Seating Charts (Teacher Programs)
The Seating Charts feature allows administrative staff to create a seating chart for each class section on behalf of the teacher, which includes students' names, students' pictures, desks, other furniture present in the classroom such as tables, the American flag, and more. Once setup, teachers can use the seating chart to take attendance and award positive behaviors. Multiple seating charts can be created to reflect different layouts.
The Seating Charts found in the Students menu for teachers can be used instead of the attendance seating charts when the current school uses hourly attendance.
The profile permissions enabled by the district must be set up separately based on the school selected via Users > Profiles; for example, the Seating Charts permission must be enabled for K-12 and Post-Secondary schools separately.
1. To conduct a user search in order to view/edit a teacher's seating charts, from the Users menu, click Seating Charts under the Teacher Programs submenu.
This will lead you to a Find a Teacher user search module where you can begin setting criteria for a search. The Search Screen module includes a search bar, the More Search Options feature, and options to Search All Schools, Include Parents, and Include Inactive Users.
2. Enter the user's name, user's ID, or EIN in the User text box.
Click the User List tab for a complete list of users without conducting a search. You can also simply click the Search button and leave the User text box empty to pull all active users.
The search bar is not case sensitive, and full or partial entries can be in either a first last or last, first format. The comma is necessary in the last, first format. A full user name or ID number can also be entered into the search bar. Searching for "ma" will pull every user whose first or last name begins with "ma" into the search results.
3. Click More Search Options in Find a Teacher to display a list of modules that can be opened and closed with the gray triangle. Set as many selections as needed to yield more specific search results. Note that the Profile defaults to Teacher and cannot be changed.
To clear search parameters and start over, click the Reset button.
4. Click on the user's name to open the user's record.
5. Clicking the user's name navigates to the user's Seating Charts screen. The user's name is displayed in the top left corner. Click the small red X in order to close the user and search for another one.
To open the selected user's User Info record, click on the user's photo displayed in the header (next to the red x).
6. To view or create seating charts for different sections, select the applicable section from the pull-down.
If the teacher hasn't created any seating charts, the new seating chart screen automatically displays. For more information on creating a new seating chart, see Creating a Seating Chart.
1. Click Link an Existing Chart to link an existing chart layout to the section, rather than creating a new one. All charts with this layout (including the newly linked one) will displays the same furniture layout, including future changes.
a. Select one or more existing chart layouts to apply to the current class from the pull-down and click Link.
2. If you choose not to use an existing chart, enter the Chart Name in the provided text box.
3. Select your Starting Point; options are described below.
Grid: The chart will start with a generated grid of desks or chairs, facing the selected front of class, with the selected rows and columns.
Freeform: The chart will start completely blank.
Copy of Previous Layout: The chart will start with the furniture layout from the selected chart. Select the Existing Room Layout from the pull-down; options listed include all previously created charts.
4. Depending on the Starting Point selected, select the Front of Class direction by clicking one of the four arrow choices (Up, Right, Down, or Left).
5. Depending on the Starting Point selected, enter the number of Rows and Columns needed for students' chairs/desks. Desks or chairs can be added or deleted while editing the seating chart after the initial creation of the chart.
6. The seating chart will be created for the section selected from the pull-down but can also be linked to other sections if selected from the Link Additional Periods section.
If the preference to Combine sections in the same period for taking attendance is enabled automatically by the district via System Preferences > Setting Default User Preferences > Display Options or Preferences > Display Options by the teacher, the seating charts, which share the same school_period, will include students from both course_periods. Additionally, the charts available in the manage charts modal will be all the charts from all combined periods. If the preference is disabled, or later turned off, then seating charts belong only to the course_period from which they were created.
Seating charts are linked to you as the teacher, not the room number. Therefore, if there is a teacher change, the chart is still linked to the teacher but attendance can no longer be taken. The new teacher will have to create a brank new chart.
7. Click Create.
The Seating Charts screen defaults to the assigned Sort order starting with 1. To change the Sort order or open another seating chart, click Charts, and see Viewing and Editing Existing Charts for more information.
Depending on the Starting Point selected, the Front of Class directional selection is displayed, along with the number of desks entered via the Rows and Columns.
To edit the Front of the Class, click Charts and see Viewing and Editing Existing Charts for more information. To edit the shape or number of desks, see Creating the Furniture Layout.
Click Save after any changes have been made, such as rearranging furniture, taking attendance, or awarding positive behaviors.
If changes are made without being saved, you will be prompted to Cancel and return to the seating chart, Discard Changes made, or Save and Continue. Click the X to close the pop-up window and return to the seating chart (same as clicking Cancel).
Click Charts to create a New Chart, edit the Sort order of the chart, edit the Title, change the Front of the class direction, open other charts to be edited or used, delete a chart, and more. See Viewing and Editing Existing Charts and/or Adding New Charts and Deleting Charts for more information.
