Your experience of fun, joy and play in your classroom is essential in your self-care!
We can be so focused on achievement pressures or managing our students’ emotional realities that we can forget that our own joy is a critical factor in sustainability. But what would happen if we could maintain our serious commitment to education and yet be open to having more fun? They are not mutually exclusive. Even more radical; what if just for one day, you could forget about everyone else and focus on your own enjoyment. (Yikes! Did she just say focus on myself? Is that woman using special substances?)
In the darkest days of the last several years, I created a challenge to help myself rediscover fun and play in my teaching. I call it the “one day challenge.” I realized that almost nothing I was doing was changing the emotional reality or engagement levels of my students and I was becoming drained by their negativity and lack of engagement. I had tried everything I could think of (including putting on costumes) and it moved their participation level from not-there-at-all to barely-there. So I decided to put my focus and energy back into myself and to prioritize my fun. My internal dialogue was this:
No matter what happens today, I’m going to enjoy myself.
I did some mental preparation for the day. I let go of thinking that my job was to fix them or to master my content delivery. I also stopped by a grocery on the way to school and bought myself a lovely dark chocolate bar and flowers for my desk. Do you know what happened?
I had an absolute BLAST! An over-the-top-super-fun-fabulous-gift-of-a-day.
I want us to have more of those days! A heck of a lot more. I want our emotional needs to be valued as much as the students’. But I don’t think we can count on others to create that dynamic for us. So, armed with sass and your favorite treats, I’m suggesting we take matters into our own hands. We’ve been trained to believe that great teaching can change (or at the very least manage) students’ emotions. However, given the severity of the emotional challenges some of our students are facing, we must address our emotional needs first. And creating a day focused on our own enjoyment is a great way to start.
One day. Each day. One day at a time.
Reflection Questions:
- What treats will you bring yourself for your One Day Challenge?
- What do you need to let go of in order for your One Day to be all about you?
