matt redmond musCoGeE County

During the first two weeks of each new school year, Matt Redmond, a high school science and engineering teacher at Northside High School, has a strategy for getting to know his students – and getting his students to know each other. At the beginning of each class, he poses a new “seating challenge” that engages students in daily team-building exercises.

“I came from a business background and had taught adult learners in my private sector jobs before that,” said Redmond. He wanted to incorporate some of what had been effective in his former role into his new role as classroom teacher. He knew he was looking for something proactive, fun, and impactful. Redmond found all that in an article entitled Teaching Secrets: Get to Know Students through Seating Challenges by Arizona-based educator and blogger, Sandy Merz.*

Redmond’s version of seating challenges range from having students group themselves by hometown or by height (shortest to tallest) without talking to arranging themselves by birthday, with January 1st at the front of the class. Once everyone is in place, students are instructed to have a seat and the person in the third seat should let the teacher know the challenge is complete.

“I sit back and observe, watching who the leaders and followers are, who is not participating, who is clowning around, and who is getting along or not getting along with each other,” said Redmond. “As teachers, we know every class is different, but you get to see how they are different.”

An additional benefit of the approach, says Redmond, is the identification of non-academic factors