Click Print to print the seating chart or download the seating chart to your computer as a PDF.
Click Assign to Take Attendance and/or Award Positive Behaviors.
Click Layout to Assign Students' Seating and customize the Furniture Layout, as well as mark students as talkative or front of class.
Click the right double arrows to collapse the Assign or Layout tabs and expand the seating chart area. Click the left double arrows to open the tabs.
Click the minus magnifying glass to zoom out or click the plus sign magnifying glass to zoom in.
You can also click and move the scroll to zoom in and out depending on if you move the scroll to the left (zoom out) or the right (zoom in).
Click the Restore Default View (home) icon to return to the default view of the seating chart. For example, if you are zoomed in on the seating chart, clicking the icon zooms out and restores the default view.
Click the Move View (four arrows) icon in order to click and drag the screen’s view to display items that may not be easily visible.
You can also use following commands/controls:
- Delete or Backspace: Delete current furniture/badge selection, or unseat current student
- Escape: Exit placing furniture, or any other mode selected
- Cntrl + click & drag or Command + click & drag: Enters Move View and allows users to move the current view in any direction
- Cntrl + H or Command + H: Enables Restore Default View, which instantly returns to the default view/zoom
- Cntrl + C or Command + C: Copy current furniture selection
- Cntrl + l or Command + I: Lock current student selection to chair
- Cntrl + or Command +: Zoom in
- Cntrl -- or Command --: Zoom out
1. From the new or existing chart, click the Layout tab, then click the Furniture tab to add or edit furniture and create the layout of the classroom.
The Seating Charts screen defaults to the assigned Sort order starting with 1. To change the Sort order or open another seating chart, click Charts, and see Viewing and Editing Existing Charts for more information.
2. The Grid lines display automatically. To hide the grid lines, click Visibility.
3. The Snapping tool is enabled by default ensuring new and moved furniture snap to the grid lines even when hidden by clicking Visibility. The snapping or lining of objects works in half grid units. Click Snapping to disable the tool and allow yourself to place items that are not lined up with the grid lines.
The Visibility and Snapping tools always default to enabled upon opening a new or existing chart.
4. Click the Grid pull-down to add desks or tables and chairs by selecting Grid, Horseshoe, Square Table, or Round Table; then, click Generate.
Grid: Select Grid to insert 16 desks in a rectangular shape.
Horseshoe: Select Horseshoe to insert 10 desks in a horseshoe shape around the classroom.
Square Table / Round Table: Select Square Table or Round Table to insert a table and four chairs.
5. To add furniture, scroll to the applicable section and click the piece of furniture; options include:
Students: Add a Chair or a Desk in which students can be assigned a seat.
Teacher: Add the teacher's Desk to the classroom.
Notes: Add a Text Box to the seating chart where you can enter notes.
Tables: Add different shapes of tables to the classroom, such as Rectangle, Round, Trapezoid, and Kidney.
Decor: Add classroom decorum, such as Blackboard, Door, WIndow, AV Cart, Flag, Computer, and Lab Table.
6. Once the piece of furniture is clicked, move the mouse around the classroom and click where you'd like to place the furniture. In the example displayed, the flag has been selected and has yet to be placed.
Once the item is placed, the furniture will no longer be selected from the Furniture tab.
a. Depending on the item selected, you may have the option to change the color of the furniture, such as teacher's desk. Click the desired color.
b. You can add multiple of one item by right clicking to place the object in the classroom grid. Right clicking while placing the item will allow you to keep the item selected in order to be placed in multiple locations around the classroom.
7. To move a placed item, click the furniture and drag it to the desired location.
8. To move a group of furniture, click and highlight the area where all applicable furniture is located.
a. Once all items are selected, click and drag to move the items with the mouse.
If you try to move an item within the space of another item, the furniture will turn red indicating that the item cannot be placed. If you try to place the item on top of another item, the furniture will automatically move back to the original location.
9. Most furniture can be rotated by clicking the item then clicking the rotator. If you click the rotator, the piece of furniture will move a little each time you click the icon. You also have the option of clicking and holding the mouse while rotating the item to the desired position.
a. To rotate a generated seating arrangement described in step 4, click the rotator icon in the center to rotate the grouping 90 degrees.
10. To resize items, click the item and use the points around the item to click and drag the item to a large or smaller size.
a. To resize a generated seating arrangement described above, click and drag using the four points around the items to make the grouping smaller or larger. Note: Resizing generated seating modifies the number of desks displayed.
11. To remove an item from the classroom/chart, click the item, then click Delete. You can also click the delete key or backspace key to remove the item.
12. To delete a group of furniture, click and highlight the area where all applicable furniture is located, then click Delete.
