Students who are assigned specific seats in the classroom are more likely to stay attentive during a lecture.
A student’s academic performance relies on their environment and personal mindset. Allowing students to choose their own seat can be harmful to the educator’s lesson and teaching. Students who enjoy conversing with their peers during class may be disruptive to the classroom setting as it distracts both students and the instructor from focusing on the task at hand.
Creating a seating chart for students can provide a sense of productivity as they are required to sit away from disruptive peers and work on their assignments. Disengaging with outside distractions can boost the student’s motivation and energy levels.
Stress has the tendency to build up in overstimulating environments. Listening to constant talking between students while attempting to complete assignments can be frustrating. Restraining inattentive conversations can ease a student’s mind as they do not need to worry about procrastinating their class work in order to talk to a friend.
While changing the overall classroom environment, it is important to note that change is heavily dependent on the student’s mindset. As long as the student remains respectful and mindful of the seating arrangements, classroom issues are likely to decrease. Creating a seating chart will promote communication between students who do not know each other well as well as encourage positive behavior. Arranging students away from distractive peers can result in a newfound motivation to participate in classroom activities as they have lost the ability to engage in disrespectful actions.
The human mind is constantly racing, from daily tasks to stressful maneuvers. The brain needs to stay active and stimulated in order to continue evaluating and observing at the fullest potential. When taking away talkative tendencies and disruptions, a student will naturally need to focus on another stimulant to avoid boredom and burnout. This will cause the student to turn their attention to assignments, questions and a new form of participation. Removing one focused conversation between disruptive students can lead to the anticipation of an interactive discussion with the instructor or classroom.
Limiting access to constant irrelevant conversations saves the class time to be able to listen to the lesson or work on assignments.
School is considered a place for learning, but in some cases, students label school as a place of boredom; others would label it a place to make friends and socialize while still continuing their educational route. Though school is meant for educational purposes, students should still be able to socialize, but when seating charts are added into the mix those social skills tend to decrease.
Seating charts are made to help teachers, yet it could hurt a student’s education due to being surrounded by people who could distract them, people who they dislike, or even simply because they don’t have anyone to confide in.
When the first day arrives, many are nervous to start a new year with new teachers and new courses. After having a morning full of the jitters and worrying about how the day will go, the last thing a student needs to worry about is a seating chart. Most classes have a seating chart placing students in either alphabetical order or in a system that works best for the teacher. Sometimes the students are forced to sit away from friends and sit by people they don’t know very well. Even if the seating chart is supposed to be temporary, students become nervous and closed off during the teaching period. If a student shuts down or closes themselves off due to being shy then the student isn’t learning anything and instead is losing education time. Students need to be fully aware of their surroundings in order to be listening. If they shut themselves out because of being surrounded by strangers, it could harm their learning. Even if a student is sitting next to their peers, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will automatically become comfortable with them..
Not only do seating charts make a student feel uncomfortable, it can also cause their social skills to plummet. If a student is next to someone they know, they will be more comfortable socializing and conversing with the class and teacher during discussions. When those people are forced to sit away from them and the student is now surrounded by those they don’t know well they will naturally become closed off.
Seating charts can help teachers remember their students’ names, but it is important that teachers bond with students and the first step is memorizing their name. Some argue seating charts also help the student branch out little by little, but due to COVID-19 and many becoming closed off during that period, it is better to help the students stay in their comfort zone until they are ready to reach out themselves.
Seating charts are debated every year between teachers and students. Despite how they can help the teacher, seating charts can still hurt a student’s education due to them not being comfortable socializing with those they aren’t familiar with and having no one to confide in.
