Yesterday was Field Day. I spent most of the day outside. It was 95°. The low the night before was 70° (so is wasn’t even cool in the morning). There was blue sky from horizon to horizon. I still wore my button-up with a bow tie, the same thing I wear to school every day.

Because… consistency.

I’ve written about consistency before in Your Students Secretly Hate Vacations and Is Your School Year Winding Down or Winding Up, and it holds true for things like Field Day. As an assistant principal there’s a good change that on a very-different, less-structured day I’m going to have a chat with one my regulars, one of my friends who really relies on the consistency we’ve taken away from them today.

Will that conversation be more productive if look like I do every other day, or if I’m wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers? No doubt consistency, predictability, will make it a more productive conversation where I can help get the student back to Field Day activities as soon as possible.

So, no matter the day, you know what I’ll be wearing.

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Side Note: To be clear, I have no qualms about my teachers wearing shorts, t-shirts, and sneakers for Field Day. They play a different role in the success of the day, and dressing for success and what’s best for kids sometimes look different for teachers and administrators.