In like a lamb and out like a lion...

       My first full week of school. It is hard to know where to begin because SO MUCH happened between Monday and Friday. We had Open House where I met the parents and learned why my students are the way they are. :-) There was a line outside my door that didn't die down all night. Everybody wanted to check out the new music teacher. Some had sweet things to say like, "My kid didn't think he'd like choir but now it's his favorite class!" or "She sang all last night and wanted to tell us everything she learned!". A couple of parents even said that their kids described me as "fashionable". Haha! Other parents wanted to tell me how the last choir teacher did things or tell me how to do my job. That part wasn't fun. At the end of the night, I was probably the most tired that I've ever been. I thought my face was going to crack in two from all the smiling.
       In the classroom, we started the week learning new warm-ups, working on some simple part-singing canons, and talking about posture/breathing. The kids did a listening activity with the Jackson 5 song, "ABC", that they really liked. The kids were talkative and every class had one or two minor disruptions that I had to deal with, but most things went smoothly. If I told them to get quiet, they would. I got to know most everybody's names by Wednesday. On Thursday, we started our music for our first concert. I have the seventh and eighth graders already singing in three part harmony. My sixth grade classes are singing harmony in a round-style song. So exciting! The sixth graders were completely darling all week. I think I could teach them all day. They really make my job fun. It's like I can't believe I'm getting paid to teach them because it is so easy.
       Then there's the upperclassmen. Our "honeymoon" period ended on Thursday. My seventh graders suddenly grew springs out of their butts and couldn't manage to hold themselves in their seats. They bickered with each other almost constantly and basically ignored me when I told them to get quiet. Moving seats did absolutely nothing. It's like no one in the seventh grade likes each other and can handle sitting by another student. They classes just don't mesh, so the whole "We're a team!" thing that I had going on did a giant belly flop. How can I get them to sing together if they won't even sit together? By mid-way through the period on Friday, I had had enough. I stopped my entire rehearsal to talk about how we can make our rehearsals function more efficiently. "Well... people shouldn't talk so much." Okay, so what should we do if "people" are talking? After much discussion, they eventually came to the conclusion that our classroom rules and consequences were fair. I should just be more strict about enforcing them. Apparently their old choir teacher was strict and they feel like that's what they need. They don't believe that I will actually follow through. "Okay... I can do that." So we resumed our rehearsal and I started giving warnings and minors and following through. TOTAL MUTINY. The kids went crazy. You see, it's one thing to say what should happen when "people" talk, but it's another thing entirely when "people" is YOU. They asked for strict and they got it. On the way out the door, I heard them muttering about how much they hate me now. I wanted to say, "You asked for it!"
       My patience was already thin when my last eighth grade class of the day came in on Friday. Their rehearsal went well overall, but then we had to have a talk about what happens when the dismissal calls come. Our school dismisses bus riders by grade level. Traditionally, walkers and car riders are dismissed first before the students who ride busses. Yesterday, they forgot to make a call for walkers and car riders so I just dismissed those kids myself. All but two students got up and left. The two girls left said, "Um, half of those kids ride the busses." The kids had totally taken advantage of my kindness and that's something I just can't stand for. So Friday I told the kids that we would ALL wait until they dismissed the eighth grade because I can't trust them anymore. TOTAL MUTINY. "I have to go get ready for cheer practice! That's not fair! My Mom is going to call you! I have an appointment to get to! Blah Blah Blah!" And I said that I didn't care. Five minutes wasn't going to make or break them. We would all wait. I turned my back from the door to address a student who had smarted off in class about her attitude.  As I sat to write her discipline notice, the students grabbed their books and crowded around the door, waiting for the 8th grade call to come. In the midst of the crowd, a few girls slipped out the open door and into the hallway. A fellow teacher caught them and I heard, "What are you doing out of the room?" My head flew up from the paperwork and I bee-lined for the door. Had someone really tried to sneak out of my classroom? Seriously? Yep. "Out of my way! Go back to your seats!" I cut through the sea of angry eighth grade girls and corralled everyone, including the offenders, back into the room. Without thinking, I slammed the door and screamed "SIT. DOWN!". I don't think I have ever made that big of a production in my life. I was even shocked that it happened. I went to my desk and quietly continued filling out the discipline notice. The classroom was completely silent. They called for the eighth grade dismissal and nobody moved. I continued writing for three-four minutes after the call and then walked into the hallway. I came back inside and very quietly said, "You are dismissed." The students filed out with their heads down and mouths shut. Holy crap. Oh and did I mention that the superintendent's daughter is in this class? Yep.
       So my week came in like a lamb and out like a lion. I think we are going to spend all Monday talking about my expectations for the classroom. I am going to have to come up with a new system for my room, because the school's classroom management plan just isn't working for choir. They practically have to kill someone before they feel any consequences. They are all probably going to hate me next week, but I really don't care. The disrespectfulness that I witnessed on Thursday and Friday both from individual students and from the class as a whole just can't happen anymore.
       On a bright note, I have had so many students interested in auditioning for my Glee Club that I had to make another additional day of audition time slots. I now have three days worth of ten-minute long auditions from after school until 7:00. That's almost eighty students auditioning for a group of 30. If the talent pool is strong enough, I'm considering creating two groups- an all-girls and a mixed group. I am pleased with the number of guys auditioning. Lots of really strong singers. I don't have tons of guys in the program overall, but each of them are extremely talented and dedicated. Exciting stuff.
       This year might very well kill me. I will have someone observing me in my room just about every week from one facet of the school corp or another. I'm K-TIPping... which is essentially Kentucky's new teacher program that requires an obscene amount of busy work and additional observations. I am already over-committed when it comes to groups at school (my own darn fault) and I also volunteered to start helping with the music direction at my home church. I decided to keep a few private lessons students on the side. WHY WHY WHY do I always overcommit? Here I go again...