Homecoming Week represents a unique opportunity for educators to cultivate connection and foster a sense of belonging within the school community. By participating in various activities such as dress-up days and pep rallies, teachers can bridge the gap between themselves and their students, thereby enhancing the educational environment. This engagement is not merely an exercise in frivolity; rather, it serves as a powerful model of joy and belonging, demonstrating to students that learning can coexist with fun. Through small actions of participation, educators contribute significantly to the formation of a positive school culture, reinforcing pride within the community. Ultimately, our involvement during this festive week underscores the profound truth that connection fuels learning, a principle that resonates throughout the academic year.

The episode entitled 'Homecoming Week: Why Teachers Should Join the Fun and Show Their School Spirit' delves into the significance of teachers' participation in school activities during Homecoming Week. The discussion begins by emphasizing the profound impact that teachers can have on students through their active involvement. By engaging in dress-up days, pep rallies, and various school traditions, educators not only demonstrate their school spirit but also foster a sense of community and belonging among the students. This notion of connection is paramount; as educators partake in the festivities, they bridge the often-existing gap between themselves and their students, creating an environment where students feel valued and included. I reflect on my personal experiences during Homecoming Week, illustrating how my participation—whether through dressing in class colors or joining in on spirited activities—has left an indelible mark on my students, who remember those moments fondly.

Moreover, the episode articulates how such participation models joy and a sense of belonging. I explain that students observe and take cues from their teachers, and when educators exhibit enthusiasm and playfulness, it normalizes joy within the learning environment. Simple acts, such as donning thematic attire or engaging in playful activities, serve as powerful demonstrations of camaraderie that students cherish. This modeling of joy not only enhances the educational experience but also contributes to a positive school culture, where students feel encouraged to express themselves and engage with their peers. The narrative underscores that every small act of involvement, be it a cheer at a pep rally or a thematic outfit, accumulates to create a vibrant and inclusive school atmosphere.

As I recount my recent experiences during Homecoming Week, I provide specific examples of how these activities have been pivotal in building trust and rapport with my students. I describe the infectious energy during the parade, the excitement shared during spirit days, and the joy of witnessing students actively participate in these traditions. The episode concludes with a reflection on the overarching message: connection fuels learning. By encouraging educators to immerse themselves in the festivities, I stress the importance of their presence in shaping the culture they wish to see within their classrooms. The call to action is clear: educators should embrace their roles as spirited participants, as their engagement has a lasting impact on the educational community.

Takeaways:

• Participating in Homecoming Week activities fosters essential connections between teachers and students, bridging any existing gaps.
• When teachers engage in Homecoming Week, they model joy and belonging, encouraging students to embrace fun in education.
• Simple acts of participation during Homecoming Week can significantly contribute to a positive school culture and community spirit.
• Teacher involvement in Homecoming Week activities reinforces the message that learning can coexist with joy and celebration.
• By dressing up and engaging in school traditions, teachers demonstrate to students that they are invested in their school community.
• Homecoming Week serves as a vital reminder that connection is fundamental to effective learning and teaching.

Links referenced in this episode:

• beafunkteacher.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Be a Funky Teacher

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This is Mr. Funky Teacher with Be a Funky Teacher dot com.

I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast.

Welcome back everyone.

Today's episode is Homecoming week.

Why teachers should join in the fun and show their school spirit.

That's what we are going to be focusing on.

But before we dig in, let's talk about three things that I am thankful for.

First thing I'm thankful for is the changing of the leaves and colors of autumn.

I'm so thankful for the beauty of fall, y'.

All.

I am the trees turning different shades of red, orange and gold.

Those colors remind me to slow down to breathe and notice the simple beauty around us.

I just love it.

Second thing I'm thankful for seeing my two oldest children at their homecoming dance.

Well technically preparing for their homecoming dance and get being dressed up for it.

I'm grateful for the chance just to see them get dressed up.

It was really a proud parent moment.

