I saw a video reel of a café that offered free coffee to any customer who came in the shop dancing, and I immediately thought of a way to make Catholic Schools Week even more fun. I had previously been feeling a bit like the Catholic Schools Week Grinch or, perhaps more appropriately Scrooge, having scheduled a test this week. In the middle of a week in which the school designs special days and activities to celebrate our Catholic school community, I was requiring an essay and a test on pronoun reference! My students never complained, but this café’s video inspired me to offer them a treat.

     The day before the test, I told them that anyone who wanted to dance their way into the classroom would gain extra credit points on the test. The reaction was so positive to the idea of dancing in English Language Arts that I probably didn’t need the offer of extra credit. As I played a snippet of the song (‘Party in the USA”), students spontaneously stood up and started dancing!

     On test day, there was jockeying for position, and all of the students danced in and wrote their names on the board, some dancing in pairs and some in a solo performance, but all with great energy and huge smiles. Some 8 th graders even crashed the 7 th grade dance-in, unable to wait an hour until their class came in!

     I am not sure how the students did on the test, but their energy was infectious and fun. If a positive mindset helps performance as much as the experts say it does, I expect great results. In any case, the students have asked if they can dance their way into every test from now on!

Written By: Deacon Tom Lovett

Date Published: January 29, 2025