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.