Art Survey: An Educational Journey or Required Torture?

I am horribly optimistic when it comes to teaching. I think maybe all first year teachers and interns are, but I mean I think I can do ANYTHING!

It's not my fault completely. In college they say "You can teach anything to anyone at any age if you find the right way to reach them".

And ready to set the world on fire, I jumped right on that bandwagon. I am busy teaching my 3rd graders genres like waltz and fanfare, and my kindergarteners rhythm and patterns. 

But this art survey class is a special challenge. I can not get my pacing down pat. This class is 11th grade non-music readers (except for a couple of band students), and there are not that many of them. I was READY TO START, and since this class is a half a year class, it started when I got there. So I took it over from the beginning.

Now this class is supposed to cover basic music reading and understanding, and then it moves through basic music history for the last 2 months. However, I started creating a pacing guide and then became overcome with excitement. I FLEW through reading music. Those kids did not have any hats, as it is against school policy, but if they did they would have had to hold on to them while I made them learn EVERYTHING I could possibly cram into one lesson.

 

A hurricane of Music Theory comes to devastate the land

I did not want them to be bored, so when I felt like they had a grasp on something I moved on. I'm not saying this was wrong, because the students still have a strong understand of everything we have done. But it may have been overwhelming, and this class is not supposed to be a core academic class. I am not trying to belittle art survey, but it is supposed to be a mild class and I maaaaay have turned up the heat.

 

 Now that I can look back at my lessons and see just how much I crammed in there, I realize I did not make it interesting, I just kept a constant flow of information going. 

So now I have a new goal: less pumping them full of facts and figures every day, more tailoring the learning to what they want to know. 

So after the last quiz on Friday, I asked them what they wanted to know. These were the respsonses I got:

Student 1: "French composers? I'm in a quiz bowl and no one on our team knows about French composers, and they always ask 4 or 5 questions about them."
Me: "Okay, what era of French composers?"
Student 1: "I don't know...all of them?"
Me: "Is there a set time period? Like what years?"
Student 1: "I don't know... all of them?"
Me: "That's like 1500 years of recorded history. We can not possibly cover all of that."
Student 1: "......so, is that a yes or a no?"

Student 2: "Have you seen American Horror Story?"
Me: "What?"
Student 2: "American Horror Story? It's a show."
Me: "Uh, I mean I've heard of it, but I've never watched it. Why? What does that have to do with music history?"
Student 2: "Well, there's this girl, and she plays this thing and it goes like this (begins moving his hands all around) and it makes like the Halloween noises. You know what I mean?"
Me: ".....what?"
Student 2: "Like, she's this girl, and it's got like this stick thing and it makes Halloween noises."
Me: "Okay, I guess I can look that up....."

Student 3: "Do we have to learn about art too?"
Me: "Yes. Music, Art, and maybe even some Dance.
Student 4: "I love dance!"
Student 3: "This sounds boring."
Me: "Well, I'll try and keep it fresh."

Student 2: "Can you bring in a didgeridoo?"
Me: "I can try. They're really big instruments though."
Student 2: "Cool. Also, what is yodeling?"
Me: "I'll have to look it up."

Student 5: "Was Bach an artist or a music person"
Me: "Bach was a composer."
Student 5: "Aww man, student 3, you were right."
Student 4: "Did Da Vinci write music or did he just paint?"
Student 2: "He invented a helicopter! And was an Assassin in Assassin's Creed."
Me: "He was a painter and inventor, but no music background there."
Student 2: "And assassin. In Assassin's Creed."

Student 4: "Are we going to learn about Donatello?"
Me: "Yes, eventually."
Student 4: "What about Rafael?"
Me: "Are you just going through the ninja turtles?"
Student 4: "....."
Whole class laughs. 

This went on for quite some time, and eventually I realized I was giving them too much freedom. They do not know what they are supposed to learn, so how will they know what parts we should focus on? So now here I sit, writing a lesson plan, hoping I can keep their attention at least for a little while.

I do not have high hopes for this first lesson. It's unfortunately about Gregorian Chant.

But I know I do not have to go in depth, as long as I can get them to learn what they need to to build on that. I know without a good foundation they will crumble like a powerline in a hurricane. Time to sloooooow down, even if it means extra work on my part to keep them interested.

Kindergarten- Learning to Expect the Unexpected

We have already delved a little into my analysis on the minds of the kindergarteners.

But this week has truly opened my eyes to the terror of the mind of a kindergartner.

Let me explain: This week we are discussing the differences in loud and soft. So my friends and fellow interns sent me lesson plans, just as I send them lesson plans, and I combed through some of the elementary school ones to find some cool things about loud and soft, and one of my friends had a neat game similar to heads up seven up. A little worried the students would take this tiny break from routine and use it to burn the music room to the ground, I have decided to brave it any way. 

MONDAY:

Starts out well. We sing Hakuna Matata and get louder and softer. Kids are eating it up. They love singing quietly and keep giggling. So far so good. Then I tell them that we are going to play a game, and if they want to play a game. We all agree as a class that if this gets too loud that we have to stop playing. They are literally shaking with excitement. I was not sure that was a good omen. But we begin.

