Food for Thought: A Silent Lesson

When I was teaching elementary school art, I heard one of our high school math teachers talk about teaching the concept of square root to her students in a silent lesson. I was fascinated by the idea. I myself am a visual learner and sometimes words get in the way of what I am trying to learn. For example, when I was first learning to sew, I remember reading the directions and they made little sense, but the very clear drawings that accompanied the pattern made perfect sense and I was off and sewing.

It made sense that I should be able to teach a silent lesson to my visual art students, so I tried it. I was completely silent when my fifth-grade students entered the room. I used only gestures to get their attention. I heard some of the children whisper, “She must have laryngitis.” I then began to demonstrate drawing different kinds of lines on an overhead projector. I then offered the marker to a student who caught on right away and drew yet another different kind of line and she in turn handed the marker to another student and so on until we had the transparency filled with a wide variety of lines. I then held up a few examples of pictures made with a variety of lines and passed out paper for the students to create their own pictures made with line variations. The interesting thing was that the students were totally silent throughout the demonstration and continued to be very quiet while they worked, only speaking in whispers if they talked at all. It was the least disruptive class I ever taught. What I learned is that students learn as much from what they observe, as what we tell them. In some cases, maybe even more.

All of us learn a lot from what we observe too. We can see from what someone does, where his or her priority is. We can see from how someone responds to the people around him or her how much they care about others. We know from what we can observe when someone is sad, angry, tired or sick. We can see when someone is happy and engaged in what they are doing. We all show more than we tell. Even when we talk, our body language might tell more about what we are saying than the words, especially when the words don’t match our actions. God also shows us Himself by what He has done––even in the vastness of His creation. Psalm 19:1-3 makes the point: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day unto day pours forth speech, and night unto night declares knowledge. There are no words or speech, and their voice is not heard.” (Emphasis added.)