Doing my best to brighten this corner of the galaxy.
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Understandable. I see this as a relatively free-range and respectful way of socializing kids, more so than the standard approaches we see. But our own experiences will always color our perceptions and I’ve got no right to criticize someone if this sits differently for you than it does me. It looks like most of the kids were enjoying it and that’s my best evidence to suggest it’s a good thing.
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Right? Children just don’t thrive in a “do whatever you want” sort of situation. They don’t have to experience to know what choices to make.
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Just because life is unfair doesn’t mean it has to be devoid of anything that sparks joy or community.
I don’t think any of those kids would be happier if their teacher marched them in like a warden overseeing political prisoners at a reeducation camp.
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I’m sure this has been around for a while – and that many reams of thinkpieces about how awesome or terrible it is have already been penned – but I can’t find a reference older than 2019 after a brief search, and 2019 was only a couple of decades ago.
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We were doing it in my school by about 2018, I think.
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About four decades too late, but I appreciate the thought. Thank you.
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I was a dour, frightened, and angry little boy who would have loathed the touching or the dancing if those were the only options. But a wave or Vulcan salute mentioned by @the_borderer would’ve made this list ok by me and may have actually helped me through some of the things that contributed to the dour, frightened, and angry. As it stands, I was well into my 20s before I found a way to be myself that didn’t involve scaring others into seeing where I kept my boundaries. Even if this approach isn’t perfect, it’s nice to see people trying to thread that needle. And the effort makes me think she’d probably be more inclined to ask questions if a kid found any of these options unacceptable, rather than labeling the kid as a problem. And it’s never too late. 
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There could be a kid in class who’s absolutely having none of it, and walks straight past the teacher in a pout. I imagine the child would not be punished, however the teacher may announce to the class “Well it looks like [student name] got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning! Let’s all be extra nice to [student name] today!”
Yeah, that’ll get them.
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I think we saw 5 of 6: bow, hug, dance, fist-bump, and high-five. The sixth looks like a handshake to me.
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That’s engineering class.
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Ah, I may have missed the fist bump.
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Some professional environments foster joy more than others.
Fist bump for me: Pandemic, ya know.
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You don’t need to tell me that, I’m a college professor married to an elementary school teacher.
Just because an educator is able to express some semblance of warmth toward their students and enthusiasm for their work during the course of a 41-second video does not necessarily imply that said educator landed a gig at an institution that provides adequate pay and a respectful, low-stress working environment.
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Went to engineering school. Can confirm.
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What if I told you that 90% of a child’s time at school consists of doing mandated activities?
What if I told you that I, too, went to school?
