Managing layouts and seating plans in My Classroom

My Classroom allows you to see attainment, attendance and behaviour data for your class directly on your seating plan. To enable you to do this, you need to create a layout for your classroom (where the seats are) and a seating plan (where the students sit).

You can set up more than one layout, allowing you to change the seating arrangements in your class. This is particularly useful if you change your classroom layout throughout the lesson.

Permissions

• To get started on My Classroom, you need the Classroom Management: Administer My/All Seating Arrangements permission on your Arbor profile.

If you don't have permission, you'll need to ask your admin team to give you permission using these instructions.

The Classroom Layout page

The classroom layout page allows you to set up the layout of the seats in your classroom. You can set up more than one layout, allowing you to change the seating arrangements in your class. This is particularly useful if you change your classroom layout throughout the lesson.

Your layouts can be used by other staff members teaching in the same room. If another teacher wants to edit your layout, they would need to make a copy and edit their copy.

The menu on the right side of the classroom layout page allows you to:

• Select a room layout
• Create a new room layout
• Drag seats into place

The first dropdown allows you to select an alternate room. By default, your current room is selected.
 

How do I get to the Layout page?

When you open My Classroom for your lesson (see how to get to My Classroom here):

• If no one else in your school has created a room layout for the classroom that you are teaching in, you need to create a layout and a seating plan, and you are taken to the Layout Page automatically
   

• If a room layout has already been created for this room, you can use the existing layout and just create a seating plan. 

  Or, you can create your own layout by clicking the three vertical dots, followed by Edit room layout.

Opening My Classroom for a room for the first time

When you first open My Classroom for your lesson, if no one else in your school has created a room layout for the classroom that you are teaching in, you will be asked to create a room layout.

Click the Ok button to set up a room layout for the room.

Click the green Create new room layout button to start adding a new layout.

Clicking on the Add Seat square attaches a seat to your mouse cursor. Decide where you would like the first seat to be within the page, and then click again to place it.

To remove a seat, click the cross in the top-right corner of the seat.

When you are happy with the layout and have added a name, click Save new layout.

To delete a layout, click Delete Layout.

Click the Edit seating plan button on the top right-hand corner of the screen to create your seating plan.

Using an existing room layout

If a room layout exists for a room, you will be taken to the main My Classroom page. In this example, you can see someone has already created a layout for this room. I’d need to set up a seating plan for my class.

Click the three vertical dots at the top right of your page. You can then create a seating plan using this layout, or click Edit Room Layout to add a new layout.

Using the keyboard shortcuts and continuous setting

To quickly add multiple seats, enable Continuous seating with the tick box. While this is switched on, you do not have to re-click Add Seat each time you want to place a seat. Instead, after you click add seat, each time you click the screen, a seat is placed untill you click Click grid to place seat. 

You can also use the following keyboard shortcuts to make the placement of seats faster.

• A – Add seat - this attaches a seat to your cursor (as if you clicked the Add Seat button on the right), Just click to add it to the layout.
• C – Cancel current seat. This unattaches the seat from your cursor (like clicking Click grid to place seat on the right).
• Space – Toggle continuous seating.

Creating a seating plan for your class

Please note: It is not possible to automatically randomise seat allocation in your seating plan.

Click the three vertical dots at the top right of your page and click Edit seating plan.

Click on any available seat to select it. A list of students’ names will appear. Select the student that you wish to sit in the seat.

If you wish to re-seat the student in a different seat, click on them in the plan, click their name on the right and click the different seat. Please note that it is not possible to unseat all students in one go and start again.

To save your changes, add a name, then click the Save Plan button.

To return to the My Classroom main page, click the Go to My Classroom button.

You can create multiple seating plans on one layout. Click the three vertical dots at the top right of your page and click Edit seating plan.

Click the Create new seating plan button. Make sure the names are different so you can tell them apart.

If you change the layout of your classroom in the middle of a class, for example, in a drama lesson where you work in a circle, then individually, you can switch the layout - just click the drop-down menu.

You can switch between your seating plans during your lesson from the My Classroom page - just click the three vertical dots.