Interesting that s/he advocates a seating plan; it's something that I've always done simply because it's effective. True that a good lesson plan won't produce well behaved students, but a badly prepared lesson plan will often result in poor classroom behaviour. Good discipline being based on good teacher/student relationships is something that most of the Newly Qualified Teachers (NQT's) I've come across believe: they so want to be a 'popular' teacher. It's a bit of a shock to them when they understand the job is not to win friends, but to educate and assist learning. Ironically, although always regarded as the strictest teacher in the school by children outside my class, I always built excellent relationships with my own students, based on the use of high expectations and good manners. One thing I have noted in recent years with dismay is that some NQT's do NOT model politeness themselves and use sarcasm and humiliation as a means of point scoring with students; then they complain when they're unable to manage classroom discipline. It's one of my few pet hates.