Spark
a guide to redefining classroom participation
Establish In-Class Quiet Zones
Materials required
Implementation procedure
Strategy in practice
Depends on your implementation
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A quiet space in the classroom is best characterized by having light foot traffic, little noise, and dim lighting. Light foot traffic and noise can be hard to achieve in an enclosed classroom space, but housing this area in the corner can cut down on both. Dim lighting may also be a challenge to achieve in a shared space, but natural light, or even light beckoning from a lamp as opposed to overhead fluorescents, can prove less stimulating.
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We also uncovered a case of one savvy teacher making inexpensive wall dividers - mobile and collapsible partitions that students could drag to their area when they needed time and space to think alone (Leung, 2015). Remember: the tool may be rudimentary, but it gets one step closer to the goal of achieving privacy and the space to think alone.
Natalia, a fifth grade teacher, grew up in a large family and recognized early on her need for time and space alone. With this in mind, she wanted her classroom to incorporate a special space for quiet reading and work time.
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Around two months into the school year, her family redid their basement and planned to throw out a few big (and old) comfy chairs. Natalia didn’t want the furniture to go to waste. She asked her family to help haul the chairs to her school and established the left back corner of her classroom as “the lounge.”
Description
Quiet spaces can be as low- or high-tech as you have the time, room, and material resources for. Often this simply comes about as a segment of the classroom where solo work or no talking is the norm.
Natalia purposely keeps the lights above the lounge off during the day. She strung holiday lights in the corner and placed a small lamp there to account for the darkness when the sun goes down. Given how comfortable the seating is, Natalia knew it would draw all students. To ensure that kids using it had the right intentions, she drafted a “Lounge Code of Conduct” and posted it to the walls. The code has only two rules: (1) silence is golden and (2) respect this space.
During each day’s silent reading time, Natalia established a rotating system for students to use the lounge, since it was highly sought-after. But when her students partook in group activities, only a handful wander to the corner; the others prefer to work in groups in the main classroom area.
References:
- Baldasaro, T. (2012). Embracing introversion: Ways to stimulate reserved students in the classroom. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/introverted-students-in-classroom-tony-baldasaro
- Godsey, M. (2015, September 28, 2015). When schools overlook introverts. The Atlantic.
- Leung, W. (2015). Supporting introversion and extroversion learning styles in elementary classrooms. (Master of Teaching, University of Toronto).