Once upon a time, the ideal classroom was considered to be one in which students sat quietly and attentively (and with excellent posture) at desks arranged in neat rows, either listening to the day's lesson, reading silently on their own, or furiously scribbling down facts, figures, or observations. If there was a voice to be heard, it was the teacher's voice alone, and students never spoke unless called upon to do so.

We're not sure this ideal classroom has ever existed. But doesn't it sound nice?

 

Not sure what this guy's task was...

We've seen children. We've spoken with them. We've taught them. We've covered our ears as they've screeched for two minutes on end. And we know that the in most cases, the only classroom in which the students are absolutely silent is the one in which they are dangerously close to falling asleep.

There are, of course, exceptions.

Students who are thoroughly captivated by a lecture, a storytime, an excellent video, movie, or guest speaker, do listen attentively and quietly. And there are teachers who are so engaging that students really do hang on their words. But expecting students to sit and be 100% quiet, 100% of the time? That's not realistic. Or healthy. And quiet students do not necessarily mean concentrating and hard-working students. Don't believe us?

• A quiet student who appears to be reading could be daydreaming, hiding a phone behind the book, or re-watching yesterday's episode of Game of Thrones in her head.
• A quiet student who appears to be taking notes could be writing them to pass to other quiet students.
• Someone who is quietly watching a video or listening to a speaker could be quietly zoning out or playing the "sleep-with-your-eyes-open" game. Score!

So that's the first part of our premise: quiet doesn't always mean getting the job done. But what about the second part?

Take a look at the students in this video. They're working in a PBL (Project Based Learning) classroom, and they're not always being terribly quiet. In fact, at times, they're laughing, smiling, and talking with their friends. But wait! It looks like they're also doing something else.

Could it be learning?

Before you collapse in a fit of shock, let's get one thing straight. If you've ever mistaken "quiet" for "on-task" or assumed that being "on-task" required being quiet, you might want to get ready to get your mind blown. For starters, watch that video all the way through (come on, it's only 2 minutes and 45 seconds—even you can stay on task that long). It explains how a former lecture-style teacher (who believed in the whole quiet = on-task correlation) changed her approach and increased her students' level of engagement.

Certainly, at times students and teachers (and individuals everywhere) need quiet in order to be able to focus, contemplate, relax, unwind, rejuvenate, and oh yeah, learn. We don't mean to imply that quiet isn't important or essential. It is.

Our only aim here is to help you consider that there are many ways for students to learn and process information, and that in some cases, students can be loud, noisy, and even boisterous…and still be perfectly on-task.

Mind blown? Good. Now go get your kids to get noisy.