Table & PlaceBuild the grid you actually use
Set rows and columns before assigning students. Desks run left to right from the teaching wall. For 27 students, a 5 × 6 grid gives 30 desks. Limits: 100 students and 100 desks.
Use a keep-apart rule precisely
Keep-apart pairs cannot be immediate horizontal, vertical or diagonal neighbors. This is a grid rule, not a distance in feet.
| First student | Second student | Pair rule |
|---|---|---|
| Row 1, column 1 | Row 1, column 2 | Conflicts: horizontal neighbor |
| Row 1, column 1 | Row 2, column 2 | Conflicts: diagonal neighbor |
| Row 1, column 1 | Row 3, column 1 | No immediate-neighbor conflict |
Shuffle, inspect, then make deliberate changes
Shuffle students searches for a valid arrangement. Failure preserves the plan and does not prove impossibility. Try more desks or review the rules.
Manual placement also works. Moving onto an occupied desk swaps students when rules allow. There are no fixed-seat locks; another shuffle replaces manual assignments.
How does classroom layout affect student learning?
Match seating to the task. A 2008 review of eight studies found evidence of more appropriate behaviour during individual tasks when students sat in rows. It recommended letting the task guide the arrangement. This does not establish that rows improve grades.
Check sightlines, access and participation in the actual room, then review the arrangement as activities change. This planner records positions and pair rules; it does not assess learning needs or predict outcomes.
Print names clearly and keep notes private
Print includes a full-name desk key. Notes are excluded from print, included in CSV/JSON. Follow school data-handling rules; this is a browser-local planner. See random generation or use a blank template.
Sources and further reading
Wannarka and Ruhl (2008): review of classroom seating research