I'm not sure if this a regular debate in schools, but it's definitely something I have strong feelings about.
I hate desks.
Yep. I said it. Desks are the worst! Given the choice (or the funding), I will choose tables for my classroom every time. Doesn't matter the grade level - thought, for the purposes of this post, I will be talking about elementary classrooms (because that's what I teach).
Reasons I Don't Like Desks
They are a major distraction. Students are always playing in their desks during learning and instructional times. Depending on the style of desk, just the simple act of getting a new pencil can be a disruption to the lesson.
They are messy. Even those most organized student has a messy desk at some point. Students get in a hurry to clean up or move on to the next activity and supplies just get shoved in their desk. Over time, it's a disaster area and sometimes even a bio hazard. Every class has that one student that always seems to be snacking. The amount of disgusting, half-eaten food I've found in desks is enough to give you nightmares.
Supplies disappear. Desks are magic, but not the good kind, and this goes hand in hand with the mess issue I talked about above. Before long, due to mess or moving around or some unknown factor, supplies start disappearing. One day, you ask the students to get out their math notebook and three of them can't find it. This usually leads to them essentially dumping everything out of their desk to look for it. But you have to move on with the lesson. So now, we have distraction, disruption, mess, and the student is missing out on instructional time.
It makes it easy for misbehavior. I've had students hiding toys and games in their desks that they can reach in and play with (front loading desks) while I'm teaching or when they should be working. Because of the desk style, you couldn't see it right away and, depending on where they were in the room, you might not notice the distracted behavior right away either. Additionally, desks make great hiding places for things that belong to other students. As much as we may not like to admit it, kids sometimes steal from other kids, and their desk is the perfect place to hide the evidence.
Desks move. You can have the best seating arrangement in the world. You can have tape or dots on the floor to mark where the legs should be. It doesn't matter. By the end of the day, those desks have migrated all over the place. Kids wiggle and shift and lean, and classroom floors have no traction even with carpet. I personally don't enjoy resetting my desks every single day, and having the students do it is fine if you're willing to give them 20 minutes to do so.
Seating chart changes are a hassle. Your students are not going to sit in the same spot all year long. That's just not a thing. You have to rearrange your class from time to time to: address behavior problems, give new opportunities for team building, give students a new team/partner, etc. With desks, you either have to move each desk or have the student move their supplies from the desk - both of which require a significant block of time to accomplish.
With Tables:
Only what students need are at the table, limiting the amount of distractions.
The mess is limited to what is being worked on at that time, and it's easier to clean up.
Supplies return to their designated spots so they are less likely to go missing.
Misbehavior is limited to shenanigans with the supplies in use or with other students. Easy to see, correct, and move on. Plus, there's nowhere for stolen items to be hidden.
Tables move a lot less because students are leaning, pushing, and wiggling from both/all sides. The shifting is contained to a smaller area.
Seating chart changes only require the student to move - and maybe their chair if you decide to put name tags on the chairs (which is brilliant).
Group projects and activities are so much easier!
Now, I know there are some questions and concerns about this, so let's talk about them. Here are the top issues that come up the most when I say I want tables not desks:
Student supplies
Testing
Behavior management
Student Supplies
This has been a pretty hot topic on social media as the new school year approaches. Parents are a bit put out about the amount of supplies they have to purchase because they feel they are supplying the whole classroom.
And they are, to a point. Which is something that upsets many parents. I don't want to do the deep dive into this right now, but I will later. For now, I want to focus on the tables and how this adds to parent concern over student supplies; because parents aren't just worried about the amount of supplies, they are worried about their child not getting to keep their own supplies.
The biggest concern is that having tables instead of desks deprives students of keeping their personal supplies and having something of their own. Where do they put their personal supplies?
Easy. Other furniture. Having a cube shelf system or some sort of drawer or other shelf system solves the problem. Students can have their own pencil box, labeled with their name, that holds their supplies and sits on a shelf where they can easily grab it when they need it. Their notebooks, also labeled with their name, go on another shelf, and so on.
Everything is labeled and easily accessible to students within the classroom, while at the same time eliminating the clutter and distraction that is a desk. Students can grab only what they need to bring to the table, and everything returns to their pencil box and designated shelf, so there is less chance of supplies going missing.
And students still get to keep their own supplies. Win-win!
Testing
"But, Mrs. Flewellen, what about testing? How do you separate the students to make sure they aren't cheating or distracting others during tests?"
Easy. Offices.
My second year of teaching, I couldn't get tables. So I turned the desks around (no access to the inside) and put them in groups like a table. Then, I bought a pack of file folders (like for filing cabinets) - they came in a pack of 50. I just taped two of them together on one side so that they opened up and made a tabletop cubicle, which we called "offices".
Whenever we were going to test, the students would grab an office for their desk. This blocked their paper from wandering eyes and prevented distractions really well. The only way for a student to interact with someone around them was to lean back and around the office, which is immediately noticeable and, therefore, quickly corrected.
I found it incredibly effective in my classroom and never had a problem with distractions or wandering eyes during testing. Another bonus was that every student had an office that they would put away when they were done - which means anyone still testing would have an office up. It made it super quick and easy to scan and see who was still testing without disrupting the students.
Behavior Management
So, what do I do about those students that just can't sit in a group? Or who need to sit by themselves for testing?
First, I strive to find the right arrangement so that all students are in a group. Usually, it's just a matter of pairing a challenging student with the right group. However, I recognize that sometimes there's a student that just can't do it and needs to sit on their own - or, their group just needs a break because they've been stuck with them for too long.
I always try to make sure I have at least 2 desks as well as my teacher/small group table. These become the areas that I can place students that can't work in a group, need a break from the group, or need to test in a separate setting. The desks are usually placed out of the way of common areas for students so that student can focus and not be distracted by, or distracting to, other students.
When it becomes necessary to separate out a student, it's important to ensure that separate space is truly separate. I'm not saying that student remains isolated from the class all the time, but if they really can't focus during instructional time and working time, or if they are really disruptive to other students, they need their own space that is free from those things.
These separate spaces also work great for students who take longer to test than others because it provides them with a quiet, out of the way space to finish their test without feeling rushed and without being distracted.
The Bottom Line
Yes, having tables means you will have to get more furniture. It also means you'll have to spend more time setting up your classroom and you'll have to take the time to teach your students how the system works.
I promise you, though, it's worth it.
For me, that extra time and effort up front saved me so much time and stress and frustration throughout the rest of the year. The students picked it up really quickly and I didn't have one incident of stolen or missing supplies (well, markers don't count right?)
And - I know this might sound weird - but it really felt like I had more room with tables than with desks. I have no idea why, but it did. Maybe because my students weren't needing to find other spaces in the room for group projects and activities (our desks were always uneven in heights for some reason).
I'd love to know what you prefer: tables or desks? Why? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram (@eagerlyengaged) and I'd love to see your classroom set ups for the year.
Happy planning!
