For 4 years I have had desks in my 1st grade classroom. This year I decided to turn them around, tie them together and turn them into tables. Why didn't I do this 5 years ago?
Why I will never go back to individual desks.
They can't use it as a trashcan. I was constantly cleaning out desks to find things. No more!
They share glue, gluesticks, erasers, and pencils. Each table has a cart to store these things as well as their crayon boxes, and binders.
I have chair pockets that they keep their folders, notebooks, and library books in. They are from Lakeshore and I am very happy with them.
Each day we have a new table captain who is responsible for passing out the table's papers, making sure they have pencils, organizing their supplies, etc.
I have a clock above each table so I can dismiss them by tables from the rug or from tables to get in line.
Their spots are not permanent. If I want to switch kids around, I simply take off their names tags (velcro) and move them and their chair to a new spot.
Now I always have a few students who really need to work in a private space so I have some places around the room that I can't put them "permanently" or send them there when they need a break from the group.
I am using the insides of the desks to store things that I will use later in the year like poetry packs that I've copied ahead of time and extra supplies.
If you haven't tried it, you should!
