‘Tis the season for school morale to decrease. Most educators would describe this time as crazy and chaotic. Maybe it’s because of the weather. Maybe it’s because of standardized tests. Maybe it’s because we work with kids. Regardless of the reason, teachers need sometime to remain sane and a reminder that work really is AWESOME!
With all of that in mind, I thought a game of Beanboozled could do the trick! If you are not familiar with this game, allow me to explain. Jelly Belly has created an epic product that has mystery jelly beans in a package. Each bean has two options that look identical, however have very different flavors. For example, the green bean could be lime OR grass clippings. The white bean could be coconut OR spoiled milk. Now, you may be thinking, “oh those flavors aren’t that bad.” …. I can assure you Jelly Belly has TOTALLY nailed these flavor profiles. They taste exactly how the object smells. Did I mention one of options is strawberry-banana OR dead fish? For real..
I brought a package of these beans to teacher team time, got the game spinner online (there is an app also available), and offered beans to all my friends. Some were hesitant. One is pregnant and didn’t want to “upset the baby.” MmmmmHmmmm. Nice try. One was feeling sick already that day and they didn’t want to push them over the edge. Cop out. I did give them the option to opt out (which I didn’t love doing) but when it came down to actually playing, we all did it as a team, supporting each other through the “stinky socks” and “dog food” flavors.
We laughed. We gagged. We rooted each other on. We spit into trash cans. We had fun and the whole game only took a few minutes. I think we need that sometimes. We need to simply take a second to enjoy time with the people we work with and rely on each day. Not only does it help to develop rooted relationships, it also builds trust. And when you trust the people you work with so much awesome can happen!
Basically, nothing says teacher camaraderie like a game where we take gambles together and hope for the best. Because isn’t that what we do every single day in the classroom?
PS– This is also an incredible activity to do with a home room or advisory! Kids LOVE this game! It combines two of their favorite things: candy and disgusting stuff! What a great platform to talk about choices and weighing out options!
PPS– I ended up with a dead fish bean. It tasted like really, really bad sushi! It totally ruined my desire to have a Philly roll for 4 whole days! Just warning you….