mirror, mirror

On Monday we began spirit week, a five day celebration of school spirit.  I will attempt to chronicle some of the events of the week, but to be fair, there's no way to describe the inevitable, escalating spiral into chaos.  Most days I make a run at getting something done, but by the end of the week, there's little I can do but laugh and enjoy the ride.  The students are happily enjoying their school, their friends, and being young.  I am going to indulge in two of the three.

Monday:  Dress up as your alter-ego day.  The students are interpreting this as dress as what you are not.  Thus far I have seen students dress as cowboys, goth girls, members of various athletic teams, skaters, nerds, their parents, hippies, rockers, rappers, the opposite gender, and a host of characters that I don't recognize.    

I think it's a worthwhile exercise to consider what you are not.  I was interested in how this day would turn out, as I think there is some potential here for offense as we dive into stereotypes.  What we are and are not is sometimes a matter of genetics, more often a matter of choice.  Others can often clearly see who we are, simply by considering our dress, our words, and our behavior.  But what does it say when we choose one aspect of ourselves and highlight that it is specifically what we are not?  I think it begs the question, why is this what you are not?  


I dressed as normal.  The kids asked me what I was.  I replied "not cool."  I don't think they got it... 

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