In reality, I live for those four periods a day where I can stand in front of my girls and discuss with them what my expectations are, both musically and behaviorally. I love building my little communities of dedicated musicians and watching them begin to invest in this group and music overall. I love hearing their voices and being inspired by their enthusiasm, already getting ideas of where to go next. I love when they talk to me after class about whatever is going on in their lives because after two days, we've already begun to trust each other.
Today, after outlining my classroom goals (as stated in "Getting Oriented") and rules (Do what's RIGHT!) I asked them to do two things: 1) write a note to themselves about their choir goals and put it in a sealed envelope to open at the end of the year; and 2) write to me what we need to be successful in choir (expectations/rules) and what they hope to get out of choir this year (personal goals). I plan to print out key words and post them around my posters. Here are my favorite things they said (in their words):
Expectations: Complement people as much as we can, be more strict on myself, include everyone, emotionally be ready to sing, to be able to go out of our comfort zone to sing, give others chances, be a leader, no snide comments about classmates!, listen to other students, to not interrupt to go to the bathroom, don't give up if you don't sing well or make a mistake, don't laugh at other people singing, give 110%, save gum for after choir, don't stop when it gets difficult or when I mess up, laughter is always good, try your best even if your day hasn't gone well, try to grow as a choir family, include others in small groups, invest
Goals: AMAZING concerts!, I want to become a better singer and not be shy about singing alone in front of people, be better counter, master handsigns, overcome stage fright, get to know Ms. Purscell better, Sing Loud Be Proud, have fun! :], have a good sound as a whole, try out and maybe get into Opus, sing as a community, to improve my voice even though I am really good now, sing more smoothly and with more vibrato, to be comfortable singing in front of peers and Ms. P., have a better head voice, make looooooong vowels, do the scale do re mi fa sol, be myself, make my voice better and be a leader
And my personal favorites--Side notes to Ms. Purscell: Ps. I like your shoes; PS: I am very scared to sing by myself in front of everyone, but I will do it if you ask, p.s. You seem really nice
6th grade at Creek has been a completely different beast. The first day was a little rough and felt really slow, like we didn't accomplish anything. However, after looking at my plans for that day, I realized we got through everything I planned to do... it just felt like it took forever. 103 side conversations add up quickly....
...which is what I kept reminding them today whenever noise got out of hand! They got quicker at focusing front each time I said it. I don't know if it was the fact that I was more prepared/organized today or if it was because it was a different group, but today's group felt much easier to teach. I'm determined to make sixth grade choir my favorite.
Anyway, it's a good thing I like my job... because so far I'm not so in love with living in Cedar Rapids. I keep reminding myself some wise words I was once told: "It takes time to make new best friends." Oh well, all will be better once I get my cat :)
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