I am sure many of you are familiar with the famous phrase from the movie "The Shining,"..."All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." How about if we switch that phrase around? I'm thinking we need a day of all play and no work! And I'm not the only one having this crazy thought.
Check out this Ted Talk by Peter Gray about how play has declined and mental disorders have increased...
Now here's an interesting thought from Plato: "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation."
Did you know that there is such a thing as a Global School Play Day?! I had heard about this last year, but it was after the day actually happened. This year, Global School Play Day is happening on February 1st. And I am hoping that many of you will want to join in on the fun on this day. Here is the link to the site which explains how the day works: http://www.globalschoolplayday.com/
You might decide to go all in and have your whole day be a play day or you might decide to do an hour of play. I just hope everyone will participate in some way. And this play is not structured play, not organized by teachers and definitely does not involve batteries or electricity!
Another elementary school in Massachusetts participated in this day last year, and they unanimously decided to do it again this year. Check out what some of the teachers and principal had to say about Global School Play Day:
"When I asked the staff about participating again it was unanimous. Here are some of the reasons they wanted to do this:"
- Simply put - you can learn through play!
- It was a great way to encourage interactions between students, to be able to relax while learning
- Hands on games are important to developing motor skills
- I think it's a great way for students to problem solve and resolve conflicts
- It's important to educate parents and the community about the benefits of play
- Playing is learning and exploring
So next Wednesday...who is excited about a day of play?! Think about how much fun you will have with your students and how you will learn so much more about them by watching them play and interact with their friends.
I have been sick for the past four days and have not really had the energy to do much of anything. I have still been reading a little more of the book Books for Living. Hope to have more energy back this week and do more reading!
Events this week:
Wednesday - Grade 4 Chorus Performance @ 9:30 in the PAC
Thursday - MTSS Task Force Meeting @ Prescott 12:00-3:00, 4th grade Chorus concert @ 7:00 in the PAC
Friday - 2nd grade chorus practice @ 2:25
Great things I noticed last week:
I was out of the building 2 whole days last week and then when I was in the building, I was running from meeting to meeting. Once I finally get back into school this week, looking forward to getting into classrooms again!
Check it out:
A great article about the importance of learning through play: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/opinion/sunday/let-the-kids-learn-through-play.html?_r=0