https://www.reddit.com/r/education/comments/1j6iaqp/the_sloppy_classroom/
created by ImpossibleFlow5262 on 08/03/2025 at 14:28 UTC
2 upvotes, 14 top-level comments (showing 14)
If I said I had a teaching philosophy called The Sloppy Classroom (and it was a good thing), what do you think that philosophy would proclaim?
Comment by addisonclark at 08/03/2025 at 14:54 UTC
28 upvotes, 0 direct replies
As Ms Frizzle says, “taking chances, making mistakes, and getting messy.”
Comment by Badman27 at 08/03/2025 at 14:42 UTC*
9 upvotes, 1 direct replies
EDIT: Misread the end of that question, but I do think it would proclaim itself a philosophy of investing in students self-intrinsic motivation in order to construct their own learning. Teachers jobs would be to counsel students towards activating their intrinsic selves and check for understanding through student redelivery.
I think you’d see a highly differentiated room where all students are engaged in very different activities that require a high investment in constructivist learning, and possibly student redelivery occurring at a few of the stations. Students have created/sourced their own learning goals and posted them to their work area to make drive-by conferencing easier.
Stations may be in disarray during class time due to a high quantity of manipulatives at each station.
TAB for art teachers comes to mind.
https://teachingforartisticbehavior.org/
Comment by Locuralacura at 08/03/2025 at 15:37 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Quality of the process is more important than the quality of the product.
Comment by ms_panelopi at 08/03/2025 at 14:45 UTC
18 upvotes, 3 direct replies
A loud, messy classroom where all the kids are engaged and learning, is the best kind of education!
Comment by Nodgarden at 08/03/2025 at 14:49 UTC
8 upvotes, 5 direct replies
It proclaims that your classroom is a bunch of students having sloppy steaks at Truffoni’s.
Comment by BigFitMama at 08/03/2025 at 15:54 UTC
7 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It's great if you like a creative lab.
But in all my experience in public school everyone else says it's BAD TEACHING l!
Because they are anal jerks - custodians hate messy classrooms even if they are art classrooms.
They don't understand learning modules that take a week of messy tables with in progress projects. They just don't understand STEAM or STEM. They don't care about hands on or experiential education.
Most of all everyone hates noise. Productive noise is a threat to their existence. God forbid we enjoy ourselves while creating.
The best model I've seen is taking students off campus to a Maker space or Fab Lab deal. Or to an outdoor education center. Or a community art studio where no one can look at you sideways and be jerks about learning.
Comment by mablej at 08/03/2025 at 21:36 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I'm type B, and it's what I envisioned for myself when I was becoming a teacher. I know what you're thinking, and I don't know if this is something you've successfully implemented, but it's not good for all demographics. My kids come from trauma backgrounds, unstable living conditions, staying at different houses, getting moved in the middle of the night, no routine, food insecurity, etc. They crave the calm, order, and routine that a tightly run classroom brings. They like clearly knowing expectations and consequences. They need the agenda and times written on the board so they know how the day will look. I have to prep them well in advance if theres an upcoming change in schedule. They don't do well if lunch is off by 10 minutes or if a lesson doesn't have its usual structure. I have had to change a lot and go about things in a way that doesn't come naturally for me, but I do it for the benefit of my students. They become so dysregulated in an unstructured environment, and it's difficult for them to learn. There's a lot of anxiety, and noise can be very triggering or cause an inability to focus for those with differing needs (adhd, autistic, survivors of DV in the household, or gun violence).
Comment by Comprehensive_Tie431 at 08/03/2025 at 14:54 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It's called organized chaos, and it is how students truly learn. Some people think my middle school science classroom is not learning because they aren't quiet and in their seats.There's also sometimes scraps on the floor during the lesson, but that's the secret sauce to why my class test scores always out do the district's average.
Organized chaos isn't for everyone, but I love it. 👍🏼
Comment by 1Shadow179 at 08/03/2025 at 14:35 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I would not think anything good.
Comment by sandalsnopants at 08/03/2025 at 15:53 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Is this a homework question?
Comment by Complete-Ad9574 at 08/03/2025 at 17:37 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Works for some situations not others. I was an industrial arts-Tech Ed teacher and for a while a vocational teacher. The shops had to be kept orderly for safety reasons and as different groups of kids used the shops each day, all the tools needed to be back in their places and the benches and floors cleaned.
Comment by MonkeyTraumaCenter at 08/03/2025 at 15:16 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Organized chaos
Comment by Walshlandic at 08/03/2025 at 15:40 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I can’t fathom how sloppiness of any kind could be a good thing in a classroom.
Comment by Academic-Ad6795 at 08/03/2025 at 15:00 UTC*
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
A classroom that goes through iterations, reflective of children’s needs and wants, mess is embraced in those iterations