April Fools!

By. Teresa Marchant

During my first year as an educator, I received a voicemail from my administrator on April 1st. Later I found out that this message was sent to all of the staff. (Yes, this was high tech for the mid 90’s.) My Principal was informing us of a new procedure that was effective immediately!

“All teachers will be switching roles with another teacher!” is what I distinctly remember.  My administrator went on in detail about how each grade level would switch including specialists. If everyone listened carefully to the message until the very end it concluded with “I hope you have a wonderful April 1st!” Some teachers immediately got the joke while others were up in arms about switching and did not understand the punchline. In my opinion, it was a well executed April Fool’s Day prank.

Thinking more about “this plan”, it  made me think of the phrase about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. If this truly was implemented for a single day or for a single hour, we might better understand what other staff members are dealing with each and every day. Maybe that was the point.

Or maybe it was to give us a chuckle? This joke wasn’t received well by all of the staff. Some were so upset, while others just laughed it off. Sometimes we need a little laughter in the workplace. Maybe these are what can brighten your day, build unity in your school, or even boost morale. This may even be the perfect time to read a story of an oldie but goodie– “Miss Nelson is Missing” to help teach a lesson and reign in unruly behavior.

These last few years have been very stressful. With morale at an all time low in some districts. Laughter has been called “the best medicine” Perhaps this is what can help us return to normal and help us to get us through until the end of the school year. Maybe adding a joke or a humorous story to the classroom might just be what we all need this April 1st!