An Underrated Learning Tool

It’s important to make time for our joy in this work because those moments can be grounding reminders of our values.

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit a kind and caring 2nd grade class. Their teacher invited me to do a read aloud and thoughtfully sent a book over to me at district office about “Buzzy, the bumblebee.” As I poured over the beautifully illustrated pages and reflected upon the message, I felt inspired by the moral of the story. Essentially, Buzzy is a reader and discovers some (outdated) research that bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly. Buzzy was previously a great flyer prior to this reading, and the story is about his journey to get home to his parents and about how the power of positive thinking allows him to take flight once again.

There are many important lessons here for adults and kids alike, so I was excited and honored to be guest reader for this precious and important book.

I serve a district of roughly 6,000 students spanning PreK-12 across seven buildings and as much as I love being in the buildings with staff and students, it’s not the same as being a building principal where students and I knew each other’s names and played together at recess. So, when “that lady from district office” shows up in her suit and heels, students are polite but sometimes understandably cautious.

I remember reading in Dan and Chip Heath’s book, The Power of Moments, about how hospitals found ways to make MRI’s less scary by turning the experience into something exciting like “a rocket ship” where suddenly kids were not in the hospital for testing but rather invited to embark on an exciting and thrilling mission. While reading to children is certainly nothing like an MRI, I found myself considering how I too could transform myself from the “lady at district office” into a character who brought joy and curiosity into the classroom. That’s when it dawned on me that I could dress up like Buzzy, the bumblebee. So, as many of us do, I opened my Amazon app and found a well-priced costume equipped with antennas on headband too, and I got into character as I headed over the enjoy time with this precious class.

I cannot tell you what a difference this made during the read aloud. Not only for the kids who delighted in the story, noticed and wondered, and laughed with me, but the difference it made for me too. Because for those 20 minutes together, I was no longer the district office lady, I was Buzzy. The more animated and joyful I felt, the more interested the students became, mirroring my energy in the room.

When the teacher asked to take a picture of Buzzy with the class and students crowded in next to me, I felt a little something on my shoulder. It was a little girl resting her head on me. In that moment, I felt such a sense of belonging and trust. All of the problems waiting for me back at the office fell away and for just a moment, I was reminded of how much I love this work and how much fun school can be.

Before I left, I asked the class if they had ever seen a bumblebee run. When they said no, I encouraged them to look out their classroom window because they were about to see it. And then in the late summer heat, costume, and heels, I dashed past the windows of the school and made my way back to the office.

The next day their teacher messaged me that students asked if I would be coming back to read to them. Amidst the struggles and grind that go with district leadership, I felt such a sense of accomplishment. I might not always have the right answer or make the right decisions, but I know how to care for kids and inspire learning. And that’s not nothing.

I could have chosen not to change into a costume especially on a board meeting night but as Dan and Chip Heath say, “Beware of the soul-sucking force of reasonableness.” Sometimes, the best thing we can do is perhaps a little unreasonable, but it doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing.

So, to all of my educator friends out there who find themselves worrying over all the things that don’t seem to be going quite right. When the world feels heavy and the landscape complex, don’t talk yourself out of the very thing that might bring you and your students joy. I believe in this so much that I wrote a chapter titled, “Popsicles and Conga Lines” in Legacy of Learning.

Joy for the sake of joy is a worthy cause indeed. When you’re having fun, everyone around you is more likely to have fun too. FUN is a learning tool and learning fuel. Too often an underrated one.