I was terrified to return after my mat leave to a class of TWENTY EIGHT first graders. What could I do to keep such a large, active group interested, engaged and on-task? Then I found Whole Brain Teaching and decided to give it a try. It's been a week and I'm delighted with it so far!!! The kids are smiling and excited about class. I certainly want to continue this. The problem is that we're right next to the library and the librarian is annoyed that "we're so noisy". :/ Yes, I suppose the kids are exuberant but I WANT THEM TO BE and the alternative, I believe, would be off-task noise. At least, the noise they're making for the most part is noise I TELL them to make. What would you do?!

I would talk to my principal and explain what whole brain teaching is all about and the wonderful changes you are seeing in your students. Explain that your room may be little bit loud due to all of the activley engaged learners, but don't mention the complaints. With principal support, you will be in a good position when complaints travel farther than your ears.

Keep your door shut and when the librarian complains again, sweetly say 'thanks for letting me know.' and leave it at that.

You could also put a sign by your door like the one I have that says "Death is silent. Learning is noisy." It makes people think.

For an entertaining and powerful way to adjust your students' noise level, look at the volume-o-meter in Chris Rekstad's "Crazy Professor Reading Game" video on this site. This is one of our oldest and most effective techniques.

I would talk to the librarian and explain the reasoning behind the noise. Maybe you can work a time out where your class can be quiet when needed and loud when you need it. Maybe you can introuduce the techniques to her. My librarian loves it because my kids are well behaved and engaged. You can also Whole Brain Teach with a quiet voice. I wouldn't do that all day. You should try to compromise so it's a win win situation. Good Luck!!