Peace in the Classroom: Calm Amidst Chaos

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

—John 14:27

I’ve always enjoyed shaping the physical atmosphere of my classroom: carefully choosing colors that calm, arranging spaces that invite belonging, adding small touches of beauty that make me smile. I long ago decided I spend so much time in my classroom space, that I wanted it to be a place where I love to be as much as I wanted my students to feel at home there. Whether it was a soft lamp in the reading corner, a rug and a rocking chair, a new paint color that softened the room, or art on the wall from my latest trip to Hobby Lobby, I have found deep satisfaction in creating an environment where peace could be felt before it was taught. I was overjoyed when I found out this intense desire to create such a space was actually a science - neuroaesthetics, or a blend of neuroscience, psychology, and the arts to transform human experience and learning. I could finally use it as an excuse to recruit my husband for help in putting my favorite farmhouse tile up on my classroom wall! After all, it was in the name of helping my students, right? A tool for learning and growth.

Teachers can unleash the power of neuroaesthetics to build peaceful and transformative environments that improve health, foster social connection, enhance learning, ease anxiety, and even improve language development. Every intentional choice, where desks sit, which posters hang, how materials are organized, becomes a quiet way of reminding students that this is a place of welcome, safety, dignity, and high standards. Those details are never small; they can be sacred. Classroom climate isn’t just a management strategy; it’s a ministry of presence.

There exists a tension between order and unpredictability in the work of teachers every single day. We shepherd students through learning, emotions, conflict, self-regulation, attention challenges, trauma responses, and the December overstimulation that seems to intensify everything at this time of the year. It's no wonder that first year teachers begin to enter a phase of disillusionment by this time of year, questioning their real ability to do their jobs. Classrooms carry a chaos of movement and noise and laughter, frustration, questions, interruptions, celebrations, and big feelings that spill over before students know what to do with them (I'm talking about their emotions, not yours!).

If we're honest though, we do all have our own inner chaos: lesson plans running behind, emails piling up, the strained relationship with a co-worker, the parent who is upset with their child's grade in your class, the juggling act of balancing home and school, the fatigue that no amount of sleep seems to solve. I can imagine that Mary and Joseph perhaps had their own inner sense of chaos they battled on their way to Bethlehem: the exhaustion of travel, the weight of unanswered questions, the quiet fear of not knowing where they would stay or how the birth would unfold, navigating the mix of human emotions that come with responsibility, vulnerability, and uncertainty. Mary certainly had no opportunity to focus on the neuroaesthetics of the stable environment that first Christmas night. Yet, they moved forward faithfully, even when the plan felt incomplete, the resources were thin, and the timing was impossibly inconvenient.

And right in the middle of that chaos, God was preparing peace to meet them.

In the same way, Jesus doesn’t ask you to manufacture a peace you don’t have.

He offers His.

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.” Not the peace the world seeks, the kind that depends on silence, self-care, perfect conditions, or flawless preparation. That kind is fragile, temporary, and painfully unrealistic in the life of a teacher. As the pace of school accelerates and the demands pile higher, we have the opportunity to shift our attention from the peace we try to manufacture to the peace Christ freely gives. Peace strong enough to sustain you and steady both you and your classroom.

Focus on where His peace might meet you:

• A pause before responding when the faculty meeting feels on edge

• A breath before redirecting a challenging behavior

• An intentional tone set with peaceful music focused on the Savior's birth

• A quiet moment with Christ before the day begins

• A prayer in the hallway between classes

Your students don’t need a perfectly calm teacher. They need a teacher grounded in the peace Christ gives - the peace that transforms and comes to us in the middle of our fears and troubles.

Where Might Peace Meet You Today?

Where are you longing for quiet when Christ might be offering His peace instead? A classroom dynamic that feels uncontrollable? A personal stress that keeps rising? A student whose needs feel overwhelming?

Let His peace enter there, right in the midst of chaos.

Prayer

Prince of Peace, let Your peace settle into the corners of my day where chaos grows quickest. Quiet my racing thoughts, slow my hurried spirit, and strengthen me with Your presence. Teach me to model the peace that comes not from control, but from Your nearness.

Be my calm so I can be calm for others. Amen.