Second Semester Seating Chart

Though I’ve maintained an entirely lax seating policy this year, I told them I was bored with the configuration, which had been constant since August. I told them to pack up, go outside, and wait near the door.

I walked outside and tossed out some mental arithmetic:

  • What’s 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1?
  • What’s 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1?
  • How many quarters are in $7.50?
  • What is the only state that grows coffee?

As students tossed hands up and answered questions correctly, I let them grab a friend and pick any seat inside.

As far as meaningful assessment goes, I doubt Bloom would approve. As far as seating selection goes, it’s my favorite.

[meekly pickpocketing my high school math teacher, Sid Bishop]

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I'm Dan and this is my blog. I'm a former high school math teacher and current head of teaching at Desmos. He / him. More here.

10 Comments

  1. Ben Bloom would like it—knowledge, comprehension and application to answer the question; synthesis and analysis to choose the person they wanted to sit by and evaluation–“where to sit so Mr. Meyer doesn’t call on me all the time?”….and all on the fly.

  2. For those in LA:

    – Provide an example of onomatopoeia.
    – What is a pangram?
    – What are the four words in the English language that end in ‘-dous’?
    – What are the minimum parts of speech needed in a prepositional phrase?