forever and a day

Wow,
It has been a long time since I have posted. Not as long as some interludes but long enough. I guess that since so much has been going on, it has been hard to just pick one thing to write about, and I have ADHD so I can't write about more than one thing without the syntax and paragraph structure going out the window.

I guess I will write about one of the two things that have been occupying my mind the most over the past week. Perhaps after that I may write about the other. (if I actually get that far before the first thing renders me completely unable to do anything but sit in a corner, rock back and forth, and call out for cinnamon apple sauce.)

I am working on my first programs as a real teacher. Last year I was in charge of the 6th grade Christmas Concert back in the Burro. I learned a lot, and I am so glad that Lynn made me do it, because I learn by trial and error.

You can say that I have learned by trial and error in this first program. Most of these errors have been because of the monster I like to call Misconception.

List of Misconceptions:

1. My students care about not looking foolish.
You may find it surprising, but some of my students actually do not care if they look foolish or not. They, in fact, would rather look foolish than please me. (disclaimer: this is a rare breed of student, and most of them were born with chips on their shoulders.)

2. My students do not want to have a program.
I didn't think that students would be excited for programs, simply because during the first few weeks of learning songs, my students feigned interest and scraped by in class with minimalist effort. I have been surprised to find that students actually get excited about their programs, but I have to sell them on the idea first. Instead of telling them, "Guys I am super excited about your new program!" I said, "This year's program is going to be about social skills so that you can learn more about how to be better citizens."

NEWS FLASH!!!

KIDS DO NOT CARE ABOUT BEING BETTER CITIZENS, THEY WANT TO MESS AROUND AND HAVE FUN!!! AND DO COOL DANCES!!! AND HAVE FUNNY LINES!!! AND STUFF.....

now i know that.

3. Students who do not speak English do not know what I am talking about.
I have a student, I will call him Rob, who speaks Mandarin and very little English. The thing is, He thinks that this is a good excuse to exude little effort and in general, dink around. He should be able to do the actions. You can wave your arms in any language, but he has chosen to follow the suite of the yahoos in his class who don't think that music is important.

NEWS FLASH FOR THEM!!!

MUSIC IS IMPORTANT TO ME!!!... IF YOU DINK AROUND IN MY CLASS YOU WILL NEVER GET TO DO ANYTHING FUN... EVER... IN A MILLION YEARS... AND YOU WILL NEVER TOUCH AN INSTRUMENT... AND YOU WILL NEVER SIT BY YOUR FRIENDS... AND YOU WILL NEVER EARN A BEHAVIOR NOTE... WHICH MEANS YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A CLASS PARTY...!

And they know it, oh how they know it.

As for other misconceptions, there are too many to be named. I do not want to sound completely negative. I have had a great time working with these kids on the songs and actions. My fourth graders are dancing around all day in the hallway. Yesterday I walked up on a fourth grade boy who was doing an east coast swing step in the hallway and shaking it, YES IT, for all IT was worth.

It was....er....precious....

For the most part, I feel good about my first program experience, now if only I can convince parents and students of that.