In the age of viral videos, it now seems inevitable at the end of each school year: teacher lipsyncs appear on schools’ social media channels. The end-of-school lip sync is common enough that I don’t need to embed example videos in this post—just do a search or watch the Twitter feeds of schools in your community.

I’ll admit my bias upfront: I’m not a singer, dancer, or performer of any sort, and I’m deliberate before any video including my credit is posted online. I also try hard to embed media skills and literacy in every class that I teach. I’m not sure that our students are learning enough about the channels on which our political leaders are communicating, and I’m not sure parents are thinking critically enough about how and what they post. Those questions sometimes keep me up so late at night that I simply wouldn’t have enough energy to dance for a video at work.

But one late May night, after watching a few of the 2019 batch of end-of-year teacher dubs (seemingly all to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling”), I started to worry. I’m teaching photography and video at a new school, and I’ve been choreographing the new-teacher dance called “yes” all year long. Can I take photos of 30+ teachers in costume and print these in time for the weekend’s dance? Yes. Coach students to create a video of the preschool graduation? Of course (and how cute). Assembly videos? Retirement videos? Teach a group of [math/history/language/etc.] students how to make [documentaries/memes/photo galleries] and keep the lab open late so they can finish their projects? You betcha.

While taking a weekend breath from that dance, I want to put my readers on notice: If I’m ever asked to create an end-of-year teacher lip sync video celebrating the kickoff to summer, I will voice reservations and questions, and may even utter the dreaded “no.”

Here are five important questions that I wish schools would ask before making the decision to create and share a “fun” video of dancing teachers on social media as a kickoff to a holiday or summer.

1. Will the video really be a team builder? I’ve been asked several times to act/dance in these videos during my teaching career—sometimes by colleagues, sometimes by school leaders, and often with a twinge of performance pressure in the invitation email. “Let’s do this fun thing as a team,” the note—which usually arrives in the middle of a very busy week—suggests.

Has that team already been built and cemented through activities related that support pedagogy, curriculum, and professional growth (you know—what teachers do)? Does every staff member in the school have the encouragement, support, and time to be involved? Or does the video rely on volunteer efforts of outgoing teachers who somehow make time to show up for everything?

It’s also important to remember that not every teacher feels comfortable dancing on a video that will be posted on YouTube, and no one should begrudge a colleague  for that decision. No one should feel excluded from participation, and no one should feel pressured to participate. Sound impossible? Then so is the promise that this project will help school staff to understand each other better.

2. Will the video be inclusive? To an outside audience—because, after all, YouTube is very public—will your school’s video paint a picture of a diverse and inclusive staff? In the 2015-2016 school year, over 80% of teachers were white, according to federal data. What does that ratio look like in your school? Could every student in the school—or every potential audience member for your proposed video—find a staff member in the video with whom they expect they will connect?

If there is any doubt to the answer, perhaps spend the time that might be spent on choreographing dance moves instead considering ways to make sure every learner feels welcome, from first impressions to the last day of school.

3. Have you consistently used media tools throughout the year to showcase learning? Here’s a gauge: Have you used your school’s videos, cameras, and social media to showcase the awesome classrooms and engaged students of at least half of the teachers who volunteer to welcome summer with dance moves? Will a viewer find a YouTube channel full of lessons, projects, performances, and student-centered celebrations?

If not—maybe set it as a goal to share their primary work first. A well-produced video that documents a quality lesson or project outcome is valuable for the teacher’s portfolio, great for students and parents to share as a demonstration of learning, and might better represent the real substance of your school.

 4. Does the video fairly represent how teachers really spend their summers? According to an analysis by Economic Policy Institute, the average wages of public school teachers, adjusted for inflation, have decreased over the last two decades, while the weekly wages of other college graduates have risen. Nearly one in five public school teachers work summer jobs, according to an analysis of federal data, and half of those jobs are outside the field of education. Atop summer employment, many teachers spend summer working on necessary professional development, often at their own expense.

Consider this question: As outside audiences watch a video of teachers cavorting to a pop song, will they think that those teachers deserve any less compensation because of their “summer months off” ahead? If so—maybe a realistic portrayal of what summer is like for an early- or mid-career educator would be more fair.

5. Can you be certain that summer is a joyful occasion for all? This May 2018 column, “Enough With the ‘End of Year’ Countdowns’ by 2018 Missouri Teacher of the Year Darbie Valenti presents a succinct and meaningful perspective. Remembering the abuse she experienced as a child, Valenti writes, “This is how I know that once school is dismissed not all children get to go home to fun family vacations, days spent at the pool or even homes where regular meals are served.”

It takes a big step towards empathy to remember that not all students will experience the joyful exuberance you intend to portray in your sendoff video. It’s important to put yourself in the shoes of a student who might be dreading summer. How will it feel to watch your teachers celebrating that they won’t see you for two months, throwing your papers in the air? What if, instead of spending effort on planning for a viral video, your staff focused on making Valenti’s advice feel viral: “Send them off on the last day of school with enough love and validation to last through the entirety of summer vacation.”

If you read this far, you might think that I’m a buzzkill, and some of my students and colleagues might not argue that point. Yet few dispute that I also get geekily excited about meaningful and relevant education.

Look me up if you’re eager to use media tools to share some great learning—I’ve seen so many wonderful classes, projects, and teachers, and would love to help celebrate all of this using fancy cameras and mics. I’d also be “all-in” for end-of-year media that promotes empathetic understanding between students and teachers—with solid production value. Here’s a thoughtful one from Teach for America that made this grinch’s small heart grow a size or two. 

However, over the last fifteen years of teaching, I’ve learned that sometimes the most important stance you can take is a principled and reasoned “no.” I’m practicing my response for if I ever hear Timberlake echoing down the hall.