In yet another example of "things they missed because school was not in person for a year" the sixth graders showed somewhat appalling behavior at the preview of the school play today. Even though we reminded them of the expectation of respectful audience behavior, it seems that our definition of respectful is rather divergent from theirs.
To be fair, for the most part they were expressing their appreciation for the writing, acting, and singing, of their fellow students, but the way in which they did it, cheering and whistling and chanting the name of certain actors, was totally unexpected and actually disrupted the production. Plus, once they got started with such loud and long reactions, their behavior became even more interactive, like they were yelling at the TV or computer screen at home.
It is true that occasions public collective viewing have declined sharply during the pandemic years, and these kids could be forgiven for not knowing the social expectations for such events. We adults, too, might also be forgiven for not anticipating the scope of necessary pre-attendance instructions; we assumed they knew how to act, and we were wrong.
The experience is emblematic of what it's been like to teach this year: there are so many gaps and holes that we are not aware of until someone falls in.
Life Lesson: Expect the unexpected.
No comments:
Post a Comment