Everyone should see the world through Tess' eyes...
My five-year-old niece lives in an exciting world (last week she found a polar bear in her shoe), everyone is a potential friend (the window cleaner has an invite to her birthday party) and she's not afraid to dream big (meet the next Queen of England). She's also not afraid to show affection, appreciation or love.
Yesterday, as we walked home from school she told me all about her teacher...
'She's got red toenails'
'She's my best friend'
'She smells like porridge'
'I love porridge'
'I love my teacher'
For the next thirty seconds, I wished more than anything that her teacher could see her spinning round in circles shouting, 'I looove her!' at the top of her voice. It would have made her week.
Because it's really nice to be appreciated. And even nicer when someone takes a few minutes out of their busy lives to tell you how important you are to them and why doing what you do makes them spin around in circles.
So I hope you won't mind if I take a leaf out of Tess' book and unashamedly show my appreciation and love for our trainers, experts in play who visit schools to help teachers teach through play more effectively.
After completing our 'hybrid training' (a programme combing an online course and in-person training workshops), teachers gave our trainers the following feedback:
100% of teachers said students responded positively to the activities.
100% saw improvement in students' behaviour, social skills, language, self-control and physical skills.
100% saw an improvement in students' interest in pretend play.
100% gained confidence in using drama techniques in the classroom.
100% of teachers would recommend this training to a friend.
So to all our trainers - thank you! We think you're wonderful. And to every five-year-old Tess out there, an even bigger thank you for helping us see the world a little differently from time to time.
If you're interested in taking a course with Pyjama Drama Learning, you can find out more here.