Grizzly Bear, Grizzly Bear, sleeping in a cave,

Please be very quiet, please be very quiet,

If you wake him, if you shake him, HE GET’S MAD

And other than being too loud on the “he gets MAD”, the students loved it. They got a little bored toward the end, but I had to give everyone a turn to keep it fair. And ultimately, it was a little noisy, but successful. We went on with the lesson happy and in peace.

 

So far smooth sailing...

TUESDAY:

Starts out well enough, the class is behaving very well. And they love the game, and play it quietly. They also getting a little bored toward the end. But we keep it together, and the whole lesson went so well I could not even believe it. It was very unnerving, I just kept waiting for the moment of chaos. But none came.

 

We are still all friends

 

WEDNESDAY:

Today’s class is normally very similar to yesterday’s class, so I have high hopes for the lesson. We begin and they do a great job. I am so proud, and then we start the game. And they start getting weird. People start laying down on the ground and I don’t know why. And when the grizzly bear wakes up, one kid growled and from then on they all start to growl. This should have been my warning signal, like a beacon flashing “WARNING! WARNING!” 

 

But I laughed good naturedly. There is a little boy in the class who has been tested and did not test anywhere on the autism spectrum, but clearly struggles with his behavior. He is a great student though, and he loves music class. So in this class I just have to make sure he is on task and focuses, which means sometimes I cannot watch the rest of the class with the same intensity I do my other classes. And they start to go a little wild, and I try and reign it in. Now I have 4 kids on the floor pretending to be asleep, and one girl who is normally very good cackling like a hyena in the bear seat. 

 

I'm not sure why this post is now Lion King themed....

 

I get everyone to be completely silent and let her close her eyes. When we get to the end she jumped up out the chair growling furiously. In my initial shock she took the opportunity to attack the students around her, knocking down 3 kids before I could stop her. 
Confused, she shrugged and told me that’s what bears did. 

 

Someone has watched too much Brave... 

 

Confused, she shrugged and told me that’s what bears did. 

She did not get to play the rest of the game. 

I have a new plan of action for my next class, which is normally the worst behaved class of the week.

Come on Kindergarten. Cut me some slack.

THURSDAY:

Today’s class was very good for what we normally encounter. I only had to be serious with them once about the volume. I tried to make the Bear game go by more quickly by having students only do either the poking OR the bear instead of letting them do both. This. Went. Horribly. One kid started sobbing because he did not get to be the bear, and another said that this whole world was unfair (because he did not get to be the poker). The drama continued until I ended the game and we moved on to singing again.

I just cannot win with these kids.

I did some research and found a teacher who only does like 6 or 7 turns, and she keeps a bucket of sticks in her room that have two different colored ends. She pulls your stick and flips it to one color when you have had a turn, that way everyone gets a turn eventually. Students eventually understand the system, and apparently the results are fantastic.

We will see about that.

I guess I am making sticks this weekend.

I have no idea what bounces around in those tiny noggins, nor do I think I will ever understand it. But I will adapt, and we will get a system that works for everyone!!!

 

All I know is: The whole world is unfair.

Field Trips from the Other Side

Something I always enjoyed about school was the day we got to miss for field trips. It didn't matter why; band trips, honor roll trips, etc. Teachers could not be mad at you, because you were not skipping classes. You were simply at an off-campus school function. And it was glorious.
So today we went on our first field trip.
What I learned from ALL of my education classes is there is nothing worse than field trips. Kids scream and run and you want to pull all of your hair out and basically quit your job the very next day.

 

But I, like the students, thought missing a day but getting credit for being there sounded like an awesome plan. And we were going to see The Dallas Brass, which I wanted to do anyway. So we took our sixth and seventh graders and got them on the bus. Immediately, I knew we had to lay down the law. I stood up and told them that if I was standing up, they were silent, because I would not stand up if I did not have something important to say. I got this line from my co-operating teacher. She knows how to get a bus full of students quiet, so I knew she would never steer me into disaster. 

Sure enough, the bus was silent, and except for a couple of times of reminding some students to lower their voices, we were set and ready to go.

THE CONCERT. WAS. AWESOME.

I almost expected it to be a little bit boring to the students, but the guy entertained like no one else. The students kept looking back, as if to say "Are you seeing this too???"

                          

They clapped, they recognized the songs, they heard the crisp clean tones, and ate up every second of it. It was fantastic. And even though it was very chilly and pouring rain, it was worth the damp hair and runny make-up to see the kids face when the trumpeter came down to give them high fives. It was hilarious. 

    So ultimately, it was a lot of work. Taking roll, counting heads, spending the whole concert watching them and not the brass, running all over in the rain to make sure I had everyone on the bus. But in the end, the great concert and the looks on their faces made it worth it.

I did learn, however, several things I did not remember from middle school. 

