Need more ideas on how to make groups work in your classroom?Middle grades teachers whose students are the most engaged in learning and the least disruptive are the teachers who make the most of student grouping. The most effective teachers in our building have four group default settings that they use continually. Their students know each formation by name and can fall into each at a minute’s notice. If you’ve been teaching for a couple of years, you’re probably using at least three of these configurations, but to improve your instruction, you should master all four.