Think about Joy
December 12, 2019
In our class we study joy as an ingredient that should be considered in every lesson plan. We study the research of joy and we plan for it. I wrote this poem for my students and because of them. I hope it brings you reflection and plans for equity, then joy, in and out of teaching spaces.
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
Talking 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
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, they 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 joymakers like you.
And what a sound we will make.
Feel free to share how you are noisy about creating equitable and joyful spaces.
By Kevin D. Cordi, Ph.D.
December 12, 201
Dedicated to my Human and Learning Development Students, Ohio University Lancaster