We had a class meeting to find out what was happening for the children. I asked them, ?How does it feel to be in the auditorium practicing for our Town Hall Meeting??
Dio: "Mad?Because I don?t want to dance all the time with Kaisa and I have to dance all the time with Kaisa."
Manny: "I don?t like being there because I don?t like dancing. I feel embarrassed."
Talia: "I don?t like dancing with other people, I want to dance with Jamari."
Kaisa: "Nervous?and I want to dance with VJ!"
I wanted to tease out how much of the behavior was due to not knowing what was expected in the auditorium, and asked them, ?When the audience is there tomorrow, and if we come in like we did today, rolling around on the floor, running on the stage, how do you think they?ll feel??
Dio: "They?ll be mad and angry at the show."
Manny: "Because they don?t want to see us fooling around."
Stacey: "[They want to see us] singing."
Kaisa: "... and dancing."
Dio: "Sittin? on the floor ?till it?s our turn!"
It turned out that they knew just how to behave in the auditorium, and my sense was that their feelings of confusion, embarrassment, and frustration were getting in the way not only of behaving as they knew they should but having fun!
