First Day of School/Smiley thing

Woke at 5:00 in the morning. Banged on the wall to wake my daughter up. Heat water and did a cup of coffee. Got dressed and then brought my daughter to her school and then went on to work. This is my first day of school, and this will be  the pattern for the next 200+ school days.

The Department of Education launched its new gimmick: the "your smile is your uniform" thing which aims to promote smiling among the teachers. According to the Department's think tank, smiling teachers promotes better learning among the pupils since it relaxes them; it lessens the tension in the classroom.  

So, each teacher is now wearing a smiley pin on their uniform. I kinda like the idea, but I don't know if it would work. Personally, I rather would not smile in class.

It would really be nice for a teacher to walk in a classroom smiling and exuding that aura of positivity and fun while the pupils are all smiling back, being respectful and exuding that aura of angelic benevolence, etc. But that's not the reality.

I have tried smiling on my first teaching days in public schools. I tried singing Sunday School songs and promoting peace and love and God's grace to my pupils, but the pupils just made fun of me and made my life miserable. 

The teachers, their smiles, their religious benevolence and what have you and all the psychological theories and understandings and all that stuff, unfortunately cannot undo, or cannot even alleviate the dysfunctional environment from which some pupils grew up with. I mean this is kinda bleak, but one has got to be in the classroom firsthand to know what I'm talking about.

But of course, there are pupils who respond to smiles very well. But...anyway, it's a progressive thing: I'd rather keep a poker face which may or may not develop into a smile rather than keeping a smile, a mad dog smile that bites or something. 

I would rather keep a blank expression on my face because pupils especially among the lower sections would consider a smile as a sign of kindness which, to them, means that they can "bully" the teacher. Anyway, I have always been a smiling teacher...well, maybe it's a good idea after all. We'll see.

Am I making any sense?