• Kids will eat. Like until they run out of money. So when given the option to choose restaurants, they will get large fries and milkshakes from McDonalds, then a Subway Sub, then a box of cookies from Publix, then gum. I know. I watched it happen. But overall, it did not cause any problem, except the nausea I felt from watching them. 
• Kids will get excited and then not be able to process their emotions, and will exert their excitement by saying weird things like "PI TIMES PI TIMES PI SQUARED PLUS APPLE EQUALS APPLE PIEYEYEYEYE"
• Kids will not do anything unless you ask them specifically. Instead of emptying the rows one by one, it will immediately become priority number 1 to get out of their seat and out of the row before everyone else, even if that is logistically impossible. You have to release them row by row.
• Kids sense of wonderment at concerts will remind you why you got into music education in the first place.

So, today was a lot of fun. Now to focus all of our energy on making sure MPA goes well. My co-operating teacher is in charge for our district, so it's list making and folder stuffing for me!

 

Student Teaching: The Journey Begins

So as February begins, I have to stop and realize I am 25% done with my internship. And here are the important lessons I have learned thus far:

Top Ten Things Future Teachers Need to Know:

1. You will cry over you students. Not every day, or even very often, but it will happen. Sometimes it will be in your car in the long journey home because after a whole day of begging them to listen to you and staying up all night to work on lesson plans, they spend the day ignoring you. Sometimes it will be a quick tear after a student with a bad home life comes in with eyes full of tears because all they want to do is play music and they can not afford to get their instrument fixed. More often than not, they will be tears of laughter over a kid using profanity or saying something insane and you're relaying the story to your mother. But tears are a part of the territory.

2. Students want to learn, but they also want to play Flappy Bird. And you can't blame them, you also want to play Flappy Bird, but you (unlike them) recognize the importance of class time. And it is easy to say "We must be more interesting in Flappy Bird! We must engage the students!", but actually doing this require more effort than you think. Flappy Bird is pretty interesting.

3. It does not matter that you were in high school only 4 years ago, you sooooo do not understand how important prom is or how awful it was when another girl was jealous of your boyfriend and tries to fight you in the halls. You get a lot of eye rolls.

4. It completely matters that you were in high school only 4 years ago. What do you know? You can't possibly have learned that much in 4 years, and you look like maybe you could even still be in high school. So they do not need to listen to you, because it is basically like a peer teaching the class.

5. Elementary school was a strange time in our lives we do not seem to remember. Especially kindergarten. Do not over analyze kindergarten, for your brains will melt. In kindergarten, it does not matter that they beg to listen to Frozen and so you reward them with a song, they will cry. They will cry because their classmates are not listening to them sing, or that was not the song they wanted to hear, or it was the song they wanted to hear but they also want to hear all of the others, or you did not tell them they had the prettiest singing voice. They will cry more often than you anticipate, and often without warning. It's disarming to go from laughing together and having a great time singing music to sobbing uncontrollably for no known reason. Why, Kindergarteners? Why?

6. 3rd graders just want to be anywhere but in 3rd grade. And can you blame them? They are not cute like the kindergarteners, so no one fawns over them; they're not in 5th grade, so no one is giving them speeches on their bright future and unity. So what is the point? They're the red headed step-children of elementary grades, and they know it. You have to take extra time to make sure you do not leave them out.

7. Middle School: still not sure what is going on their. They may be the red-headed step children of the world. They are awkward and full of dramatic plot-lines. I just want to document one school day, translate it to Spanish, and create a best-selling novela. They just want to be loved, and they will wring it out of you like a sponge.

8. You have to know what to do if time runs short. And I do not mean have a back-up list that you can reach into like a memory piggy bank. I mean like your lessons should exceed the amount of time you have, especially if it is your first year teaching. Because there is nothing more terrifying than running short on your lesson in a kindergarten class, because THE SECOND you stop talking their minds are somewhere else. So you can not hesitate, you can not even say "Let's see here..." You have to just jump in to a new activity. I HAVE A THEORY THEY CAN SMELL FEAR.

9. Packing a lunch is a hassle. You never think about it the night before. You think about band and what you need to work on and conducting, and then you think of games and keeping kids interested. And by the time you think about lunch, you're laying in bed almost asleep. And then you tell yourself you will get up on time in the morning and you will have time to make a lunch. And then in the morning you keep hitting snooze and then your lunch is a box of crackers and a banana.

10. You will become a bag lady. You will begin with a medium size tote bag. What a glorious bag it is! It hold your laptop, your lesson plans, your papers, the worksheets for class. What joy! But then you begin to add things, scores, ukuleles, books. Suddenly you need another bag, and then another. You have a lunch bag, a bag for books, a bag or instruments and things, and the bags just keep on coming.

 

Ultimately, this crazy journey will be the best thing that ever happened to you, and you will have some great stories to share. Just remember that some days are bad, but the good days make them worth it. The smile a student gives you when you share a good day, or when they finally understand what you have been working on; the laughter of those crazy elementary schoolers; getting to be the person who introduces Aladdin to a new generation, these things keep you going. You just keep moving forward.