I just came across a novel way to make seating plans. It’s so simple and will save you a lot of time. I can’t believe I didn’t know of this method earlier.

I can’t tell you how many times I have had to write a seating plan over the years. I like to rearrange the desks and seating positions in my classroom quite often. As such, I have had to draw up a new plan each and every time.

Here’s a time-saving tip that all teachers will appreciate.

You can make a file folder seating plan that won’t require you to write your seating plan over and over again.

Here’s how . . .

All you need is a pad of sticky notes, a marker, and a file folder.

Simply make a stickly note for each member of your class. Place the sticky notes inside of the file folder in such a way that it forms the seating arrangement of the classroom.

Now whenever you move a student or change seating arrangements, all you need to do is go back to the folder and move the sticky notes.

I really like this new way of making a seating plan. It doesn’t require you to draw a new classroom map every time. All you need to do is move the sticky notes around. And, if you keep on top of this, you will always have an up-to-date seating plan.

Seating plans are great for supply teachers, guest speakers, or teachers that come in to your class on a rotary basis. Just knowing a student’s name can really cut down on any behaviour problems that may arise. Take it from me, names are powerful. Students respond to their own name a lot better than they do to the generic classroom instructions such as “boys and girls.”

So go ahead and make a file folder seating plan.

If you have any great ideas you’d like to share, I’d love to hear from you. Send me an email to myname (at) gmail (dot) com, send me a message on Twitter, and you can contribute a guest post.

More Teaching Tips

• Teaching Tip Archive (over 100 useful tips, lessons, and ideas)
• Seating Plans (and why you should switch them often)
• Student Numbers (give each student a number and get things organized)
• Rules to Live By (we should teach these social skills too)