A Fun Solution to a Rough Week

The past two works of work have been overall, pretty crappy. First, we had a student commit suicide, which was all kinds of unspeakable terrible-ness. Then we had an anonymous bomb threat, probably from a teen who wanted school cancelled, but kind of freaky nonetheless. This is all in the last two weeks.

The mood around the building is somewhere between meh and screw this. That goes for both teachers and students.

Soldiers wearing the evzone at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier in Athens, Greece

So I taught my class how to Greek dance* on Thursday. I've always kind of wanted to do this, but have never pulled the trigger since we don't study Greece in either of the courses I teach. I decided that it was needed and it was time.

*Specifically, the kalamatiano for you Greeks reading this.

I related it to cultural empathy, showing the kids a picture of a evzone (pictured to the right) and talking about ways to react to different dress than what Americans are used to in a empathetic way. We talked about cultures from around the world.

And we danced! Not particularly well, but we danced! And we had fun. Lots of laughter. Lots of fun.

It felt really good. It was a fun way to wrap up a tough couple of weeks in my classroom, and sometimes, that's simply much more important than making sure you hit that last state standard.

Thanks for reading this blog! I hope you'll consider taking a moment to comment below and turn this into a conversation. Whether you are an educator or not, we have all had common experiences with education both good and bad. I want to hear what you think! 

About Me:

My name is Alec Chambers. I am a high school history and government teacher at a small, urban public school in Kansas City called Center High School. We regularly kick tail. Among many awards, we were named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2014. I don't just teach at Center- I also graduated from Center in 2006 after attending Center Schools K-12. I have a degree in Political Science, a second degree in International Relations, a third degree in Education and a Master's of Arts in Teaching. I have an unofficial degree is soccer. All of those degrees have led me to the high-paying teaching profession! I have a newborn daughter and am married to the most awesome woman on the planet. Seriously. It's a proven fact.

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