🌱 Calm Classrooms, Calm Teachers but Calm ≠ Silence!
- vanessa speigle
- Sep 7, 2025
- 2 min read
If you had the choice between two classrooms, which would you choose?
Classroom A: Students sit in rows, quietly, listening as you teach. The room is silent but all the responsibility for learning (and for calm) rests on your shoulders.
Classroom B: Students are talking but in respectful, collaborative ways. They’re working together, solving problems, reflecting, and managing themselves. The energy is calm, not because you control it, but because they own it.
Most teachers would choose Classroom B. But here’s the real question: how do we get there without sliding into chaos?
Rekla Lens: Calm is active learning
At Rekla, we say calm is not passive. Calm isn’t rows of silent students waiting for instructions. Calm is active: students know how to move between tasks, transition smoothly, reflect together, and lead each other when needed.
In Finland, calm is built through three things:
Trust → Students are trusted with responsibility, and teachers are trusted to guide.
Routines → Predictable structures help students manage themselves.
Student agency → Students accept that they share responsibility for the learning environment.
When these elements are in place, calm doesn’t belong to the teacher alone......... the whole classroom carries it.
Teacher Role: Guide the Rhythm
This doesn’t mean teachers step aside or become passive.
A Rekla-style teacher is still fully engaged:
Guiding the rhythm of the class.
Facilitating the learning journey.
Inviting creativity and imagination in how students approach learning.
Students, in turn, take an active role:
Collaborating with classmates.
Using their strengths to show what they know.
Engaging in problem-solving and critical thinking to master the challenges they face.
Practical Pathways for a Calm Classroom and Calm Teacher: Rekla Tools
Here’s where teachers often ask:
“That sounds great, but what does it look like
day-to-day?”
Two Rekla bundles help build this reality:
Mindful Transitions Bundle → short, structured routines that help students reset between lessons without chaos.
Calm Classroom Toolkit → reflection cards, circle prompts, and student roles that make calm a shared responsibility, not the teacher’s burden alone.
Together, they move classrooms from silent control → collaborative calm.
🌍 Why It Matters
Because a noisy, chaotic class eats energy and confidence not only for students, but also for teachers. Stress builds, and learning stalls.
A calm, collaborative class creates space for both teachers and students to thrive. Calm is not the end goal. It is the foundation for deeper learning, student voice, and agency.
What we’re talking about is not another tool or trick, it’s a restructuring of the mindset and feel of the classroom environment.
💡 Reflection Prompt
🌱 Where in your day does chaos feel strongest? What one small responsibility could you hand to students so they help carry the calm with you?
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