Day 15 - It's not fishy at all!

For the first day of the school professional development session we looked at the Fish philosophy. I first heard of it in the school context last week and watched the video again to see how a Fish philosophy can be transferred to a school context. Fish Philosophy video

The Fish philosophy is simple. It is based on the Pike Market in Seattle, where fish sellers liven up the market with stunts, smiles and a positive attitude towards customers. As a child I used to hate the idea of going to the fish market. The first time I experienced it, was in Mumbai where my uncle was posted and I just couldn't take the smells, sounds or the sight. I detested the experience. So much so that to date, at our house, Micky buys the fish for us, from the fresh fish section. (I am happy buying it from the frozen section though!)

And then I watched the fish market in Seattle! Seriously, it looked like a fun place! I saw salmons 'flying' around the place, someone trying to resuscitate a fish and give it CPR, fish tasting, fish photography and in general people enjoying the experience. It is a fish market, it is a job that stinks (literally!) and the task can be mindless, repetitive and boring. However the sellers make the whole place come alive with their attitude. It is remarkable indeed.

Christensen developed the Fish philosophy after being inspired by the fish sellers in this market. What I like about this philosophy is, that it is simple and do-able in different contexts and follows these four essential ideas:

• Play
• Be there
• Choose your attitude
• Make someone's day

So how can we use it in a school or a classroom context?
Play - Enjoy yourself, be creative, bring a fun element in to the day to day work, take the children out for an outdoor lesson, use hands-on stuff, bring in humour in conversations and readings (Horrible Histories, Horrible Science series is my favourite!), have fun! The rigour and the depth does not get compromised because fun is an element. A joke with the class, a trick to help them take life less seriously, a competitive game, a creative task, all adds to the fun element. Of course, play needs to be culturally sensitive and it needs to be ensures that diversity is respected.

Be there - Listen. Be engaged. This will help identify teachable moments. Be there to listen to their problems. Solve little problems so they don't become big problems.

Choose your attitude -- Smile. Be positive. This is surprisingly the most difficult one in my opinion. In spite of it being a seeming no-brainer, it becomes so easy for us to go downhill. Gossip groups, complaints groups, are simple to be in, require less energy to start with......... till they start devouring the positive energy and happiness! And then it is too difficult to get out! Talk about it to the children. (This reminds me of my Giggles and Grumps Board. Children used to write their grumps to get it out of their system and become positive and they used to write their giggles to spread the positivity. It worked!)

Make someone's day - In a school this is one of the easiest and yet the most difficult things to do. Children need a smile, a caring reassurance, a sticker, an achievement award, an acknowledgement, a compliment... it invigorates... and needs to be done.

My challenge is to try and follow these four points in context of teachers, parents and children, in my role.

Fingers crossed!