Think about Joy

(To educators in all forms)

We got this, you got this,  

We need this, this we have. 

As we consider the reason we think, 

act, learn, and teach, 

it is relevant to consider 

Piaget, Bandura, and Vygotsky, 

But integral into our curriculum 

Is something else that we should see,  

always see, help to be. 

In our classrooms, in our hallways 

In our conversations, in small and tall ways, 

let it be part of our lesson plan 

talk about it, even demand 

that  

seeking Joy is part of your class.

Equity be considered first 

and never last. 

As *Minor said it recently to me 

“It has been increasingly harder  

to live joy.”  

Can’t you see? 

Joy is not about making it impossible to feel sad. 

Joy is not about restricting who we are when we are mad .

It is about seeking to find it in the daily tone 

and helping children not to learn and live alone.  

Live your joy now. 

With your students., 

show them how.   

Plan for it.

Joy as an action, not a distraction. 

Not a detraction, subtraction, 

but a conscious action. 

Make joy deliberate. 

Think again, and react,

make it a fact. 

It is not too late, but start now. 

We can learn together, with time ,

we will know how. 

Addressing our students by name 

so they can reclaim  

the identity they lost 

by pressure from home, rules,  

and inequity.

Let them announce who they are, 

So they are not invisible and 

they are the ones we always see. 

As an educator, active thinker, 

deep listener,

ask yourself, are the motivations that  

I seek with this child leading to noisy joy? 

Noisy joy is the sound of learning, the type of sound that  

allows for everyone to listen, hear, and question, 

never to be dismissed or be a product of suppression. 

Make your joyful noise so the classroom walls split apart  

and the sound reverberates to your community 

And give joyful planning a healthy start.  

As educators, we have so much to see 

but if you let joy be your guide 

you allow your students to be 

noisy joy makers like you. 

And what a sound we will make,

with them,

with you,

with me.

By Kevin D. Cordi, Ph.D. 

December 12, 2021 

Dedicated to my Human and Learning Development Students, Ohio University Lancaster 

*Refers to Cornelius Minor, author of We Got This: Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need us to Be (2012)

As educators, we are joy makers and we can plan for it for the ones we teach. If you want to share story, please do and be sure to sign up for the blog for more. Tell on!

Kevin