3. Problem 1: Large classroom sizes
• What is the average size of your classroom?
• What is the function of the physical space in your
classroom?
• How well can you see your students’ work or hear your
students’ speech?
• Can you easily move around your classroom?
• How quickly can you make it from one side to the other?
4. Problem 2: Desks limit space
• Have you ever tripped over a backpack?
• Have you ever been trapped at the front of your classroom?
• Have you ever had to rearrange 40 desks?
• Have you ever forgotten to remind you kids to straighten their
desks?
• How well/quickly can you transition into a movement activity?
5. Problem 3: Desks are barriers
• Have your students struggled to hear each
other?
• Have you noticed them texting under their
desks?
• Do your students put their heads down on
their desks? Lean on them?
6. What does eliminating desks create?
• Visibility
• Space
• Movement
• Community
• Engagement
7. Visibility
• How well can you see your students?
– Their hands, feet, work
• Who’s Gabe?
• Do your students see and notice each other?
• Partner question:
– What do you do to build community within your classroom?
– Is it happening?
8. Space
Personal space vs. communal space
• How does maintaining personal space impede
communication and interaction?
• How are we getting our students out of their
personal bubbles?
• How well de we encourage risk taking and
error making?
• How often do we, as teachers, hide at the
front of the classroom?
10. Community
• How eagerly do our students contribute to
class?
• How comfortable are our students with sharing
their ideas and personal experiences?
• How well do our students know each other?
• How often do we laugh with our students?
12. How should I arrange the chairs in
my classroom?
How will this affect
my grouping of
students and my
seating chart?
13. Set-up
• I prefer stackable chairs.
• Create a line for the chairs by putting tape on the
floor
– Use the kind with the fibers in them.
• It’s strong and stays all year.
• Doesn’t leave residue like duct tape.
• Doesn’t come off like painter’s tape.
• Doesn’t break like masking tape
14. The U and the O
• The majority of teachers with desk-less
classrooms prefer to arrange their chairs in a
U-shape or in a circle
• This allows for more movement in the center
of the classroom.
• And it opens up the classroom where students
see and notice each other.
21. Will my students complain
about not having desks?
• Some will at the very beginning of the year.
Most won’t.
• It will take them a couple weeks to get used
to.
• Once they realize class is interactive, they
stop asking about the desks being gone.
(they, being maybe 1 kid per class)
22. What will my students write on?
• Use individual whiteboards. (as a hard writing surface)
• Writing tasks/Computer work:
– Give students freedom to sit around the room- to your comfort
level.
– For longer writing tasks or assessments, I let my students
» lay down on the floor
» sit against the wall
» use a chair as a table or a foot stool.
» Some teachers use pop-up tables they store against a wall
23. How will this affect my routines and
procedures?
• It will speed things up.
• Some of my procedures:
• Backpacks & Phones
• Students seated at bell
• Straighten before leaving
• Grab paper from center of room
• Break timer (credit: Ben Slavic)
26. How do I get their attention when they
aren’t organized?
Attention getters:
I call out the beginning of a phrase. And they say the end.
Expectation:
After they finish the end, they are to look up and be quiet.
Examples: (in Spanish)
• Me: ¡Clase! *clap clap*, Students: ¡Profe! *clap clap*
• Me: ¿Qué dice el pollito?, Students: ¡Pío, Pío, Pío!
• Me: ¡Feliz navidad!, Students: ¡Prospero año y felicidad!
• Me: ¿Qué da el sol?, Students: ¡Luz!
• Me: ¡Achoo Achoo Achoo!, Students: ¡Salud, Dinero, Amor!
27. How will kids handle the freedom of
space this allows?
• My students generally do really well.
• For squirrely kids…
28. Can they handle sitting in a chair
without a desk to lean on?
• Get them moving!
• It’s easier and quicker to do with the space
you have created.
29. Draw-backs
• Students have to be reminded/encouraged to
sit-up in chairs (my reminder for movement)
• Students try to text behind their legs.
• Students find odd places to hide phones.
30. Brain Break Games
• Brain breaks – most involve circles
• La bebé mala (Bad baby)
• Sillas musicales (Musical chairs)
• Cuatro rincones (4 corners)
• Casa, arbol, roca (House, tree, rock)
• Pasa la sonrisa (Pass the smile)
• Globo en el aire (Balloon in the air)
• No me mires (Don’t look at me)
• Eiminación (Elimination)
31. Movement Activities
• Learning Centers/Small Group Work
– Quickly form small circles
– Or stack chairs in a corner.
• TPR (Total Physical Response)
– Learn actions for vocabulary
– Stand in a line back to back with a partner.
– Listen for the word/phrase
– Turn and face partner with the action.
• Dances- easier to teach & do
– Student initiation & improvisation happens more
32. Review Games
• Mala pelota- Bad ball (with basketball hoop)
• Kahoot: Easier to see & monitor students during game
• Curitas- Bandaide game (With whiteboards) Credit: Melody Ream
• Fly swatter game: way easier to set-up w/o desks
• Tengo: (AKA BINGO) Credit Martina Bex