Just be, Stepping aside
My colleague and I, after conversations with our children, decided to set up a ‘1920’s nightclub’ in a portable classroom; we were there, because the school was undergoing renovation.
On the day, everyone dressed up after lunch in suits and dresses and arrived swinging and swaying, emulating characters portrayed by Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Robert Shaw, and Eileen Brennan. They asserted arrogance and confidence, some pretending to smoke. Scott Joplin’s “Hooker’s Hooker,” “The Entertainer,” and “Gladiolus Rag” played in the background. No tension in the room, no sting awaiting, just being together, feeling the times.
I share the ‘Sting Nightclub’ to highlight how children and teachers can be together simply to be together, no other purpose. We did not set objectives, no assessments to make, no eye on a future test. Just something we wanted to do, to celebrate our children and ourselves.
Teachers would be wise to consider stepping away from the structure of their curriculum and set aside time to ‘just be,’ to enjoy being together. It will raise everyone’s spirit, so needed in these times. And it will raise your spirits. You may even initiate a movement in your school.