Seeing them grow, smile and make memories with friends.

It was a lot of fun.

They were so excited.

My oldest son, it was his first homecoming dance.

My daughter has been there before but still very excited for homecoming dance.

Just very, very proud pair of moments.

And then the the third thing I'm thankful for is watching my oldest son play baseball.

I'm thankful I got it was his wrapping up of his fall baseball league.

He had two really great back to back games.

It's always fun to see him out there doing what he loves.

These moments remind me of how special and yet how fast time goes and how important it is just to be present in those moments.

All right, well let's get into the in the main event here y'.

All.

So once again, today's episode is homecoming week.

Why teachers should join in the fun and show their school spirit.

That's what we are going to talk about here.

First thing that I want to talk about with homecoming week is that homecoming participation builds connection.

See, when teachers join in homecoming week activities, it bridges the gap between the staff and students.

Dressing up, laughing or joining games show that you're part of their world, part of the students world.

Students remember the adults who were in it with them, not just observing.

I just don't want to be just in, just an observer looking in.

I want to be a part of the world of my students.

It's going to build that connection to them.

They're going to remember me dressing up there, participating.

I just want that, I want that to be a part of homecoming week is to connect with my students.

You know, because not only participating, building, connecting, but it also.

The next big thing is that by participating in homecoming loop with students, it models joy and belonging.

It does because kids take cues from how adults show up.

See, when, when teachers get playful, it normalizes joy.

It says that learning and fun can live.

Even simple participation like wearing, like wearing a teen jersey or a hat or putting on your pajamas for a spirit day, it builds belonging builds.

It builds connection and it models the joy and belonging.

You know, where I'm, I'm teaching this year at Winnebago staff.

Many of the staff join in during spirit week and it brings a contagious energy, you know, and it's fun to see who goes all out for dressing up for the different homecoming days and is always how I was too when I was in, when I was in my former school district too, I would always dress up and participate too.

You know, I'm not minimizing teachers and staff who, who don't participate because that's their prerogative.

However, I do see how it can build connection, how it can model joy and belonging.

Not only because from an outsider in just from.

From doing it and knowing how powerful that is.

Because see when teachers, teachers participate in homecoming week like, like dressing up for the homecoming themes, it helps to create a positive school culture.

And so that's the.

That that is critical.

You don't have to go big.

Small acts add up.

The small actions can mean a big thing to kids.

They can, you know, like decorating the hallway, participating in a themed outfits, cheering on at a pep assembly or rally.

Those things contribute so positively to the positive, to a positive school culture.

Every act of participation reinforces pride in school community so important that teachers are part of that.

Homecoming week becomes a shared celebration then where students see that hey, teachers care enough to show up and to be a part of it.

I think about last week was Homecoming week for.

For my school district where I teach.

And I'm.

I'm so thankful I. I participated in every single day of dress for that was going on.

And a lot of times, once again, it's.

It's not that complicated to be the class color.

All right, let's.

My class color, that fifth grade's class color was purple last week, so I. I wore purple.

I mean, how.

It can be very simple and unifying for.

For.

For a grade one of the.

And for a teacher class connection.

One of the coolest things that I absolutely loved was homecoming.

The homecoming parade last week.

So I had always been.

For years and years and years and years.

Forevermore, I've always walked with fifth graders.

And our school district, my former school district is a lot bigger.

So I always would walk with our.

Our student leadership council that I was part of and lead advisor for.

Would always at most of the schools that I was at.

At two of the three schools I was at, we would organize the.

The school walking in the parade and organizing throwing out candy.

And that was kind of a really big deal.

There was one school.

We just.

All of the fifth graders walked in and threw out candy.

But whatever the.

However the dynamic was in terms of I was always there to walk in the parade.

I was always dressing up.

And I've carried that over to the new school district I'm in.

However, you know, it's a smaller school district.

And so in this school district, the different classes walk there like the.

And then you have some high school, like football players and cheerleaders and.

