Pajama day.  A day created by teachers to try to make school more “fun” or to reward students for a particular behavior or achievement.  A day that turns into a complete waste of time because the students are so distracted that there is not a lot of learning happening.  We’ll return to this later.

So, today was pajama day.  As the kindergarten entered class this afternoon, it was hard to resist the awww factor.  As they all gathered in the center circle with their onesies, superheros, princesses, and unicorns, it was just a picture of sweetness.  And then the song began.  Somewhere in the center of this circle of cuteness someone was singing – “If you like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain….”.  This was met with laughter, so this kid kept singing this one phrase over and over, each time with more exaggerated performance movements.  His teacher and I just looked at each other.  I mean, what are you going to say, right?

But back to pajama day.  It’s part of “spirit week” where we address Red Ribbon Week or “just say no to drugs”.  The other days are things that are not nearly as distracting, although “hat day” is pretty close.  But with that, if they mess with the hat, we can always take away the distraction.  With pajamas, not so much.  They show up in pj’s, fuzzy slippers, and robes and they are ready to veg out.  Well, except for the little girl who showed up in pj’s and cowgirl boots, but that was obviously a personal fashion choice.  Why is it as teachers we feel like we have to do things that have nothing to do with education to have fun?  Isn’t it possible to have fun AND educate at the same time?  Well, not if everything is scripted for you, I supposed.

I know we all have curricula we have to follow, essential learning objectives, etc., but what happened to the days when we did fun things to learn?  I remember doing art projects that supported social studies when I was in elementary school.  I still remember making leis in school when studying Hawaii and acting out Christopher Columbus negotiating with the King and Queen of Spain.  Not very PC now, but I’m old. I remember actually becoming part of the first congress in middle school, complete with identities where we had to make decisions and write bills.  I couldn’t wait to get to that class.  It was like playing a game, but I learned so much.

I still had homework, weekly spelling tests and unit tests, but there were projects and activities within the curriculum that were fun.  Because the powers that be have decided that teachers need to be made accountable and that accountability comes in the form of students succeeding on tests, sometimes real learning doesn’t happen anymore.  And so, we find some completely unrelated thing for the kids to do for “fun” that distracts from the thing we’re supposed to be accountable for.  Hmmmm….

But things have changed, I’m told.  In this age of technology, students are more savvy, they don’t need to do those things to learn.  I would disagree with you.  Kids like the technology, but unlike some of us oldsters, this is something they’ve always had.  It’s like having a tape recorder was to us or a record player.  It’s just something they know how to do and it’s not that big a deal for them.  I actually had a student tell me once that they didn’t like taking tests on a computer because they got bored.  They would much rather use a pencil and color in a bubble.  As teachers, haven’t we noticed that kids are always looking for things to draw on?  We hand them a personal white board to do their math and they start drawing.  They finish a test and they want to draw on the back.  They love markers and crayons.  That’s part of what they consider fun.  It’s the hands on part of learning.

Why do you think kids like “specials” so much?  I’m sure some teachers would say “because they’re fun and easy”.  They fail to mention that kids are engaged and LEARNING.  And it is not easy.  You try reading some iconic notation while simultaneously reading it’s note name while transferring it to a fingering on an instrument while you’re keeping track of your breathing, tonguing, speed, volume and how you play and blend with others.  Oh, and if it’s marching band, let’s add large motor skill movement on a large grid where you need to change pictures and remain equidistant to others moving beside you. Need I say more?

All of the other “specials” could point out the same types of multi-tasking, cognitive and kinesthetic learning going on and oh, demonstrate that the kids are having fun.  Those who negate the importance of enjoying what you’re learning forget one very important thing.  The kids will REMEMBER what they’ve done and learned because they’re having fun.

And having fun is good for teachers as well.  There is so much stress put upon teachers and administrators for testing results, even to point of threatening jobs.  You can’t bend a schedule that has been put in place because you’re mandated to spend so many minutes in each subject.  That’s really sad, because sometimes the best learning is spontaneous and unplanned.  It’s those big cross-curricular projects with people working together to solve a problem or create something new or demonstrate learning that kids love and remember.  I sometimes get lost in the whole “have to cover all the ELO’s” thing myself and forget that I can stop once in a while to try something the kids have thought up or expand a lesson or explore something within the subject they’re interested in.

So while pajama day is an interesting diversion, it does exactly the opposite of what just including some fun in the curriculum could accomplish. Maybe we can slow down once in a while just to listen to the kids sing “If You Like Pina Coladas….”  Just for fun.