…On Being Goofy With Kids
It’s dress-up day at the middle school where I teach. I wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about today. There is sometimes a sense of existential dread when our routine is shifting and it seems like student excitement might lead to a lack of self control. But, I love dressing up and I love my students… so I was mostly excited.
It’s been kind of a week, though. My daughter has a sinus infection, I have a paper overdue for grad school, and we’ve had special evening events this week that are making meal planning feel like more of a chore than usual. So, this morning, as I donned my best hippy attire, I did so with a little less enthusiasm than is normal. All of that changed, though, when I got to school and saw the costumes. Our administrators have dressed up as members of our football team…. complete with mullets! I saw an Elvis, several inflatable dinosaurs, and the entire cast of The Wizard of Oz- all before 8 am this morning!
Students wandered down the hall to laugh at the silly costumes, compliment one another, and see who was who. There was a gaggle of girls in the bathroom painting faces and primping sesame street garb. It was awesome.
All of this has me thinking about how much fun it is to be goofy with my students. Most of the time we work our very hardest in the pursuit of academic excellence…. but sometimes we dress up in ridiculous costumes, and sometimes we have dance contests at pep rallies. Sometimes my students earn a reward day, and we play board games together. I plop down on the floor with them to play Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza or Karma and we just have a great time.
Entering into goofiness with my kids strengthens our relationship by showing them that I am interested in them as people, and that I think they are worth spending time with. Sometimes, a well-timed game of Uno can heal a hurting relationship or break down a wall. Some kids come to us with big hurts and a lot of difficulty building trust with adults. Letting them teach me a tiktok dance can prove that I’m not a scary teacher who lords her power over them, but that instead my goal is to come alongside them; which is a joy.
Teachers do a lot for their students in a lot of ways. We have so much expertise in pedagogy, our content area, and child development, but we also have the ability to let our hair down and be silly every once in awhile. I’ve found that students work even more diligently for me when they know I’m willing to have fun!
