Teach Like A Theme Park?

It’s no secret I have been to quite a few theme parks this Summer with my preadolescent children.  It’s just the perfect age to take advantage of the fun that theme parks can offer.

But since I have been to 4 different theme parks this Summer, I have noticed that although each park offers similar attractions, they all have a different style of crowd control and decorum.

All are concerned with fairness, safety, enjoyment, and cleanliness.

Immediately I started comparing these same ideals to teaching and the classroom atmosphere.  It’s hard to turn the teacher in me off ya’ll.  Since you are spending your Summer reading blog posts then I don’t have to explain this…

So without getting myself in trouble mentioning theme park names, I will just say that some theme parks take an aggressive approach to ensure you know their expectations before during and after every step you take.

 I believe in setting expectations, but even little ones begin to feel underestimated for their ability to follow the rules when being told and retold.

The next step?  Insert eye rolling, loss of motivation for  the task,  and even rebellion.  If you are told not to touch something 20 times in a span of 2 minutes well…it starts to sound like a challenge.

Other theme parks have a loving approach that make you feel special and cared for while still keeping you safe and following the rules. {aka not falling to your death, or disembarking a ride incorrectly}

  It’s pretty obvious if you aren’t going to fit your entire party in a ride, if you go the wrong way, or if you should wait to get out of the ride until it releases the giant safety bar.

Likewise, when we are praised and acknowledged for what we figure out on our own, we not only take ownership of our learning, but our motivation to continue the positive pattern escalates!

If we are made to feel special at whatever our level of ability is, we want to continue that positive pattern as well!

Certain employees were sweet and cheerful no matter what level our theme park savvy meter was on and we strived to be better and more efficient each time we visited.

It was a major A-HA moment for me.  {plus I was stuck in some lines over an hour with nothing to do but observe and think like a teacher}

  Am I overly controlling when I don’t need to be?
Do I give students credit for figuring out the right way to do something without being told and retold?  Do I make all my students feel special no matter what their ability level?

I sure hope I do, but this was a such a reminder to be a top notch theme park employee to my students!

Small differences were BIG to us!

Smiling, Eye contact, Asking a personal question, Clarifying rather than just repeating orders, complimenting,  and tone of voice.

Now of course teaching and classrooms are different from amusement parks.  We need structure and behavior systems.  We can’t have a free for all and expect students to come away with all the knowledge by chance.

We do have students that could potentially be a danger to themselves and others.

 We know that setting expectations is proactive and just plain necessary.  But which approach do we tend to use?

Do we allow frustrations from the past to change the way we treat the students we teach presently?

My theme park experience just enabled me to be in a situation where I was not in control, I didn’t know everything, and I needed guidance at times.  I felt like a student!

I wanted to find an employee that taught me what I needed to know in a loving way while treating me like an intelligent person at the same time.  When I did find this treatment I walked away with a smile, a sense of calm, and a plan of action for my next endeavor. {a frozen lemonade, soft pretzel, and a churro too}