13. To duplicate a piece of furniture or a group of furniture, select one or multiple items, then click Clone.
14. Click Save once your layout is complete.
1. From the new or existing chart, click the Layout tab, then click the Students tab to assign seating to students.
The Seating Charts screen defaults to the assigned Sort order starting with 1. To change the Sort order or open another seating chart, click Charts, and see Viewing and Editing Existing Charts for more information.
2. Before seating students, you can flag applicable students by clicking Front of Class and/or Talkative to identify the students who need to sit at the front of the class or students who are talkative.
For example, if you have a student that has impaired eye sight or hearing who needs to be close the black board or teacher, etc., click Front of Class for that student. If you have two students that are always talking, click Talkative for both students in order to ensure these students are seated away from one another.
Student Flags (Talkative and Front of Class) stick to the student/teacher combination. If you mark a student as talkative in your period 1 class, the student will be already flagged as talkative in your period 3 class.
3. Click the Smart Shuffle pull-down to determine how students should be quickly seated by selecting Smart Shuffle, Last Name, First Name, or Random; then, click Quick Seat.
Smart Shuffle. Smart Shuffle takes into account the students who have been flagged as Front of Class and/or Talkative. The flags can be placed prior to the initial seating or at any time during the school year.
Last Name / First Name: Seats students by last name or first name in ascending order. This option does not take into account the student flags. If First Name is selected, Archie Lawson will be seated in the front row and Vivian Jackson will be seated in the last row.
Random: Seats students randomly. This option does not take into account the student flags.
4. To assign seats manually, click the student listed in the Students tab, then click the desired desk or chair.
Placing a student in a seat already occupied by another student, will bump the seated student back into the student list if there isn't a desk available for the bumped student. If there is another desk available, the student will move to the empty desk.
5. All unseated students remain in the Students tab until seated. If all desks and chairs are taken and students still remain in the Students tab, you do not have enough furniture to seat all students. To add desks/chairs, see Creating the Furniture Layout. You also have the option to click the student and place him/her in an area without a desk/chair; when clicked/placed, the desk will be created automatically.
Once all students are seated, the Students tab displays: All students seated in the chart.
6. To unseat students from a desk or chair, click the student and click Unseat.
7. To edit student information, click the seated student. Once clicked, the student displays in the Students tab.
a. Click Lock to lock the student into the desk/chair, so they cannot be moved upon using Quick Seat. If editing seating manually, the student can still be moved.
b. To unlock the student from the chair, click the student again, and click Locked.
c. From here, you can mark the student as Front of Class or Talkative, as well as remove the flags.
Unseated students display in the Students tab under the Quick Seat generator, while selected seated students display above the generator at the top of the list.
8. To customize how students are displayed in the seating chart, select the information displayed from the Student buttons.
a. Student Name and Photo are displayed by default. Click Name to hide the students' names. Click Photo to hide students' photos.
9. Click Save to apply assigned seating.
1. From the Seating Charts screen, click Charts.
The Charts pop-up displays all existing seating charts linked to the section selected from the section pull-down.
From the Charts pop-up, you can edit all existing charts' information including the Sort order, Title, and the Front of class direction.
2. To edit the order, click the Sort field and change the number as needed. The chart with the lowest number, i.e. 1, is used as the default chart when none are assigned. By default, all charts are given a Sort order of 1.
3. To edit the name of the seating chart, click the Title field and make the necessary changes.
4. To edit the direction of the classroom, click the Front pull-down and select the applicable arrow to indicate where you'd like the front of the class to be.
5. Click Assign for the applicable seating chart to Take Attendance and/or Award Positive Behaviors.
6. Click Layout for the applicable seating chart to edit the Furniture Layout and/or Assign Students' Seating.
7. Click Save to apply changes made to the seating charts. Changes not yet saved, display in yellow.
8. Click the X to close the Charts pop-up window.
1. From the Seating Charts screen, click Charts.
The Charts pop-up displays all existing seating charts linked to the section selected from the section pull-down.
From the Charts pop-up, you can edit all existing charts' information including the Sort order, Title, and the Front of class direction. For more information on editing charts, see Viewing and Editing Existing Charts.
2. Click Link Chart to link an existing chart layout to the section, rather than creating a new one. All charts with this layout (including the newly linked one) will displays the same furniture layout, including future changes.
a. Select one or more existing chart layouts to apply to the current class from the pull-down and click Link.
3. Click New Chart to create a new seating chart.
4. Clicking New Chart opens the New Chart pop-up modal. Complete all information as described in Creating a Seating Chart.
5. Click the delete button (red minus sign) next to the applicable seating chart to delete it.
6. Click Save to apply any changes.
7. Click the X to close the Charts pop-up window.
1. From the desired seating chart, click the Assign tab, then click the Attendance tab.
The Seating Charts screen defaults to the assigned Sort order starting with 1. To change the Sort order or open another seating chart, click Charts, and see Viewing and Editing Existing Charts for more information.
