Ten Minutes at a Time...

       This week went MUCH better. We spent all Monday going over a power point about my "great expectations" for choir this year. Students had a bell-ringer about how one person's choices can affect an entire team. We talked a lot about what it takes to be a successful choir. I started a new positive behavior system where the kids get a "class gotcha" for every ten minutes they go without anyone getting a warning and without me having to quiet them down or fight to hold their focus. The class with the most gotchas on Friday wins a "Chill Friday". I will bring in movies that they can pick from and a bunch of candy. They don't have to sit in their assigned seats, and they can also finish their homework for the weekend. Each day, I let the first kid who asks be the "timekeeper." This student watches the clock and crashes together some toy cymbals at the end of every ten-minute chunk. I give the time-keeper a thumbs-up if we made it, and he/she can put a tally up on the board.Class gotchas are tallied on a four-foot tall chalkboard that I set right in front of the piano. At all times, they can see which class is in the lead and how many more gotchas they need to win. The competition was stiff all week, and two classes ended up tying for the win: a sixth grade class and an eighth grade class. No surprise that seventh grade was quite a few tallies behind.
       Highlights of the week:
1. I still have a voice today because I didn't talk over a single class this week. (Yay, class gotchas!)
2. I managed to connect with a student who was causing a lot of behavior problems. I wrote her up last week, and she came to me to apologize. She loves choir and is a fantastic singer, but she can have a terrible attitude. We worked out a deal on Monday: If she could show me a marked improvement in attitude and participation by Friday, I would let her switch her assigned seat to be by her friends (who I had purposefully moved her away from.) Worked like a CHARM. She finally started using her powerful voice and queen bee personality to be a positive leader instead of a negative leader. I gave her extra responsibilities in class and let her run some errands for me. In the midst of our deal, we connected and she learned that she actually really loves choir. Now she is signed up for the glee club. She wants to continue to be a leader so that I will put her in the group. Woohoo!
3. I had my first "walk through" observation this week. A big shot from district came into my classroom at the beginning of seventh period (danger! danger! seventh grade!) and watched me teach a theory lesson. He came back today to deliver his comments-- all of which were positive! He said that he loved the way I was asking kids to "think" about music. Apparently the kids were all engaged and focused. I would argue that this is a bit of a stretch. I have a handful of kiddos that I know had glazed-over eyes. But hey, I'll take it! I also, luckily, had done everything district had asked (no matter how time consuming or ridiculous.) I wrote every "target" (learning goals/standards) on the board and had another portion designated for vocab... Seriously, there was no room for me to write after I had everything that I was required to have on the board up. I think that this was really what he was there to look for.
4. I broke up a girl fight today.
5. I had a lot of meaningful conversations with my sixth grade homeroom about bullying and the excitements/woes of middle school. They are so cute!
6. I had another twenty kids sign up for glee. I started signing up two kids for every ten minute slot because I really have no more time left. Next week is going to be so crazy!

Starting to think that I can actually do this. How can I actually be three weeks in to my first year of teaching?