Silence is good for the soul.

Silence is golden. Silence is good. In my classroom, I work specifically with students that are non verbal. They do have communication devices to communicate their needs and wants, however they do not verbally speak. 

I have a rule. It may sound crazy, but it works for my classroom. 

When my students and staff come into the classroom in the morning, they are not allowed to talk. This all started, when I had gossiping staff in my room, but don’t tell them that. Silence is good.

All students are greeted by staff at the school door when they get off the bus or after they are dropped off. They are allowed to chat the entire way to the classroom about whatever they want. Once they get into my classroom, my students know it’s time to focus on their morning routine. 

What it looks like:

Some students eat breakfast and some students that don’t.

There are some students that need a full hygiene routine in the morning and some students that don’t.

Finally, I have some students that take a sensory break in the morning and some students are ready to work.

Check out my previous Morning Routines blog for more ideas about morning routines.

Every student has their own routine. Students are crossing paths without a hitch. I love watching the well oiled machine. This gives an opportunity for staff to focus their attention on the students that need more support in the morning versus the students that can independently go through their routine silently.  Silence is good.

You might be asking yourself, “why is she doing that?”

I don’t know about you, but with my students, I typically can tell what kind of morning they’ve had as soon as they walk in the door. If they’ve had a difficult morning, they may not be ready to talk about it.

I want my students to know that they have a fresh start in my room, EVERY SINGLE DAY. No matter what happened yesterday, at home in the morning, on the bus ride to school, they can start fresh with me. 

If I can tell that a student is having a rough morning, I may quietly hand them an extra pop tart from my drawer for breakfast or set the timer for an extra 2 minutes for their sensory break. They can see what I’m doing, but I don’t need to explain or elaborate why I’m doing it. It almost is like an unspoken bond we have. They gain trust in me, the more I can read them. 

Imagine being a nonverbal student

Another reason I do this is because my students are nonverbal. 100% of their day, people are verbally communicating with them and they can not reciprocate. They use their devices to communicate, but it’s different. I know the rest of the day teachers will be verbally telling them what to do and where to go. Imagine for a second how frustrating it would be to not be able to talk to someone using your own voice. This is their time to connect with others in their own way. 

Truthfully, this is a time students are allowed to decompress, regulate, think, reflect and recharge for the day ahead. Silence is good for student brains.

Thank you for following my crazy ideas! I hope you try this out in your classroom!! If you have any questions, comments or concerns, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

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