It is officially summer for me!
Good lord, you do not understand the rejoicing.
Nobody loves summer break more than teachers.
My principal is pretty cool. The kiddos had a half day but we had to stay a full day. So we finished our day at a restaurant where we only had to pay for drinks and not for food or appetizers.
You know, when my staff is out with each other and eating and drinking and having a good time, we actually get along great. I wish this extended into the classrooms but you know, you can’t win it all.
I still have to go in Monday morning to check out, but that’s not a big deal at all. I’ll be out around 11 probably. And then we’re going out with some of Tom’s coworkers to extra celebrate.
So now for more rejoicing! 10 weeks of glorious summer!
the legend
This makes me so happy, and yet so sad.
He was smart, he was a writer (you could tell by his phrasing) and this is something he TRULY cares about. That boy has a heart and he cares. He sees the truth for what it is and he refuses to sit idly and watch as the youth of america just stumbles by.
BUT the teacher was done. She didn’t care. She was fed up.
BUT the students were uncaring, even laughing, as this young man walked out
BUT this video was put online to be deemed as a joke and embarrass that boy.
THAT is unexceptionable
THAT is not right.
If you are this young gentleman if you are his relative, or if you have ever done something similar.
I am so proud of you
To take your opinion and share. NOT ONCE did he threaten her, NOT ONCE did he raise his voice above a proper projection so that the class could hear his words NOT ONCE did he insult her in any means past how she was behaving with her job. He didn’t undermine her. He didn’t hurt her, and yet he gave his message and left in peace.
That makes him a true, undeniable, super hero in my eyes.
Thank you sir.
You people need to stop.
The fact that you call this man a superhero shows that you have lost any and all respect for teachers.
It’s funny how we have shows like the Office that show people fed up with their jobs and normal and funny, but when a teacher is fed up with their job everyone has something to say.
The majority of teachers quit before their 5th year of teaching. What other public-paid profession is like this?
You say this kid really cares about his education, but he’s an 18-year-old sophomore drop-out. He wanted to make a scene. He wanted to humiliate his teacher. This video wasn’t taken to humiliate him. It was taken to humiliate HER. He easily could have approached her after class. But he didn’t. Doing this is 100000% disrespectful.
Some schools have a verbatim curriculum. This means that the teacher has to read through a script while teaching and give out exactly what she has to. We don’t know if this is one of those situations. I am lucky as a teacher because I have freedom in my curriculum. She may not. You don’t know.
I know I am also lucky because if a kid did this in my classroom, the kids would have looked at him like he was nuts. There would be no taping. He would have got in trouble for defiance and insubordination. They would have told him what I just said: “You could have done this privately”.
I don’t care if you agree with what he is saying; the way he came about this is wrong. You don’t know the situation of him or her. You don’t know if she really is lazy or she is beat down by kids/parents/administration (I’m guessing administration is part of it because this kid didn’t even get a slap on the wrist).
Everyone and their sister has an opinion on education. Lots of people like to judge teachers as a whole because they thought one class was lame (yeah, I know these people). But guess what; until you have come in and done my job, you have no idea.
This kid is not a superhero.
(Source: ughthomas, via manatheology)
My kids are too old
My fifth graders came into chorus giggling because they found a condom in the playground (they wouldn’t say the word at first because they knew it was a ‘dirty’ word”.
Then one of them starts singing this new song “Kisses down low” which I guess plays on the radio even though it’s hard not to know EXACTLY what it’s referring to. I had to keep stopping them because that girl got it stuck in everyone’s heads because I guess they all have heard it before. Ew. Why’s that even on the radio? Gross gross gross.
No wonder all these kids end up pregnant/knocking someone up so young. Nobody shields them from things too mature for them.
0A haiku on the last few weeks of school
May still has four weeks
And then another in June
I really can’t deal
Students are crazy
They lose all good behavior
I will lock them out
I sit at my desk
And I contemplate my life
Oh lord, I give up
Monday is too soon
My alarm will remind me
I can’t leave my bed
Nope nope nope nope nope
Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope
Nope nope nope nope nope
Some things i have discovered while urban teaching music
Fifth graders do not like Metallica. First graders do, especially “Enter Sandman”.
Bluegrass > country
Fifth graders like Verdi’s “Dies Irae”
You will be begged to watch Annie
Boys are more open to the Nutcracker if you show them sections where the male is lifting the female a lot (ex. The Arabian Dance)
If you talk about how ballet dancers dance on their toes, be prepared for half the class (mostly boys) to try it and fall on the ground.
Students will whine about doing rhythm cards until you put a backbeat to it.
