Weekly Review #7

As I mentioned in my lesson review, this week was somewhat hectic, though I enjoyed it and felt good about how it went. We had an in-school concert for the 5th and 6th grade choirs on Thursday that went well for the most part. The biggest difficulty I saw was the behavior of the students, the 6th graders in particular, who had to be bused over from the middle school. While I certainly expected talking and normal behavior for students that age, I was disappointed by their behavior during the concert. The silver-lining of that for me was the opportunity to exercise some authority and sharpen my classroom management and discipline skills. Two students in particular had a difficult time refraining from talking in between numbers and even making less obvious (one girl would turn around and they'd all lean in together). Multiple times during the concert I addressed it as far as telling them to stop, though looking back, I think the next time I may actually move at least one of the offending members. In the end, I discussed it afterwards with Mr. Suzelis and we decided some sort of consequence was in order. I decided, under the advice of Mr. Suzelis, to give them the "Choral Credo" writing assignment where the students copy down a list of commitments they are expected to follow in choir. During class, both of us addressed the behavior issue and our dissapointment in how they did and how it affected their performance. I personally took care of the two girls that had the biggest problems immediately after class. I had to laugh after I did it just because of the attitude they had while I was telling them what I wanted and that while I didn't want to have to write them up on Monday, I would if they didn't have the assignment by then. I guess I'll see what happens come Monday!

I still have a ways to go on classroom management, particularly in controlling talking out of turn. I realize I can't control everything, but I can still do better. All three of my general music classes will change after this coming week, so I'm anxious to see how the next group will be. My 6th grade general music class, as much as they challenge me sometimes, is a class I have really come to know and understand, so starting over with a new class (that will likely have a completely different personality) will be a challenge to say the least, especially given what Mr. Suzelis has mentioned about my students in each class.

I also wrote my first true test (though I have made up my own quizzes) for 6th grade general music. It went pretty well. My main worry is too much information and not enough review and internalization, but from what I have graded, the students did OK and I haven't noticed any consistent mistakes that would lead me to believe that I didn't teach a concept properly.