What exactly is a hoe down, anyway? And why must we decorate with bales of hay?
The PTA generously sponsored the dance tonight, hiring me as the caller and a 4-person band.
Holy smokes. I called a barn dance tonight at a local elementary school. Kindergarten through 4th grade. At any one time, we had up to 75 kids and adults dancing. It was a huge group! What a success to entice SO MANY folks out on a stormy night! The ratio of adults to kids was probably around 1:3.
It felt much more like 1 :75. They were a noisy, talkative bunch.
I keep asking myself what I could have done differently to better command the attention of the crowd. But truly - it wasn't the kids who were disruptive, it was adults who were not modeling good listening skills. The adults wanted to socialize. Some parents participated. One parent was dancing -- circling to the left, circling back to the right - while texting! Another woman was talking on her phone. Others were not dancing, but were out on the dance floor taking pictures of their kids with their cell phones.
Before we ever started the dance, I thanked the parents in advance for their participation. I encouraged more to join in throughout the evening. But many, far too many adults never did join in. I have to figure this out. I have to find the words, the motivation - a way to get the parents involved with their kids and make it a truly family participatory event. We're going to do it again, and it will be better next time.
It felt much more like 1 :75. They were a noisy, talkative bunch.
I keep asking myself what I could have done differently to better command the attention of the crowd. But truly - it wasn't the kids who were disruptive, it was adults who were not modeling good listening skills. The adults wanted to socialize. Some parents participated. One parent was dancing -- circling to the left, circling back to the right - while texting! Another woman was talking on her phone. Others were not dancing, but were out on the dance floor taking pictures of their kids with their cell phones.
Before we ever started the dance, I thanked the parents in advance for their participation. I encouraged more to join in throughout the evening. But many, far too many adults never did join in. I have to figure this out. I have to find the words, the motivation - a way to get the parents involved with their kids and make it a truly family participatory event. We're going to do it again, and it will be better next time.
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