Wednesday, February 14, 2007

No Fun

We have these assemblies called "Silent Assemblies" at school. The idea is that you walk silently down to the gym and sit silently while a presentation is happening. It's a great management tool. However, this past Tuesday, a group that came to the school to present gave me a shocking reminder that children need to have fun.

At the start of the production (a bunch of skits about bullying) the actors tried to hype up the students, by getting them to respond. All the students sat in complete silence. Not sure how they were to react. After all, they were told explicitly that it was a serious presentation and there will be "NO LAUGHING".

How embarrassing to be working in a school where students feel fearful to cheer and respond how they think it is appropriate.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to see how these rules affect children's learning and how I would NOT run a place of learning.

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