Quiet Isn’t the Measure of a Good Classroom

I’ll admit it, even knowing what I know about learning and child development, I still feel the pressure for my classroom to be quiet. That quiet, unspoken judgment in schools that a “good” classroom is a silent one, that a strong teacher has students sitting still, walking in straight lines, voices off.

I know I’m not the only one who feels it during walk throughs or hallway transitions. Quiet is visible. Stillness is easy to measure. Engagement takes longer to notice. And even though I believe deeply that silence isn’t the same as learning, I still catch myself slipping into it sometimes.

The truth is, six and seven year olds aren’t built for long stretches of stillness. Developmentally, they need movement, talk, and interaction to learn. When we ask for constant quiet, we often get compliance, not thinking.

At the same time, I’ve learned something just as important. Some control really is necessary. Everyone needs to be able to hear. Everyone deserves access to learning. Off task behavior that interrupts others isn’t fair or harmless.

So instead of asking, “How do I get more control?” I’ve started asking, “Why do I need control right now?” And I say the why out loud.

Why do we sit on our bottoms during carpet time? Because steady bodies help brains focus, and touching others makes it harder for everyone to learn. Why do we need to be quiet right now? Because this work requires thinking, and louder voices would distract the people around us. Why can’t we wiggle or move right now? Because this part is short, and staying still helps everyone hear the directions the first time.

And here’s the part that surprised me. Explaining the why helps me too. When I can’t explain it, when an expectation exists only to make the room look calm or to avoid being judged, that’s my signal to rethink it.

This shift has helped me let go of control that’s about appearance and hold onto boundaries that actually protect learning. The classroom doesn’t need to be quiet to be effective. It needs to be intentional.