School starts for me in less than a month and I am actually getting excited…am I sick or what?  I am rearranging my room and I am really anxious to get in my room and get set up.  My tables will be set in a “U” shape around the edge of my room with a large open area in the middle.

For the past few years, my 6 tables had been arranged in two rows of 3 tables perpendicular to the Smartboard.  My change came about at the end of last year.  Our annual 5th grade picnic had to be brought inside due to rain.   To accommodate my students and keep the picnic “feel”, we pushed all the tables to the edges of the classroom and everyone hung out in the middle.   At the end of the day, the students asked if we could keep the tables arranged that way for the last full day of school, which was the next day, and I agreed.

My room was going to be used for a camp for rising 5th graders the week after school was out.  The teachers who would be using my room loooooved the way my room had been “arranged”  from the day before.  They tweaked it a bit and called me in to see it and I was very excited.  So of course, we grabbed my principal and showed her.  She, too, loved the feel of the new arrangement and on top of that, suggested that a new larger rug be bought for my classroom!

My plan with this arrangement is that I will move from group to group when it comes to guided reading time.  Students will be rearranged at tables into their small guided groups during reading and I will move.  Groups will be working on activities at the other tables or other places like on the carpet,  while I move and meet with my different groups.  The table groups will ebb and flow depending on their needs and comprehension of skills.

So here I sit writing about my room set up.  Any thoughts about your room set up?  Do you have desks or tables?  I am also thinking about what to have on the table as far as shared table supplies.  What do you have for your groups?  Do the supplies stay on the table or on a nearby shelf?   Let me know!