I teach life science to 25 students , 10 of which seem to have some LD. All the students sit in groups of 5 at lab tables . There is one table in front of the room where the board is and 4 behind. if I place more than 2 LD students on a table they distract one another and the rest of the class. All of the students want to sit in front. Any recommendations about setting up the classroom? I cannot move the lab tables, but I can move students around. All the students seem to want to sit on the front table but that is impossible.
I am organized enough that the students do not have to wait for papers to be distributed, but it is rare that they can work quietly.
Environment of Classroom
Is there room to put in some desks at the front so that students aren’t always sitting at a lab station? This might give you some more flexibility in how students are arranged and who they sit near.
Unfortunately lab groups of 5 are often too much for kids with LD. I’ve noticed this in my dd’s classes. Kids with LDs need smaller group sizes so they can be more involved with the labs instead of getting lost in the crowd.
Environment of Classroom
Thanks for the suggestions. I like the idea of making the students earn the front seats. I have a couple of students with preferential seating in their ieps. Unfortunately the room is too small to put more desks and tables, so the students must be seated at the lab stations.
I would make sitting at the front table an incentive for on-task behavior. Tell your students that at the end of each class or day you will pick 5 students that did the best job of following directions and completing independent assignments. These 5 students will be allowed to sit at the front table the following day. The only problem you might run into is that your LD students might have preferential seating listed within their IEP. If this is the case, this intervention might not be too helpful because it might draw unwanted attention to the LD students (i.e., some students might question why they always get to sit in the front).
Good Luck!