Hi Kim:
I hope I am understanding your question correctly. I use open seating most of the time and the children choose where they want to work. But I introduced assigned tables this year as well. I showed them the poster of the assigned tables, and who went where. Each table also has a table captain, responsible for making sure things get put away well, passing out papers etc. They are assigned by day of the week. For certain tasks, lessons, etc,I simply tell my students that for this activity we will sit at our assigned seats…or more likely, they will ask me! There is no problem when this seating is necessary since they have freedom of choice most of the time. If Math needs assigned seats, then that is simply part of your math procedure. Hope this helps.

I wish I had the opportunity to try varied seating. I have traditional desks and we don’t work at them very often! I’m not sure which grade you teach. In first grade, we have most of our whole group lessons on the front carpet in front of the smartboard, whiteboard, or easel. If they need to write, they bring their personal sized dry erase boards up. They also make a good hard surface if it’s paper/pencil too. We usually start math lessons with whole group and then move to small group activities most days.