MarkBook - Creating a Seating Plan/Chart

    MarkBook^®     section 5-4

Setting Up a Seating Plan/Chart
Reach this screen from MarkBook's Main Operating screen, section 3-1 by clicking on Class List in the upper menu bar and then selecting Seating Plan. Or use the Seating Plan button on the main screen. Use this screen to build or edit your class seating plan (aka "seating chart"). Print it on standard sizes of paper in either landscape or portrait mode. It also has uses in the attendance and Class Report functions.

On this sample screen is a fictitious history class. The teacher has placed students in a modified grid to show a horseshoe desk pattern in the classroom. Each square cell represents a student desk as viewed from the front of the classroom. The red X cells will not print. Conversely, the empty cell to the left of Winston will print an unoccupied seat. Seating Plan Sample

Alter the number of classroom rows and the number of seats per row using the buttons and toggles in the Seat Arrangement box at the lower left. Once you have selected the desired number of rows and seats per row, click the Apply button. New cells will be added to (or deleted from) the right and top of this grid. You are limited to 10 rows and 10 seats per row.

Use your mouse to drag and drop students from the Class box at the right to a grid location. In this example, one student has not yet been placed. Move students from one seat to another or back to the Class box at the right using the same technique. For instance, if students are unhappy in their current locations, drag and drop these individuals to new locations until you are satisfied with the new arrangement. The three assignment buttons will place students in remaining seats on this grid. To print on paper without photos, click Print and follow the directions in Printing a Seating Plan / Chart beyond the next section. Students who have been deleted from the class in the Edit Names screen, section 4-2, will be dropped automatically from the seating plan. New students who have been added with the Add Names Screen, section 4-1, will appear automatically in the Class box to the right.

PHOTO SEATING PLAN / CHART

If the school has a storage location for digital photos, and if these are in [student number].jpg or .bmp format, MarkBook will import and print these. Click the Photographs button or the Find Photograph Files button. A dialogue box will open. Locate the photo directory in the school’s computer network where the digital photos are stored. Click on the first photo file and click Open. Available images for each student will appear on screen as per the following. Move your mouse over any student’s seat location. A larger photo appears at the upper right.

Photo Seating Sample

Click the Print button to print a photo page.

MarkBook doesn’t store the images but it does remember the location of the photo directory so that you won’t have to re-hunt for it again. Consequently, as older photos are replaced with newer ones, and missing images added to the school’s data base, any time you click Photographs, MarkBook will retrieve the latest images in that data base. MarkBook maintains the aspect ratio of the photos. For this reason, the images on the printed photo seating plan may be small.

Print Options for MarkBook's Seating Plan

Print Options for MarkBook's Seating Plan

PRINTING A SEATING PLAN / CHART

Your plan saves when you click Back and Save. It's the only way to exit this screen.

Drag and drop the red X on top of any cell to delete that seat from your printed copy. Drag and drop the red X into the trash can to open up a deleted seat again. In the example shown, six seat cells will not print.

The Print button will take you to the Print Seating screen shown here. This is where you will determine the printing options that you wish to include on your plan's printout. Select a name presentation style in the Student Names box by clicking your cursor in the appropriate cells. The Check Boxes are very handy on your plan. If you have data recorded on a previous seating plan printout, you can edit the starting number here (26 in this example).

Print your seating plan in "portrait" orientation OR "landscape" orientation on standard sizes of paper. To alter the paper size/orientation, go to the Main Operating screen, section 3-1, select File, then select Select Printer, and then select Setup or Properties. Or, if you have the printer dialogue box option set under MarkBook's setup, the following printer control box will appear. Use it to select printers and/or change settings.
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Cancel will take you back to the screen at the beginning of this section without printing anything. Print blank form will print a plan without student names. Use this to record seating locations whenever you permit students to select their own locations.

Tip: if possible, set up and print your seating plan before your first class of the term. You decide each student's location. When students arrive for the first time, hold up the printed plan and announce "this is where the computer says you sit!" Let them know that you will be delighted to move individuals who are unhappy or too happy with their assigned locations. In arranging seating this way, you will deliver a subtle but powerful message about who is in charge of this classroom!

Manual: Go to section 5-5 to see three versions of class seating plan printouts.