Can I smile yet?
|
|
Every teacher has heard the age-old advice: "Don't smile until Christmas." There are always a few sad teachers who have managed to hold out this long, and for them we hope December 25 hurries up and gets here soon so their frowning can be over. But for the rest of us, if we ever tried not to smile, we gave up pretty early on.
The theory behind this recommendation is that smiling is a sign of weakness and an open invitation for students to run all over you. Show them you're serious and all about business until winter break and they'll cut out their nonsense and do what you say for the rest of the year.
This is not an approach to classroom management that Inspired Teaching espouses. Here are just a few reasons why:
- It suggests that joy and order in the classroom are mutually exclusive. We believe that joy is one of the critical ingredients to creating an engaging, and orderly, classroom environment.
- This approach is more of a punishment for teachers than a compelling control mechanism for students. Anyone who spends even a few minutes around children knows how impossible it is not to smile in their presence. (There are certainly many times when we teachers don't want to smile, and in trusting classrooms a frown can often send a more powerful message than a word - but on any given day even the most squirrely students give us moments to grin.)
- Children are way smarter than we give them credit for, and to have a teacher who never smiled for four months suddenly turn on a happy face in January would seem weird and hard to trust.
There is one positive thing, however, that can be gleaned from this advice. When a teacher says, "Don't smile until Christmas," she is acknowledging that it takes a surprisingly long time to create the kind of classroom culture you want.
We're not sure why you'd want the kind of classroom a "don't smile" approach creates - but we do know that an Inspired Classroom is no exception to the time-consuming rule. An Inspired Teacher's student-centered classroom, guided by genuinely relationship-based discipline takes months to establish. In the end all this long-term work pays off in the growth of students' academic achievement, self esteem, and social skills.
If you aren't there yet, don't lose hope! This is one of the most difficult times of year for teachers. The stress and excitement of the season often put everyone on edge. Some teachers tell us they feel like they have to start from scratch (particularly right after winter break). But in almost every case, taking time out to do a refresher course on classroom community is all that is needed to re-focus you and your students on what you've been working towards all along.
As the countdown to winter break approaches, remember that the best things in life don't come in microwave packages. And while you're working towards these long-term classroom community goals, take it from us - smiling helps.
|
Classroom Community Refreshers
|
|
Non-Judgmental Listening Activities
These activities can be used for any discussion topic but are quite effective for conflict resolution.
Emotion Map
This exercise is similar to the "Emotion Continuum" but inspired by a wonderful article found on the Teaching Tolerance website in which author Karen Bovard describes a mapping activity she did with a class of high school students.
Broken Squares
This activity emulates real-life problem solving, and conflict resolution, as teams of 6 must work together to reconstruct broken squares. The bulk of the instructions and suggestions come from this site out of Yale University. Inspired Teaching has added a few details based on our experience with the activity.
10 Ways to show you value your students
This list of community-building strategies requires little more than your time. It is by no means comprehensive and we'd love to add your ideas!
|
Grant Opportunities
|
|
Inspired Teachers are encouraged to apply for two upcoming grant opportunities worth up to $2,500 through the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.
1. Artists in Schools - Grants that encourage creative arts education projects in DC Public Schools (DCPS) and Public Charter Schools and support the development and implementation of innovative teaching strategies aligned with DCPS Arts Content Standards.
2. Arts Teacher Fellowship - Funds arts teachers within DC Public Schools and Public Charter Schools to support the development and implementation of innovative arts teaching strategies according to DCPS Arts Content Standards.
You can access application details at this link.
Samuel Miranda, Arts Education Coordinator for the Commission, is happy to answer questions and provide assistance. He can be reached at samuel.miranda@dc.gov or by phone at 202 724 5613. Please let him know that you learned of these opportunities through Inspired Teaching!
|
Center for Inspired Teaching is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that exists to ensure schools make the most of children's innate desire to learn. We do this by investing in teachers. Please visit our website to learn more about our philosophy, programs, and results.
|
