Showing Up as Your Best Self in the Classroom
How you show up each day as a leader in your students’ lives, depends on many things. For example, the effort you’ve put into your lesson plans, upcoming exam pressure, which students might be falling behind … as well as factors around your personal life. Some things we cannot control, and others we can, but regardless, one thing’s for sure – students turn up to school with the (often subconscious) expectation that you, as their teacher, will bring your best self to the classroom so that they too feel they can bring (or discover!) their best selves.
The buzzwords ‘best self’ have been thrown around for a while, but physically becoming it can feel a little complex sometimes.
The ‘lights, camera, action’ concept is derived from the film and theatre industry – an industry of infinite possibilities which can be made real through a particular type of preparation. Let’s look at how this preparation can be implemented in your everyday life, to help you become more of a conscious and empowered educator.
Lights!
The response effort required to achieve an outcome (or In theatre, as soon as the lights come up, the audience picks up on the actors’ feelings almost instantly. These feelings determine how receptive the audience is for the show. It’s up to the actors to convince everyone they have an important message to share, and that we, as audience members, will benefit from their performance.
It’s not to say that external influences and distractions don’t affect actors, but they take time to process how they’re feeling before they take to the stage, so that their underlying emotions can, if needed, be given new instructions and channelled into a stronger and more purposeful performance.
It’s the same in school. Here’s some food for thought: we tend to mirror the energy we receive from others. Knowing this, how would it feel to think of your students as your audience, who mirror the energy you are delivering, in some way? If you begin to see gaps in their engagement, your performance, or whatever it might be, consider the energy you bring to the classroom, and what you could do differently. Adjust the tone as necessary, because every student, as have you, has spent their day up till then, mirroring all kinds of other energies, too. Let yours be the one they love to come back to and grow with.
Camera!
In the film industry, every detail in every frame is carefully considered, right down to the amount of time spent on each frame before switching angles. We don’t pay conscious attention to this when we watch films, because the frames seamlessly flow together, but I can guarantee you would notice (and be quite annoyed) if you were watching a slow, emotional scene in a film and the camera suddenly swapped angles randomly, blocking your vision from the main action.
This part of your preparation for the classroom is a simple analogy. It’s all about your physical positioning to the camera
in this instance, your students). Generally, classrooms have standard setups, but have a think about how those setups make you look, feel and deliver as an educator. What can you do to put yourself in a position of ease and openness to the camera, so that it captures the true essence of your teaching spirit, and the most engaging version of the material you’re delivering?
Action!
When a director says ‘action’, the preparation, adjustments and refinements beforehand create a space where actors feel fully engaged in their purpose of delivering their message, in the most authentic and connection-driven way. They want audiences
to watch them and feel as if they’re experiencing something deliberate to help them understand the world better.
Action begins with you showing up each day. Striving to have a more conscious and reflective mind and heart as you prepare to teach your young people, is a great next step. Not only will it enhance the authenticity and ease of your classes, allowing your students to connect with you in new ways (remember the mirror!), but it will also help you take bolder and more intentional action.
A final note. What would it feel like to you, if your students felt the same way about your classes as they did about watching their favourite movie? It sounds far-fetched, and there will always be those who won’t be convinced along the way, but to start making a more purposeful and exciting impact on your students’ learning journey, a fantastic place to begin is looking at the possible shift in how you prepare yourself for the stage. Look inward to reflect your outward performance.
