Enough is enough

Seating charts are tricky. 

I try to pair a student who reads well with one that struggles more so they can work together on projects.  But then you have to consider height.  Also, I have to find the sweet spot for my Spanish speakers.  If they're right next to each other, they will speak Spanish all day to each other and tune the rest of us out.  If they're too far away from each other, the one who speaks and understands little English will be isolated all day.

And of course there's the chatter.  We rearranged chairs Friday and there were little parties happening everywhere.  So much talking.

I told them yesterday that I was going to change the seats again and there was silence.

But the die was cast.

I texted Mark and asked him to come and help me after school because I was also going to take down all the snowflakes.

Before Christmas, Mark and I hung plastic snowflakes from the ceiling with fishing line all over the classroom.  They were out of reach for most students but also, my students are pretty well behaved so a firm, "Don't jump up and touch the snowflakes," worked for most of them.

One boy struggled to resist the urge to jump up.  Yesterday, mid-flight, he elbowed another boy in the face.  It was a whole thing resulting in an ice pack and an apology and me deciding the snowflakes had to go.

I was telling Mark about it.  I said, "I felt irritated but then I remembered--"

"That your son would have done the same thing?" he finished for me.

"Yes," I said, "But worse."

Mark agreed and to demonstrate he jumped up and hit his head on a snowflake.  Then he turned on some jazz music and started doing my bidding.

So now the classroom has been transformed.  Winter is over and the snowflakes are gone.  The desks are in a pattern of boy girl, boy girl.  I put the quiet children strategically between the less than quiet.  I put the shorter kids in front and the taller kids in back.  

I don't think they'll like it.

But I'll tell them we will try a more social arrangement again sometime and they can do better.

In the meantime, I come home from work exhausted from the skirmishes, but I had my portrait done yesterday, so there's that.

My boy who speaks very little English presented me with this:

He said, "Teacher!  You!"

I think he captured me pretty well.