Until attendance is assigned and saved, the message "You need to take attendance today" displays.
By default, all students are set to P Present (Green).
2. To assign a different code, click the code listed in the Attendance tab, then click the applicable students.
Once assigned an attendance code, the student will turn the applicable color. In the example displayed, the student has been marked as Unexcused Tardy, so the student is yellow.
All attendance codes include:
Present codes (Green): P Present and PT Excused Tardy
Tardy codes (Yellow): T Unexcused Tardy
Absent code (Red): U Unexcused Absence
3. Click Save to apply attendance codes.
Once attendance has been taken, the message "You have taken attendance today for this period" displays.
4. Click List to navigate to the Take Attendance screen in order to record attendance in a different format.
5. To customize the information displayed for students, click the Student buttons. The Name, Photo, and attendance Code default to displayed.
a. Click Name to hide the students' names from displaying in the seating chart. Click Name again to display the students' names.
b. Click Photo to hide the students' photos from displaying in the seating chart. Click Photo again to display the students' photos.
c. Click Code to hide the students' attendance codes from displaying in the seating chart. The Code will be hidden if clicked, but the color of the code remains. Click Code again to display the students' attendance codes.
While on the Assign tab, click the student’s icon (name and/or picture) to display a student category menu. The category menu can be used in order to quickly navigate to a corresponding screen when the link is clicked.
The menu includes links to the following screens/information, most of which can be found on the Student Info screen: Demographics, Schedule, Grades or Course History, Absences, Add Referral, Test History, SSS, Enrollment, Requests, Standard Grades, Activities, Referrals, and Grad Reqs.
The links displayed vary depending on your profile permissions to screens.
Click Lock to Seat to keep the student in their current seat regardless of the number of times the students are reseated/shuffled. This can also be done as mentioned in step 7 of Assigning Students' Seating.
Positive Behaviors can be awarded from the Seating Charts screen if first setup via Discipline > Positive Behaviors by administration. Teachers can then create badges via Discipline > Create Badge Awards, as long as they are associated with an administrator-created badge type.
1. From the Seating Charts screen, click the Assign tab, then click the Badges tab. The default name for positive behaviors is Badges, but the name is customizable by the district; therefore, the name of the tab could differ.
The Seating Charts screen defaults to the assigned Sort order starting with 1. To change the Sort order or open another seating chart, click Charts, and see Viewing and Editing Existing Charts for more information.
2. To award a positive behavior, click the behavior, then click the applicable students in the seating chart.
3. The behavior icon displays on the student until saved.
4. Click Save to apply the positive behaviors.
Once saved, the number of behaviors awarded displays next to the star icon.
5. Select the Comments Before Save check box to ensure comments are made in regards to the behaviors awarded to students upon clicking the Save button.
a. Enter a general comment in the provided text box and click Confirm to post to the Student and Parent Portal along with the awarded positive behaviors. You also have the option to click Confirm without posting comments or clicking Cancel to return to the Seating Charts screen to add personalized comments.
6. To enter a personalized comment for an awarded positive behavior, click the award icon once assigned to the student to open the award in the Awards (Positive Behaviors) tab.
a. Enter the Comment in the provided text box.
7. Click the behavior icon to Edit the awarded number of behaviors. Click and enter the new Value in the provided text box.
8. To award positive behaviors for all students, click the positive behavior then click All.
9. To apply the awards, click Save.
10. Before clicking Save, awards can be removed by clicking the icon, then clicking Remove.
11. To remove positive behaviors after they have been saved and view a more comprehensive list of a student’s total badges, click List. Clicking List navigates to Reward Positive Behavior.
12. To customize the information displayed for students, click the Student buttons. The Name, Photo, and behaviors Earned default to displayed.
a. Click Name to hide the students' names from displaying in the seating chart. Click Name again to display the students' names.
b. Click Photo to hide the students' photos from displaying in the seating chart. Click Photo again to display the students' photos.
c. Click Earned to hide the students' number of earned positive behaviors from displaying in the seating chart. Click Earned again to display the students' number of awarded behaviors.
While on the Assign tab, click the student’s icon (name and/or picture) to display a student category menu. The category menu can be used in order to quickly navigate to a corresponding screen when the link is clicked.
The menu includes links to the following screens/information, most of which can be found on the Student Info screen: Demographics, Schedule, Grades or Course History, Absences, Add Referral, Test History, SSS, Enrollment, Requests, Standard Grades, Activities, Referrals, and Grad Reqs.
The links displayed vary depending on your profile permissions to screens.
Click Lock to Seat to keep the student in their current seat regardless of the number of times the students are reseated/shuffled. This can also be done as mentioned in Assigning Students' Seating.