It was LA of the month today and what a lovely event it was, just a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and thank our amazing support team. As with staff appreciation, it is a tough call to single out who you would like to mention because everyone is working so hard, much of it behind the scenes. I think it was because this was on my mind today that, while standing in the drizzle (isn’t it great that we Brits have so many different words for rain) waving to the children leaving by bus, I was watching our guards direct the traffic. On a daily basis, they stand pretty much in the middle of the road stopping all manner of vehicles to let our fleet of buses leave. Getting the children on to buses and then the buses off safely was a mission even when Jinguang Lu was a cul-de-sac, however now it is a fully functioning dual carriageway it is something else entirely! I’m not sure we appreciate our guards quite enough, so my next task (one of them at least) is to think about how we can show them just how much we do because we couldn’t do it without them.
Something Dafydd said to the LAs reminded me of a lecture I had in developmental psychology. My tutor simply said ‘Children are like tape recorders. They play back to you what you play to them’. I was really astounded; I just hadn’t thought about it like that before. This was in the mid ‘00s, when the ‘Don’t smile before Christmas’ school of behaviour management was still rife in secondary schools. Showing emotion or anything resembling personality was akin to an open wound in shark-infested waters. The possibility of being ‘nice’ or smiling was really not something we NQTs/young teachers were recommended to do. I often look back at my early teaching days and wonder whether I really did take myself too seriously, or whether the armour I held was what kept me from being completely ripped to shreds (metaphorically speaking). I really do have many fond memories from those early days, but I definitely have plenty of scars too… However, that was a lifetime ago and I know that I am the person I am today because of those experiences, not in spite of them. So what does that have to do with what Dafydd said? He said that people liked it when the adults smile. It was as simple as that. Smiles are contagious and apparently make you look younger too! (As someone who has just turned 21 again, I like this fact!) For more fascinating facts about smiling, have a look at Psychology Today:
So, back to the adults smiling. So much for being tape recorders, sometimes I think they are more like video recorders. They cannot hide their emotions and often replay what they are shown. When an adult smiles or shows joy at being with them, it is often mirrored. It is just not possible for them to fake the relationships they have with their teachers, LAs or other significant adults. I know that our children love our staff because they love coming to school. Even on the coldest, soggiest, most miserable days or on the hottest sweatiest days, greeting the children is a highlight of my day. Every day it reminds me just how lucky we are to have amazing children and how great they are. I have said it before, and I will say it again – it’s down to YOU. It’s not been a great week for me, I’ll be honest; some things have happened which have dampened my spirits. However, the day I was feeling most fragile was also the day I spent most time with children and it really lifted my mood. I have, once again, begun my class reading and spent time in Y1, Y3 and PN. Completely different experiences and highlights from each and every class, but one particular moment really stood out for me. I was reading ‘Penguin’ which is a funny little book. I had only picked it up because I thought Y1 might like it. Little Daniel sat beautifully while I read ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’, quiet and attentive, however once I read ‘Penguin’, he was roaring with laughter. Something had clicked with him and it was a really beautiful moment, really touching. As a very old friend once said to me, children are a tonic. Yet again, I remind myself that I have the best job in the world because I get to see and work with them every day.
I’m still on YouTube this week and I’ve gone from David Gray to the Lumineers and now it is Tom Walker. According to the description, I thought he was playing with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, however they appeared to have been replaced with a bagpipe band… That will teach me to read things properly – they were the Red Hot Chilli Pipers! Never have I ever seen bagpipes sound so good, and it look like such a cool thing to play. If you’re interested, here is the clip. I had to re-wind and watch properly!
It’ll be March next Friday, not quite sure how that happened…
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