I think every school in our state is on overload right now. While I certainly agree that children should be able to read in order to be promoted, this law has created much stress on many public school students, schools, and the teachers that work there. We are in a new "data-driven" age where everything must be proven with test data and numbers. The demands are great, expectations high, and stress even higher.
I am fortunate, because I work in a place where, for the most part, people WANT to see kids succeed. We do the best we can to stay kid-centered and aware of what's "right" about education and learning. But even the best places can get stressed out.
My friend, Mellissa, told me that she is combatting this at her school with a fresh "look" in the staff bathroom. She put some nice magazines in there, hung some humorous cartoons and fun poems on the walls, posted Oprah's calendar, added a Fall basket with chocolate (yes, chocolate) and dry erase markers. You might ask, "Why dry erase markers?" To leave messages on the mirrors, of course. She told me, "You wouldn't believe what a difference it has made in my staff...they LOVE going to the bathroom and they are smiling more. They are having a blast writing messages on the mirror!" I decided to try it.
On Tuesday, my friend Cheryl and I started by putting up cartoons and poems and those dry erase markers. I wrote one message on each bathroom mirror: Leave a message for someone else. We weren't going to tell anyone it was us, but I decided to clue our boss in so that he wasn't caught off guard.
After day one, people were "buzzing" about the bathrooms. They were leaving funny messages on the mirror including: "Thanks for the therapy!" "This is FUN!" and "You look gorgeous!" among other things. My boss said, "I don't like the mirror thing...you can't see your face." I politely told him to "get over it" and reassured him that he was fine.
Day two, I added the chocolate. Again, my boss didn't like it too much. But his reaction paled in comparison to the rest of the school that is all abuzz about what's going on in the bathroom. They are laughing and smiling. They are visiting the bathroom "just for a little comic relief"...they are leaving many positive messages on the mirrors....And they ARE taking the chocolate.
Despite what my boss says, I think it's a good thing. If writing on a mirror helps destress anyone...it's pretty low-cost therapy, you know?
It's Friday....I'm tired...I'm fighting stress...and my busy family has a million things to do this weekend...I just might put one NEW thing on our weekend agenda though:
Get some dry-erase markers and Write on the Mirror!
