I read somewhere a long time ago that saying, “keep quiet” vs. “quiet down” is not the same thing. In your classroom, you need to let your learners know exactly what you mean. Do you want complete silence, or do you just want a general awareness of the volumes of their voices?
As teachers, we are always trying to be as clear and concise as possible. No matter how much we try, it doesn’t mean we will get through to everyone. Some will only hear you for a minute, and some never at all, and that gets frustrating sometimes, making you wonder so many things pertaining to that child and feeling so sorry for their previous teachers and sometimes even the parents.
A few weeks ago, on one random day in my Grade 11 maths class. My learners walked in feeling frustration about their classmates’ discipline. To provide context, I’m fortunate to have only 4 learners in my class. At the time of this, there were only 2 of them (the other 2 hadn’t arrived yet – they are new). Their frustration stems from wanting to learn and having that intention to listen to what is being said by the teacher or their peers saying something useful. However, a small group of learners are insistent on not keeping quiet and are therefore undisciplined.
Discipline is reading the room
Grade 11 Maths Class ’24
I understood exactly what they were saying but also just wanted to make sure that they didn’t believe that quietness was the show of discipline in a classroom. I explained that discipline is closer to respect than it is to quietness. It is about knowing what is expected of you and when it is expected of you. It is acknowledging the fact that when someone is speaking, it only makes sense to give them a chance, and that is not only the authoritative figure in the room. Discipline is allowing a smooth transition from one activity to the next without causing unnecessary stress on anyone else. Sometimes, it is being quiet, and sometimes, it is just quieting down. Sometimes, it is a small group discussion, while other times, it may be class discussion. “Discipline is reading the room,” as one of my learners put it. Yeah, and acting accordingly.
A silent classroom for the duration of an entire period is not any teacher’s true goal. There is no learning when only one voice is echoing off the walls. There is also no learning when a few voices are bouncing off nonsense into people’s ears. That’s what I think is the misconception around discipline.
That was a great conversation, I believe. I personally don’t remember what I taught from the curriculum that day, but I feel like it was worth having that moment with them.
What does discipline mean to you? Comment on whichever platform you read this post from 🙃🙂
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