[bcostlow]

When my daughter was in kindergarten, there were two classes at her grade school, both taught by young, new teachers. Her class was the so-called rowdy class. They were constantly getting visits from the principal. The other K and the two 1st grade teachers at that end of the building complained constantly about the noise.

I was at the classroom a few times while class was in session. The kids weren't out of control. They paid attention during lessons, but they weren't 'corrected' for standing up, fidgeting, or whispering to their neighbor. What 'assignments' they did in class were always done in groups and the groups could get as loud as they wanted. Nap time was often turned into extra playtime.

They let the teacher go at the end of the year. For first grade, the two classes were reshuffled, so as to mix the 'rowdy' kids in with the good ones.

Funny thing was, as a group, the rowdy kids had already covered the first quarter or so of 1st grade. Their grades in first grade were consistently better. According to a second grade teacher there we knew well, it wasn't until about midway through second grade that the original quiet kids caught up to the original rowdy ones as a group.

Did this experience change anything? Nope. My daughter's now a senior in high school at an entirely different school system, and both there and at her original kindergarten, it's still sit down and shut up.