Silence

A few tips for less bickering and more focus

Should students do work in silence?

I don't know that I have very strong opinions about the right proportion of silent work, partner work, or any other type. I do use silent work, and I think some amount of silent work is an important ingredient in any class. Silent work sends a message to students that they are accountable for their own work and their own thinking. It discourages freeloading off of partners or friends. There are plenty of students who can work well with a low buzz of activity in the room, but for others that low buzz is distracting and silence helps them with sustained focus.

The most important thing I've learned about silent work is that I need to execute my system for silent work well. If I don't, I spend all my time bickering with students about what silent work looks like, norms erode over time until it's not silent at all, and I spend my energy managing the class rather than building a routine. I've found three tips to be helpful in setting up a solid routine around silent work in my class. (Interestingly, two of the tips are from British teachers. I'm curious if silent work is more common across the pond.)

Stand and scan. This probably comes from Doug Lemov though it's something teachers have been doing forever. When I ask students to begin a chunk of silent work, the first thing I do is stand somewhere I can see every student and scan the room. I'm often tempted, when a chunk of independent work begins, to start running around the room checking in with kids. Clarifying directions for this student, following up with that student about a question they asked earlier, giving some scaffolding to my newcomer students who don't speak much English. I avoid that temptation. I stand and scan the room. The goal is to make sure every student gets started and gets a little bit of momentum going. There are lots of kids who, when I ask them to work silently, respond by looking up to see if I will follow through and make sure they start. That little moment of accountability makes a big difference.

Golden silence. How long do I stand and scan for? The answer is until "golden silence." Golden silence comes from the this post by Adam Boxer. Here's the idea. A teacher might naively stand and scan after asking students to work quietly, then as soon as students are quiet they begin circulating around the room. If you do that you'll often find students start whispering the moment you start circulating. Instead, wait a little longer until there's "golden silence." Golden silence is durable. It's the silence you feel when you walk into a library, and without even thinking about it you know you don't want to bother anyone. Once you reach golden silence — which can be as little as 30 seconds after actually getting silent — a student can get up and get a tissue without triggering a cascade of whispers and conversation. It's tough to describe in words, but once you start looking and waiting for golden silence you'll feel it.

4 - 2. This idea comes from one of Craig Barton' tips for teachers. 4 -2 is a routine where students work quietly for 4 minutes, then do 2 minutes of partner work discussing their answers. This has a few benefits. First, asking students to work quietly for a specific amount of time and then putting a visible timer up front makes the task seem more manageable. Second, using this structure creates more productive partner work. I look for problems that students are having trouble with, and focus the partner discussions on those problems. Finally, it becomes a routine like any other routine, but it's a routine that's adaptable. My second period is chatty and conversations quickly veer into who has a crush on who — so for that class I do 4 - 1. I can repeat this multiple times for a set of problems. I can use it for a single larger task. I can adjust the time if I need. Four minutes is long enough to do some good math, but short enough that I can make adjustments if students are having a hard time.

Here's something I've noticed about my teaching. I have no idea what the perfect ratio of silent work to not silent work is in math class. It depends on lots of things. But as I've gotten better at facilitating silent work, as I spend less time bickering with students and students spend more of the time doing math, I find myself using silence more often. If you have trouble getting students to work quietly, if you default to partner work or allow a low hum because it's less work to manage, maybe try some of these tips and see if they help. Maybe you'll find yourself using silent work more and more too.