Click a name in the roster list, then click an empty desk.
About the Seating Chart Maker
A seating chart is one of those things that needs to be ready before the first bell, then needs to change three more times before October. This tool keeps that whole cycle on one screen: paste a roster, pick a desk layout that matches your actual room, click names onto seats, and print a clean copy for your desk or a sub folder.
Nothing here gets saved to an account or a database. The chart lives in the browser tab for as long as you're working on it, which makes it a safe, fast tool for trying out a new arrangement during a planning period without worrying about overwriting last week's version.
How to use it in your classroom
- Paste your class roster into the sidebar, one student name per line.
- Pick a desk layout: Rows for a traditional grid, Clusters for small group pods of four desks, or U-Shape for desks arranged around three sides of the room.
- Set the size of the layout — number of rows and columns, number of clusters, or desks per side of the U — to match your actual classroom.
- Click a name in the roster list, then click an empty desk to seat that student. Click a filled desk with no name selected to clear it.
- Turn on Swap mode to trade two students' seats: click one occupied desk, then click a second occupied desk, and their names switch places.
- Use Shuffle to randomly seat the whole class in one click, or Clear chart to empty every desk and start over.
- Click Print chart when you're happy with the layout — the sidebar controls are hidden automatically so only the chart itself prints.
Tips from the classroom
- Build the chart in Rows for a quick alphabetical-ish placement on day one, then switch to Clusters once you know which students work well in small groups.
- Swap mode is the fastest way to handle a single behavior-based reseat — you don't have to clear two desks and reassign from the roster list, just toggle swap and click the two desks.
- Print a fresh chart any time you reseat for a new unit and drop it in the substitute folder so a sub can read names off the actual desks instead of guessing.
- Because nothing saves automatically, print or screenshot a layout you like before you start experimenting with a different one.
- U-Shape works well for Socratic seminars or small discussion-based classes; switch back to Rows or Clusters for independent work days.
Frequently asked questions
Does the seating chart save automatically?
No. The chart only exists in your current browser tab, so refreshing or closing the page clears it. Print or save a PDF of any layout you want to keep.
What's the difference between normal placement and Swap mode?
Normal mode is for seating unassigned students: click a name in the roster list, then click an empty desk. Swap mode is for trading two students who are already seated: turn it on, then click one occupied desk and a second occupied desk to switch their names.
Can I use this for a room that isn't rows, clusters, or a U-shape?
Those three presets cover the most common classroom arrangements, and each one has adjustable size (rows and columns, number of clusters, or desks per side) so you can approximate most rooms even if the exact shape isn't a perfect match.
What happens to seat assignments if I change the layout or edit the roster?
Seats that still exist in the new layout keep their assigned student. Desks that no longer exist after shrinking a layout are cleared, and that student moves back to the unseated list in the sidebar so you can place them again.