What is needed in an elementary classroom is quite different from what is needed in a high school classroom but some general guidelines are conducive for any level taught. Room arrangement, temperature, color usage, affirmations, water consumption, plants, lighting, and music are just a few ways teachers can look at the atmosphere in the room to promote a stimulating brain environment. Room arrangement is often debated among educators because some educators feel that students need stability and should not be moved. It is also easier to not have to constantly make seating charts, and to learn student's names if they are in a permanent seat. However, the brain needs novelty and that includes changing where students are sitting.
Optimal arrangements are desks with separate chairs or tables so it is easy to move.
Students should move on an average of every two to three weeks. This creates novelty and makes the brain more aware of what is going on. An example of this is when you drive to work each day. Most of us take the same route each day and often wonder when we get to work whom we past, or have to even think if the lights were all green. Changing the route on the way to work every once in a while requires the brain to think in a different manner.