Students like to show off; bring in an audience (principal/teacher/secretary/ etc) and they will automatically use their best effort. PS It’s not just you; they will do it to everyone
If you have a dreidel in your hand, their listening skills multiply X3
Young children will dance to anything
Turn it into a game and they will learn it much faster
Kids can pronounce my name easily and will correct adults
You will want to scoop a few kids up and take them home instead of giving them back to their parents
The child has been molded by the parent; children are not “bad” by default
Instruments are a good bribing method
Hugs will make your day
Sometime all kids need is someone who will listen
And the stories they have will break your heart
With music, sometimes the best way to teach is just through exposure
Play is often a greater teaching tool than you gabbing
Seeing children teach each other while you simply monitor makes you feel like Superman
Seeing other teachers as exasperated as you are makes you feel a heck of a lot better
Children can have two faces; one with their peers, and one with you. The second one is the more honest one.
If you play/sing for your kids, it will probably blow their minds
Not every day will be productive, especially during testing or right before a break. That’s okay.
Lesson plans are not set in stone. Not even close.
I stutter a lot and the kids either don’t notice or don’t care
Utilize student helpers; make it something to be earned rather than something given for a favorite
IF you feel crappy, remember how you felt your first day and realize how far you have come.
Possibly TBC
43I’ve seen a lot of talk online about how boys don’t like books and movies with a female protagonist.
From experience, I have found something that my male and female students like equally.
And that is Disney’s Brave.
My kiddos love it. In one class, the kid most excited to watch it was a boy.
Just an FYI
PS. We had testing one day in the computer lab next to my classroom, and administration recommended a movie because we couldn’t make any extra noise. So I turned this movie into a Scottish culture/Celtic music unit with second grade. They can now identify Irish flute, bagpipe, fiddle, and pipe band drumming by ear.
I’m too stubborn to be forced to just watch a movie haha
5I want to find all the parents who teach their kids laziness. The ones who teach their kids to quit and that being lazy and quitting things and skipping class and breaking rules is “cool” and now bad=cool. It makes me so mad.
I had 15 kids in chorus a few weeks ago. Now only five show up. And apparently the other kids are bullying them into skipping because my chorus is now boring, lame, and stupid.
I almost cried out of frustration. I went to my principal. She wants a chorus so she said she’ll do something but I highly doubt that will happen. I’m angry.
I don’t even know what to do because children aren’t taught discipline anymore. They aren’t taught that you have to work and earn things.They are taught hip hop and rap and breaking rules is cool and swearing is cool and school doesn’t matter. And they wonder why middle schoolers are getting arrested and our prisons are being filled with kids from the urban schools.
They wonder why teachers only stay in these schools for a few years but it’s hard to do your job when the kids are fighting and talking overtop of you like you aren’t even there and don’t even try and whine and complain about everything. And sometimes you can’t even leave it at school and it comes home with you and wonder why it’s not better and why you are not happy and why you even did this in the first place and debate about leaving every time your head hits the pillow. But you have bills and loan payments and a car and medications and nobody back home wants to hire you because they don’t find music important anymore.
And yet people see these movies about people coming into an urban school and changing things and they expect everyone to be able to do that and when you don’t they look down on you and blame you for the behavior and grades of your children.
It’s not me. I can’t combat culture. I can’t fight the radio and the tv and the parents and the ideas that these kids are told are truth. I can’t do it all.
It’s not me. It’s the home. The parents. The culture. But certainly not me.
It’s a whole lot bigger than my chorus.
I just can’t even deal.
1You know spring break is over when you go out for recess and see more kids on the wall than playing.
#9moreweeks
0One of my students said she wanted to go to high school online instead of regular school.
I asked her why.
She said, “Because kids in high school get shot”.
Remember this when you want to complain about high school and be thankful that this wasn’t your reality (and if it was, I am very sorry. I wish things were better).
0The absolute best website I have ever used in the music classroom »
You take beats, melodies, vocals, and effects and layer them on top of each other. You mix and match to create unique rhythmic and melodic patterns sung to you by little beatboxing cartoon guys.
If you used the right combinations of beats and things, you can unlock music videos (which I didn’t know until my students figured it out!) You can record them so they will play back to you. You can also download and share them if you wanted.
It is a great tool to use when teaching about composition because it lets them compose without them getting frustrated about it.
Your kids will love it. They will constantly bother you to hear what they have created. They will jam to it in groups. Some will even try to rap overtop of their creations. They will write it down to take it home. The best thing is that they are creating music and they are very excited and proud of it (and don’t always realize what they are learning!)
PS. My principal came in while the class was doing this and she loved it. So it is administration approved.
5