Friday, March 29, 2019

29 of 31: My Mental Shift

Today got off to a bumpy start.

Despite my best intentions, I stood before my fourth hour a bit grumpy. First hour hadn't gone so well.

So there I stood recognizing my own grumpiness and the deepening crease in my brow. I looked to my screen projecting the day's "Do Now" directions to get class started. I had added a fun GIF from giphy.com

its friday GIF

So as I looked at this spunky dancer, I had a stroke of inspiration. I asked for a brave volunteer to imitate the dance. At first, the only answer I received was questioning looks and blank stares. Then students started volunteering one another. Soon they cajoled me into my best attempt, which was lackluster to be sure.

Finally, a tall, lanky 8th grader spoke up stating he would do it. So he sauntered up to the front of the room, turned around, and threw his hands up in the air, kicked out his feet and began giving it his all. Hoots and hollers bounced around the room as he repeated the dance. We clapped and I quickly uncapped my Twizzler stash and offered him a treat for his courage and confidence.

And just like that, I felt better.

In that moment, I realized how I could harness attention and engagement by simply taking a moment to be silly. I could alter my own mood by tapping in to all that I love about middle school students.

I turned that proverbial frown upside down and we got on with our lesson, which went much better than in first hour.

Like it says, it's finally Friday!

4 comments:

  1. That was genius. I liked the phrase "harness attention." I will try to remember this when the grumpies strike next. It did seem like a long week.

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  2. I love picturing this. We should try it out at our next happy hour. It really, truly is the little things, ya know?

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  3. Wonderful! I'll dance for Twizzlers any time! :) Glad your day got better, friend!

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  4. Liz--Unlike Katie--I won't dance for a Twizzler. A chocolate-covered Twizzler? Maybe...

    This captures what happens when a thoughtful teacher does some immediate reflection. Joy. Spontaneity. Risk. Community.

    Thanks for sharing this moment.

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