The Day My Third Graders Ran the Classroom

Today was the first day my students truly experienced what a self-directed classroom can feel like.

For the past two months, I’ve been carefully building routines, modeling expectations, and weaving our six core values (respect, responsibility, trust, fairness, integrity, community) into everything we do. In truth, it’s been largely a compliance-driven structure with a student-centered twist: morning meetings, peer discussions, constructivist lessons, but I was still the one deciding what we learned, how we learned it, and when.

This week, though, something shifted.

There was a sudden uptick in disinterest and a general feeling of wanting to do something other than what me, their teacher, was having them do. Even some of my “rule followers” began showing signs of discontent. While some might see this as ordinary pushback against schoolwork or perhaps an "off week", I read it differently. Students were telling me they were ready for more ownership. If I kept the steering wheel too tightly in my hands, I’d risk turning curiosity into compliance fatigue.

So today, I let go... but only just enough for them to grab hold and feel the weight of the wheel.

Morning Circle Without Me

The day began with something simple, yet profound. Students walked in, sat on the carpet, picked up the plush apple (our makeshift talking stick), and ran their own morning circle. No reminders from me. No orchestration. We had discussed this the day before and even sketched a quick anchor chart of ideas students felt would result in a community meeting all students would want to be a part of.

Two students chose the calm corner and closed their eyes. Others sat quietly, a few opting not to share. Nobody pushed or judged. Nobody was necessarily in charge but each person was able to share 1-2 thoughts and, when they finished (i.e. the talking stick moved all the way around the circle), they looked at me... not for approval, but for the next layer of choice.

That’s when I knew they were ready.

Offering Choice Without Chaos

I told them I had a new packet for them, continuing our exploration of Parts of Speech they could dive into, but that I wanted to offer them something I’d been holding back for months. They were intrigued. I opened the choice wide:

• Work through the packet.

• Pick a creative project.

• Explore a curated set of websites.

• Or simply sit and chat, as long as it didn’t disrupt others.

The only non-negotiable: their choice had to respect our three reasons for being here—to learn, to have fun, and to help others learn. The air shifted. They knew this wasn’t a gimmick. I wasn’t dangling rewards or threatening consequences. I was trusting them to manage their own time, energy, and curiosity.

The Fear of Doing It Wrong

One student who wrestles with perfectionism voiced a very real concern: “What if we do the wrong thing? What if the consequences are too big?”

That moment reminded me that autonomy is exhilarating for some and terrifying for others. I explained that this is the safest possible time to practice. Mistakes in third grade aren’t failures; they’re rehearsal for the kind of decision-making they’ll need in middle school, high school, and life beyond.

The student nodded, skeptical but thoughtful. For me, it was a reminder: self-direction doesn’t erase anxiety, it surfaces it—and that’s a major part of this work. I reminded myself in that moment a mantra of mine I developed years ago: we don't teach math; we teach humans.

Closing the Day the Same Way

At the end of the day, I offered them the chance to run their own closing circle. They accepted without hesitation. The plush apple went around again, students shared their feelings about the day, and others quietly tinkered with the library or rested in the calm corner. Five minutes later, they had closed the loop themselves.

When I asked if they wanted to line up on their own, they didn’t even flinch. But instead of one line in number order, they formed two lines : one for parent pickup, one for after-school program, and out they went. I stayed back, watching. It's not clear if they knew I was watching or not but that, I think, is besides the point. Today mattered. Not just for me and what I'm developing in my classroom, but for them as self-determined humans.

Why Today Mattered

Today wasn’t perfect. There's plenty to unpack as far as challenges and difficulties, but those were specific to the personalities and social dynamics of my particular classroom. Every class will be uniquely different in this regard. So, no, this wasn’t a movie or television show, polished and rehearsed. It was very real.

But, after weeks of teacher-led student-centered learning, I made a significant pivot to a student-led, self-directed learning environment. Not because I was tired, not because I was desperate, but because my students told me with their disengagement, with their body language, with their subtle resistance, that they were ready for it.

Without two months of groundwork of anchoring core values, rehearsing routines, and cultivating community, this never would have worked. I would argue that the subtle resistance I observed might have become a mutiny without the last two months of teacher-led discussions on core values, after school talks with parents, behavioral collaborations with after school programs, and all of the other emotional investments in developing connections not just between me and my students but among the students themselves.

But today showed me that compliance can be the soil, the rich foundation that starts with a strong K-2 schooling experience where students learn what it means to co-exist with others in a space led by a teacher. Within this soil, my role as the teacher can grow and evolve beyond the budding shoot and into a leaf-bearing system of self-direction that blooms according to the DNA of self-determination fed by that soil and other environmental factors.

The coming weeks will bring experiments, missteps, and recalibrations. But the shift has begun. My job now is not to micromanage every minute, but to hold the larger structure: the rhythms of the day, the access to resources, the availability of guidance, while students learn how to navigate freedom, responsibility, and interdependence.

That’s the real work of a self-directed classroom. And today, my students got their first taste of it.

Greg Mullen

Sep 26, 2025

General Consult

30

Book Now