‘Misbehavior’ to Encourage in the Classroom

Several years ago, a beloved third grader of mine got out of his seat. He silently made his way up to the front of the room and collected a handful of rulers from the resource bookshelf. He placed several of them down end to end on the floor and lay down next to them to see how many inches tall would be a reasonable estimate for his height. I was so pleased that he felt curious about that answer and took initiative to make use of the right resources to learn that answer for himself. He brimmed with pride and self-satisfaction when he whispered his findings to me. This is exactly the kind of empowered investigation I love to see.

So many of us have joined the teaching profession to cultivate an environment where students are encouraged to be curious and to make independent use of good resources. Even the fact that this student did this without permission is laudable: He acted autonomously and purposefully to increase his knowledge—woo-hoo!

The kicker here is that his whole investigation transpired during our practice for state testing. Yikes! That’s not allowed. It compelled me to reflect about how often our classroom rules actually train our kiddos out of the scholarly behaviors we wish to instill. After looking in the mirror to shed my classroom of these inhibitors, I have curated this list to help others do the same.

3 Student Behaviors Worth Encouraging

1. Bursting to share at morning meetings. Morning meetings are a time to foster connections, set the tone, and facilitate conversation about what we’re investigating together. So why do we systematically squash and rein in the enthusiasm here? It’s true that 19 voices can’t be understood at once, but there are simple work-arounds that will help excited students to preserve their thoughts without disrupting the group or disregarding their enthusiasm.

Many classes use hand signals to silently communicate agreement or to signal that they have a thought they’d like to share. I’ve seen pre-K teachers urge students to whisper their thoughts into their hand—this way they get to say it without disrupting the group. Students who can write are invited to quickly jot down smart connections on sticky notes. “Rabbit hole” tangents can be jotted on sticky notes and “parked.” I have a small poster of a picture of an actual rabbit hole exactly for this. This way, their thoughts and ideas are honored without derailing our morning routine.

2. Disruptive bulletin board enthusiasm in the hall. This urge to join or spark a conversation often emerges again when we are quietly and respectfully walking through our hallways. These walks are brisk and purposeful. They occupy no designated time in my planner, but I’m realizing that that may be a lost opportunity.

When we walk by someone else’s new bulletin board, for example, my students often slow down to take it in or to point out parts they like or parts they’re curious about. Why am I systematically robbing them of the opportunity to be scholarly and curious in our school building? What great learning stimuli my colleagues provide with their colorful and interesting bulletin boards—and who is the intended audience, anyway?

So, the sticky note, hold-your-thought-for-later strategy continues, and we introduce another quiet hand signal to show appreciation of these visuals: We hold our hands up like a camera and whisper, “Click!” I demonstrate this behavior myself when moved to do so to model appreciation of our rich surroundings. Just like we have a student job of a door holder and a line leader to make our way through the school, we now have a sticky-note provider as well: I taped a pen to a piece of yarn, and the other end to a sticky-note dispenser, so it works as a clipboard surface as well as for easy, organized access to sticky notes.

3. During-the-test curiosity. I invite students to jot notes-to-self during a test, growing that metacognitive habit of noticing remarkable moments like connections or difficult concepts that they are still not navigating smoothly. (This is not allowed during state testing, but rather in my own in-class assessments.) Students jot a note when something is tricky, when they want a clarification, to celebrate a victory, or to make a connection to other learning.

Right after the test, we meet on the rug to hear their thoughts while they are fresh. I correct misconceptions and involve student experts in clarifying challenging spots together. This means that students’ test-taking time doesn’t constitute a sudden unfriendly island: Our scholarly community continues even through assessment. I find that it has reduced test anxiety and increased students’ effort and engagement when they know we’ll come back to our community anchor right away.

We’re all aiming for a manageable noise level and the ability to get through the material we’re expected to get through. We’re trying to teach the students how to manage their feelings, but too often we train them out of passion in the classroom by systematically squelching their enthusiasm. It’s my hope that finding ways to honor this enthusiasm will lead to more passionate, curious, and empowered student scholars.