The History of Formal Friday

Ever since October 2008, Fridays have been a special day for my classes.  One Friday in October of 2008, I was greeting my students as they entered our classroom, and I noticed one of my students was wearing a suit and tie.  I asked him why he was so dressed up and he explained to me that his dad had "Casual Fridays" because he had worn formal attire all week.  The student then said to me that he should therefore have "Formal Fridays" because he wore casual attire all week.  I was struck by the originality of the idea, the confidence he demonstrated, and also, the amazing ripple effect.  Soon, each of my students began asking if they could put their own spin on our new classroom tradition.  We, of course, set up our norms and procedures for the day so as to not disturb our learning and the learning of others.  I was so excited that our class had created a new tradition, one that anyone in the school could be a part of if they chose, and that it brought our class together as well.  Ever since that day, "Formal Fridays" or "Tie Day Fridays" (the name it was given at Captain), have been a part of our classroom community.  Students are welcome to wear ties on Fridays.  I have a class set as well in case any students may forget or want to borrow one from me.  At the same time, wearing a tie is completely optional.  Many students may choose to not wear a tie, and it is completely each student's choice.  We celebrate everyone's choice to participate or not participate each Friday.  As I had stated above, we also have our norms and procedures for the day, as the tie is reminder to us to be professional and focused in our learning without any distraction.  The tie is also a reminder to always be original and let innovative and creative thinking shine through each day.  Our class has chosen to carry on the tradition, and I look forward to seeing our class make the tradition their own.  I look forward to posting a whole class picture soon of our "Formal Fridays" together!