Sesame Street-ing It Up

by Elizabeth Van Allen

for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

'The Corniest Teacher In The Whole School'

In my 9+ years of teaching I have found that one fact is irrefutable. I am not and never will be 'cool'. My suburban raised, classic-rock listening, artsy self just does not fit into the category of 'cool' with my inner-city raised, hip-hop savvy, street wise students. Fortunately, I am fine with this and have decided to go with it. Content with the title one of my students bestowed upon me this year, I have truly earned being the corniest teacher in the school.

My first few years teaching in the inner city were pretty rough on me. I didn't have any connections with the life my students live. I survived mentally by coming up with funny, faux-innocent responses and ways to take them off guard using neutral silliness. I call this method 'Sesame Street-ing it up'.

Physical Humor

It still catches me off guard how easily using this method can diffuse a situation. Who would have thought that the easiest way to get a defiant teenage boy back to his seat would be to serenade him in a fake operatic voice? Not me, that's for sure. Or that moving a seated child who refuses to go back to his or her seat is easy as long as you act like you are driving the chair like a race car and make beeping sounds like a truck in reverse while backing up. As long as you don't let it become a game and have positive rewards in place for good behavior, it's worked for me like a charm.

Similarly, using physical humor helps with keeping students' attention during the first week of school. Let's face it, the super-dry, talking head-style rules and procedural sessions are so boring that they put even us teachers to sleep, and we're the ones doing the talking! Since I've started using physical humor in my usual “hold your scissors like this” or “this is how to carry your paint to your seat” speeches I rarely lose their attention. Through tripping over myself in a very controlled way, demonstrating how I mess up, spill, or could get hurt (with a disclaimer, of course) I keep them on their toes. My students never know what to expect from me, and I like it that way.

Cool Is Being Yourself

Not being cool and, even more importantly, not trying to be cool has given me the opportunity to be that teacher who isn't afraid to be corny and silly. In other words, an adult who is not afraid to be themself. What better type of role model could a child have than someone who doesn't try to be someone they're not? Corny and silly has given me what I never thought I could have, a platform for my students to connect with me. This is possible because I am ok with who I am: a silly but rule upholding human being who truly cares and is willing to 'Sesame Street' it up and remind my students that you can be cool just by being yourself.