Maintaining a Calm Kindergarten Classroom without Yelling

A common instinct when it comes to quieting a noisy classroom is for a teacher to raise their voice to be heard over the chaos. This ineffective classroom management strategy can actually have the opposite effect. Instead, it’s possible to create a calm kindergarten classroom without raising your voice. Keep reading for some strategies and resources to help you do just that.

Why Yelling Doesn’t Help

A kindergarten classroom can have loud moments with times it feels like they will never stop talking to listen to what you are trying to say or teach. So it’s understandable when we raise our voices to be heard over the noise. Unfortunately, yelling really doesn’t help with classroom management in the long run. Here are a few reasons why:

• Adds to the Noise: First and foremost, raising your voice just adds to the chaos. Students will quickly realize that they won’t miss anything if they are using a louder voice; they know you’ll raise your voice when you really need their attention.
• Impacts Relationships: We know how important it is to build relationships as part of effective classroom management. Yelling to be heard can have a negative impact on your relationships with your students.
• Creates Guilt: I know that I always felt guilty after raising my voice during the school day. However, it can also create guilt for your students. They might feel bad about the role they played in the situation.

Since we know that yelling really doesn’t bring calm to a chaotic situation, what’s the alternative? Here are four tips for creating a calm kindergarten classroom without yelling.

How to Create a Calm Kindergarten Classroom

1. Make It Silly

The first thing you can try is to bring some silliness to the situation. Kindergarten students LOVE even the simplest of novelty in the classroom. Instead of asking your students to quiet down, you could use a silly voice to give the directions in a sing-songy way.

You could also try grabbing a stuffed toy from your shelf and have the toy “give” the directions instead. You could even put something silly on your head as you give directions. Students will quickly stop what they’re doing to see what their peers are chuckling about. The silly moment doesn’t have to take long or sideline learning in order to be effective. Just one small moment of levity can go a long way in grabbing the attention of your students.

2. Turn Off the Lights

This tip is a classic for a reason! Turning off the lights creates an immediate change in the environment that will cause your students to turn and look at you. Just keep in mind that turning off the lights suddenly can make some students nervous, especially if your classroom is completely dark without the lights. You might decide that turning off half of the lights is plenty. You could also practice this with your class, so they know there is no reason to panic when the lights go off. Instead, it’s an opportunity for them to drop what they’re doing and look toward the door for teacher directions.

3. Give Positive Attention

One of the quickest ways to get students to quiet down is to give a student praise for meeting your expectations. This is why a whole class reward system can be so helpful! When it feels like the situation in your classroom is deteriorating and you’ll need to raise your voice, plan to give out a reward instead. 

Find a student who is still working quietly or following directions and praise them loud enough so the rest of the class can hear. Then give them a piece of the reward to add to the chart. It always feels better to praise students than correct them! Plus, other students will be eager to receive praise for their choices, so they will likely follow directions and quiet down.

4. Use Visuals

One of my favorite ways to keep myself from yelling in the classroom is to not use my voice at all! Visuals are such a powerful tool for classroom management! They help you get the class back to baseline when everything feels out of control. This happens in two ways.

First, visuals can help you grab students’ attention without using your voice. You can have simple visual cues for quiet that you can hold up when you need the class to calm down. As more students notice the visual, the class will gradually quiet down. 

Second, visuals can help you review expectations with your students without your voice. For example, if your class is squirrelly at the carpet and you feel like you’re on the verge of yelling, you can ask them to choose how they’d like to sit and point to the choices on display. This will keep you from feeling like you’re lecturing students or raising your voice. Instead, you can rely on visuals to help you get your message across and correct behavior.

Printable Classroom Visuals

It’s helpful to have a teacher toolbox of visuals on hand for moments when it feels like the classroom has become chaotic. The right visual supports can help you maintain a calm kindergarten classroom without raising your voice.

I have put together a bundle of classroom visuals that you can use to help your classroom run more smoothly all while saving your voice! This bundle includes picture schedules, visual direction cards, printable reminders of rules and expectations, and much more. If you’d like to take a closer look at everything included in this bundle, you can find it in the Teaching Exceptional Kinders shop or on TPT.

More Tips for Creating a Calm Classroom Environment

If you’d like more tips for creating a calm classroom environment, check out this video! I’m sharing even more tips for getting through the school day without having to yell.

Save These Tips for a Calm Kindergarten Classroom

Be sure to save this post if you’d like to come back to it later! Just add the pin below to your favorite kindergarten board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to quickly find these classroom management tips and resources whenever you need them!