What's your talking factor?

As we all do, when some classes get a little to comfortable with each other, I rearrange seats. When you move a few seats around it is incredible how the dynamics of the room change. I found a system that really works for me when changing seats. I assign each student a talk factor value.

1 = students that are self disciplined and are never disruptive.
2 = students that rarely are disruptive, but do get distracted at times.
3 = students that will talk and occasionally be disruptive given the opportunity.
4 = students that have little if any self control.

I then base the seating chart on this. First I spread the 4s out and surround them with 1s. I then throw a dash of 3s mixed between the remaining 1s and 2s. I have to tell you, this works great. I always explain why I am switching seats. After a day or two, students even start to appreciate the switch. They all find it easier to concentrate and the scores go up across the board.

Source: Robert Shue, High School Teacher