THE FLASH MOB!
Best. Time. Ever.
I have never done a flash mob before, and I didn’t exactly know what it was before either … BUT IT WAS AWESOME. I thought that we would go to a random place (such as the new SUB) and start dancing when cued. However, the instructor that was leading the flash mob was so energetic and full of life that she made it more of a confidence building experience rather than just a silly dance.
I loved that she started talking about something that everyone always thinks of, but never says anything about – the feeling of being self-conscious. We rarely express to others that we feel self-conscious when we do certain things. Perhaps you don’t enjoy public speaking because you feel that your voice sounds high and screechy, or that your mannerisms are odd and everyone will be nit picking at everything that you do. Or, maybe you have a hard time speaking out in class because you are worried someone will think what you said was stupid. Maybe you don’t enjoy taking photographs of yourself because you feel your face has that one aspect that will make you stick our like a sore thumb.
I don’t know about you, but all those things used to apply to me at some point in life, and definitely limited my enjoyment of life and the experience of being myself to a great extent. That is why the instructor for the Flash Mob was such an inspiration to me. She highlighted a key fact that many of us have completely forgotten: WHO CARES? You’re different not by accident – but on purpose. Confidence and feeling good about yourself all come from within. Don’t let yourself worry about what others are thinking – because everything that you believe they are thinking, is actually what YOU are thinking about yourself. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is not to care, but it’s also the most rejuvenating. Breathe in the freshness of all that is you, because it’s great. Go do your silly dance in front of your students, because it is great. Go and be too noisy in your class, because it is great, and so are you.
Until next time! Thanks again for the great Flash Mob learning opportunity!
Anna.
I also thought the flash mob was pretty amazing. The dance teacher was really inspiring and I thought it was clever how she led us all through some simple dance steps. I keep trying to remember her exact instructions because I think it would be great to do something like that in a classroom. Even just a five minute flash mob break in between lessons once in awhile would be great.
I think for some students, who might feel self conscious about dancing, having the simple step instruction ( instead of just free dance time) makes the activity more accessible. Also, I was impressed how our flash mob instructor created an experience, which contained both personal freedom of expression and collaborative group work.
Hi Anna, I keep thinking about what you said earlier after school. We can do anything we want and we should try whatever we want to do. I always thought that I do not care how others think and live my life as I want. However, after reading your post, I have realized that I care about other people’s opinions a lot. Flash mob was very amazing expeience for me as well since it was my first time trying this. Espically, the idea of dancing in public, I never thought that I would be able to do this. I remember that I couldn’t stop laughing while I dance. I think it is very important for us to know that how we see ourselves is more important than how others see us. And we should enjoy more rather than worrying about others. I think flash mob insturcutor lead us to realize this important fact. I believe this positive experience will make us to create good PE class (or any other classes) in the future. We can guide children to be more active and have more fun in the class.