And different groups that are walk or that are actually in the parade, which is, I think, is super cool.

But then you have.

It's so cool because we.

On Friday, we walked our class over to the parade because the students could watch it and cheer.

We received candy.

Craziest thing in the world, y'.

All.

That, I think, was the coolest thing.

I've never been to a parade before where I've.

Were where they throwing out ramen noodles, y'.

All.

I got.

I had a ramen noodle packet thrown at me.

They were throwing out ramen.

Ramen noodle packets, T shirts.

Not just little dinky candy, big candy.

It was crazy.

It was awesome, man.

The energy they had.

We were right next to this big speaker system where a person who I. I think is kind of.

He.

He does the talking at the powwow typically, and he was talking into the mic, and it just was a really big deal.

It was a huge deal.

And seeing the different.

We.

We had One of our.

One we had several classes that walked in dress actually in regalia, the Native American dress.

That was really neat to see too with, with students dressed up in that way, it just, you could just feel the energy.

I, I thought it was such a neat thing.

It was.

One of my favorite things of the school year so far was taking my fifth graders over to the homecoming parade.

We made signs that Friday morning spirit signs.

We're showing off our school spirit with different slogans and sayings on it.

We where then we held them up at the parade and then we would, we could set him down too to get some candy and different things thrown at us afterwards on Friday, which was crazy.

Not crazy in a bad way, crazy in a fun way was getting to go well after the, after the parade was done.

And oh one in addition to the parade is so cool because my dad and brother came out to the parade and watched the homecoming parade.

See in South Sioux City school district my, my dad and brother and when my mom was alive, they would always come and watch and cheer on, cheer me on, cheer on my students, cheer on the school, cheer on the district.

And so I, I didn't know how it was going to work in, in my new school district, Winnebago Public Schools because I, I invited my dad and my brother.

My dad, you know, walks with a walker.

My brother is in a wheelchair, an electric wheelchair.

So it's not necessarily easy for them to come out and to be a part of, of things.

But I invited them.

I'm like, hey, come sit with our class.

We're going to be walking out to it.

So they did and oh, did they enjoy it.

What a positive thing it was for them to come out and get to see, see the festivities.

And they loved it.

And then, and afterwards we, my fifth graders and I walked back to the school because this was a cool, such a cool thing too.

They had a staff versus sophomore student boys volleyball game and that was cool.

The students really enjoyed that.

Then they had a pep assembly going on that was super neat too where we got the cheer on show our school of spirit.

There were some games going on.

There were some cheers going on.

Super just super fun.

Just neat to be a part of y'.

All.

It was this wonderful.

Then we ended up going, we, we ate lunch, went back to the room and wrapped up our day with just work doing, doing a couple like fun little activities here in the classroom.

That was, that was the day.

On Friday.

In addition to us throughout the week dressing up in homecoming spirit days, students got out actually at 1:00 clock on Fridays.

So that way they could because the, the homecoming football game was actually like an hour after the early out on Friday.

Super fun.

And then that they, they actually you do the homecoming dance in the evening then.

I know some districts do like the homecoming dance for the, for, for the high school kids the next day on like Saturday.

Different districts do it differently and that's okay.

It doesn't matter how it is district does it?

I just encourage as educators, we get involved.

We don't just treat the week as oh just this is an interruption to learning.

And don't participate.

Dress up with kids.

Dress up.

Be a part of the festivities.

Because homecoming week is more than a theme.

It's a reminder that connection fuels learning.

And that's a big takeaway.

That's the reflective takeaway here is that connection fuels learning.

When teachers participate, it builds trust, belonging and joy to that ripples throughout the year.

So big key takeaway here.

Be a part of the fun.

Your presence creates the culture you want to see.

So I hope that you, I, I, I just encourage and hope that you'll be a part of homecoming this year and years to come because your participation matters.

It does make a difference.

And of course I want you to remember to inspire greatness in young people.

And don't forget to be a funky teacher.

Bye now.

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