In many circles the class clown is the one who is overcompensating for his lack of understanding of the material by making foolish comments. This is how I always understood this phenomenon, of putting yourself out there to get into trouble because at least you were receiving social praise with waves of laughter before being sent to time out or the principals office. Not knowing the material in school AND not being funny either would be a life almost unbearable to live for many children....so if you don't understand the schoolwork then why not just be funny? Problem fixed. Let the friends and social moral begin to heal those wounds. How many times have you heard that....I was not the smart one in school, but I was the funny one!
But in my Kinder class, my class clown happens to be the smartest kid in the class. Now, when this thought crossed my mind another followed..."Is he bored with my class, and therefore he is acting out?" Well the answer is No, as he is still challenged by the material I realized, but he is far advanced when it comes to reading, writing, and oral communication. But he is the one that does funny dances when I turn around, or repeats things his friends say in a funny voice, and loud laughs ripple across my classroom. I often discipline him, give him warnings, take away his stars, and it doesn't matter. He is a major goofball and it makes others in my class be super naughty too, as they then mimic him in hopes to receive the same social praise of laughter out of every child's mouth. It doesn't help that I absolutely LOVE this child and think he is just so adorable, and sometimes his silly laughter is even contagious to me! The teacher falling for his goofy routines is NOT an option when you are trying to discipline 7 year olds. Today he came to school for the first time in a week. I needed to teach him a new dance for our play next week, as we now only have ONE day for him to learn it. I was very eager for him to do so, so I wouldn't worry about how things would go when we perform it on Tuesday. So I hoped for the best and that his serious side would show up today.
I should have known when he came into the classroom, a huge smile on his face and receiving a huge welcome from the children, that he was going to be trouble. And wouldn't you know it, he laughed, danced, and joked the entire 20 minutes we practiced our play. I began to have a premonition of him doing this class clown act on stage on Tuesday and my boss having a complete meltdown in the wings of the stage. .....And then I started to smile. His mother just happened to send him to school in a shirt that said "I am loved," and I kept thinking, "UGHHHH YOU ARE! That's why I'm not annoyed by this whole charade, it just makes me love you more!" This kids naughty little smile is so contagious, and his behavior is just a gamble, so why worry about it? Of course all of the other children around him began to dance around, laugh, and joke and so I just stopped rehearsing. I pulled him to the side and had this talk with him:
"You need to really work on behaving when we practice on Monday because that will be the last day we can practice before we perform on Tuesday! I can't have you messing around like this. You won't learn everything in time."
His response: "Nooooo. I can practice on Saturday and Sunday and then Monday too." (so smart)
Me: "Well yes, thats true, but Monday is the last time you can practice with your friends, OK?"
He let out a giggle, with a big smile and gave me a hug then proceeded to get his things to go home. I was so tickled by the whole thing that I just ran over and kept giving him hugs and kisses until he said "Ughhhhh Ms.Nikki!"
That lovable, smart, good for nothing, naughty little boy! He gets under my skin so bad, but mostly he has gotten into my heart. What will I ever do without him?
Bless..
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