Heterogeneous is to be diverse in character or content while
homogeneous is to be the same kind or alike.
It is very important that we understand those two words and know what we
are trying to accomplish before we, as teachers, seat our students.
To correctly utilize this method, you will need standardized
scores for your students from any assessment you would like to use. We take MAPS tests at our school every fall,
so those are the scores I use to help group and seat my students.
You will also need to place the desks in groups of four
(pods, rows, etc.) and mark the desks in such a way that every four desks have the
same demarcation. I use four colored
dots (pink, green, yellow and blue), but there’s nothing stopping you from
using animal stickers, planet stickers, numbers, etc.
Step 1 is to list your students from highest to lowest score
Step 2 is to then split them into four even groups.
Step 3 is to take one student from each group and place them
together into a pod.
Step 4 is to arrange your pod following the placement
guidelines.
Now let me add one caveat here…our classes are already
grouped somewhat by ability so there is not a radical difference between the
top and bottom students. If this was
truly a heterogeneous group I would probably want to rethink my seating
arrangement some more.
But I urge you to give this type of grouping a try and see
what happens with your students and their overall abilities. If you can raise the scores of your lowest
learners simply by having them surrounded by higher learners, then it’s a
win-win situation.