Circles

When an entire class is engaged in a discussion in which the goal is to have all students participate, a circle is often the best way to orient students to each other. In younger grades, there is often an open space in the classroom where students can sit on the floor in a circle. 

With older students, either the desks or the chairs will need to be rearranged in a circle. This may not be feasible for a brief discussion, but for discussions intended to be 30 or 45 minutes in length, having students face each other can significantly enhance engagement.

Fishbowls

A variation on the whole class circle is a fishbowl in which the students engaged in discussion or debate are in the center, and the rest of the class is outside the fishbowl observing and taking notes. Fishbowl discussions can be a valuable organization for engaging the whole class, but limiting the opportunity for students to talk to the time that they are inside the fishbowl, thus promoting more equitable talk opportunities. Observing from the outside can help students reflect on what makes for a good discussion, and can heighten awareness of the dynamics that include some students and exclude others.

Facing Lines

When teams of students are engaged in debate, it can be helpful for the two groups to face each other on opposing sides of the room. This contributes to direct eye contact between those who are addressing each other, and the opportunity for side by side consultations among those on the same team.

Side-by-side Pairs

When students work in pairs with a shared resource, sitting side by side is essential. Otherwise, one student has control of the resource. When desks are involved, sitting side by side can make it easier to hear your partner than talking across the two desks. 

Three or More

Working in pairs provides the maximum assurance that all students will have an opportunity to participate. Three or more can easily lead to some students staying silent. But sometimes larger groups are desirable in order to increase the input of ideas and thus maximize the chance that students will develop their thinking. Some teachers organize the desks in their classrooms in sets of four as a permanent arrangement, and have the two students on the same side work together when pairs are the better arrangement. Other teachers temporarily arrange desks in clusters that allow students to face each other to the greatest extent possible. 

Four Corners

When students are organized into larger groupings, especially when they are working out the details of a shared position, the classroom can become very noisy as students talk over each other to make their points. While classroom norms and community agreements are necessary to ensure students are listening to each other, it can also be helpful to use the four corners of the room that are typically the empty space. Just creating distance between the groups can be helpful.

Facing Front

Most of the time, facing front will not be optimal for discussion. However, there are times when the teacher is intentionally leading the instruction (e.g., reading aloud to young children), writing on the board when reviewing an earlier lesson), and having students turn and talk to the person next to them. In this situation, it can be helpful if students know in advance who their partner will be. Otherwise some students can easily be left without a partner if the students on both sides turn in the other direction.