of these materials.
For example, students know they can access ten frames and counters at one table group, and pattern blocks at another. One station might have unifix cubes for grabs, and another is set up with base ten blocks. Depending on the task that students are working on, they know where to go to find the specific materials they need.
Solutions for Desk Storage and Flexibility
One challenge to this approach is that students may feel territorial about their seats and uncomfortable with others sitting there, especially if they keep personal belongings in their desks. This is absolutely a valid concern, and one way to overcome this is by having students store their personal materials in a location other than a desk.
Milk crates, cubbies, book boxes, and storage bins can be great alternatives to desk storage. Also, in my experience, the more supplies that are used as community supplies, like pencils, crayons, glue, and scissors, the less supplies students have to store on their own.
Freeing Up the Center of the Classroom
Another creative room arrangement is to position students’ desks or tables against the walls, freeing up the center of the classroom as an open area for group work and exploration. Designated collaborative work spaces can be organized in the large, open area of the classroom, allowing the students to move around from each area to collaborate with different groups and to access materials and manipulatives.
Intentional Classroom Wall Displays
Lastly, let’s talk about wall displays.
I suspect many of us have had this shared experience: It’s the last of the teacher workdays before the first day of school and you decide to scope out some of the other teachers’ classrooms in your school building. You peek inside a few rooms and begin to feel inferior, like maybe your classroom isn’t as attractive and colorful as some of your counterparts.
Oftentimes ,the “cutest” classrooms are decorated to the max with matching, colorful wall displays, and it’s easy to feel like our classroom is less than when we step inside a Pinterest-worthy classroom.
BUT, consider this: when the walls are already covered before our students even come to us, what message do you think they might be receiving? Similar to the “sit and watch and get” message we send our students in a fronted classroom, we could unintentionally communicate the message that the classroom is teacher-centered when we cover the walls with displays bought or created by us.
Trust me, I know how tempting it is to purchase those colorful, thematic charts and posters to make your classroom seem fun and inviting for your students. But keeping wall displays to a minimum and waiting to decorate your classroom with student work reiterates the idea that they are valuable stakeholders in the classroom community.
Encouragement for Any Setup
Now, we know that depending on what you already have available, your access to funding, your years in the classroom, and class size, your options for reimagining your classroom setup will vary.
Small Shifts, Big Impact
But don’t fret meaning makers. A classroom that positively impacts student discourse and collaboration requires very little. Even the most bare-bones classrooms can be defronted, and any classroom with desks, tables, and chairs can be arranged in groups. These two moves will lead to significant results.
Furthermore, the very best classroom setup isn’t effective without supporting teacher actions. Providing students with frequent opportunities to explore, collaborate, and have discussions about math outshines a well-furnished, perfectly arranged classroom. Maximal learning can still happen in minimal spaces.
Planning Your Classroom Setup with Intention
Meaning makers, I know I’ve left you with a lot to think about today. When you’re ready to start tackling the idea of reimagining your classroom setup, sketching possible arrangements or even using a digital whiteboard on a platform such as Canva can be helpful during the planning stages.
Remember, you don’t need much to set up a classroom that fosters collaboration and discussion. In many ways, less is more. The way you arrange the furniture is only the blueprint, what happens in that space is the execution.
Thank you so much for joining me today. Since this is a topic that so many of us put a great deal of time and energy into, I hope this conversation has been helpful. I’m curious about the creative, ingenious ways you’ve set up your classroom to promote collaboration and discussion. We’d love to hear from you! Until next time, Meaning Makers, have a great one!
