Chapter 12 11-20-09

Secondary Music
11-20-09
Kelsey Wilhelm

1. Treat students objectively according to their age. There is a difference from a 7th grade student to a senior in high school.
2. Keep your pacing steady and fast. When there is down time nothing is being learned and it gives students a chance to misbehave.
3. Use content that is concrete and relates to students.
4. Work with the supporting classes and teacher. If you do not handle the K-6 kids, you must know where they are coming from and have a voice in what they are learning to be prepared for the secondary music classes.
5. Always be enthusiastic and excited about what you are teaching. If you are not, students will sense that immediately and feel it’s something they don’t want to learn either
6. Be fair and consistent with disciplinary problems and corrections.
7. Stand your ground, as a teacher you must know that you have the upper hand in any situation. No matter what happens you must realize that if you falter for a second, you may have problems the rest of their high school career. Showing students you are confident and ready to teach or discipline is very important.

Chapter 12

Some of the things that I will use when writing my curriculum are:

**Keep it fast-paced. Don't spend more than a few class periods on one particular subject
**Try and relate the material to the students: Find a piece of popular music that would work along with a more traditional piece.
**Look for ways to incorporate technology and computer usage into activities.
**Use variety in my teaching. Use different ways of presenting the materials so the class doesn't seem to repetitive during the week.
**Pay attention to the text of songs that are picked for the choir(s) to sing.
**Remember to treat 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12 grade students subjectively within their own age groups.

Chapter 12--Teaching Middle School General Music

Ideas to incorporate into my curriculum:

• Keep in mind that 7-8 grade students should not be taught in the same manner as elementary students, nor should they be taught in the manner as high school students. They must still be exposed to concepts as well as repertoire of increasing difficulty.
• If I am not a K-12 teacher, I must confer with the K-6 or 9-12 music teachers to know how to develop my curriculum so it leads into or follows theirs. I don’t want my students to be unprepared for high school music, nor do I want them to feel they are not being challenged enough.
• Pay attention to the text of songs. Junior high students are picky about what they sing. Lyrics should not seem juvenile to them, nor should the lyrics be too mature. If students do not like the text, I need to be able to give them a reason as to why it is important they sing such a song.
• Use fast pacing within lessons and throughout units. Do not spend more than a few days on one concept. Spend just enough time so it is clear the students have grasped the concept and then move on, periodically going back to review concepts learned previously.
• Make the material relatable. Give the students a way to connect to the music somehow.
• Use variety. Students get bored easily. Use varied instruction as well as varied literature and learning activities.
• Allow students opportunities to research and present relevant material. (Current events in music, listening examples).

Chapter 12

This chapter pointed out many ideas on how to keep middle school students involved with and excited about general music classes. The characteristics for successful teaching was a section I thought was particularly important and useful, especially the section on relating the subject matter to the students. Our textbook listed and described a few ways to relate to the students such as keeping up to date on current musical events, selecting musical works that have a storyline that students can relate to, and having student talent day in class. Some of these strategies could be transferred to ensemble rehearsal classes as well, and I could potentially use them in my curriculum.

Chapter 7--Learning Activity 14; Sonja, Heidi

1. Refusal to go outside for recess.

a. Provide activities for them to do inside. Approval

b. Lock the classroom during recess so they have to go somewhere else. Disapproval

c. Threaten to take away their milk/snack break if they don’t go out. Threatening disapproval

2. School phobia

a. Give rewards after school for being there the whole day. Approval

b. Distract him with fun activities while the parents leave. Ignoring

c. “Be a big boy.” Disapproval

3. Blanket-bringing behavior

a. Do things that require the student to put the blanket down—two-handed activities. Ignoring

b. “Act your age.” “No one else needs a blanket.” Disapproval

c. Have a show-and-tell time where students show something that is important to them. Approval

4. Headaches

a. Use fun-colored paper to make it more attractive to do. Ignoring

b. “You can’t have a headache every day. You’re acting like the boy who cried wolf, and I won’t believe you when you actually might have a headache.” Disapproval

c. Send student to the nurse. Approval

5. Teasing handicapped child.

a. Lose recess privilege for the rest of the day. Disapproval

b. Make them apologize to the students they made fun of. Approval

c. Explain the problem with teasing and why they shouldn’t do it. Threat of disapproval

6. Pants-wetting in kindergarten

a. Ask them if they want to go back to wearing diapers. Disapproval

b. Make them sit in their wet clothes. Ignoring

c. “Don’t be afraid to ask to go to the restroom.” Approval

7. Tattling

a. “I appreciate that you notice things being done wrong, but I know about most of it already.” Approval

b. Ignoring what they’re saying. Ignoring

c. “Worry about your own actions and do what you know is right.” Disapproval

8. Book-stealing from library

a. “I appreciate your enthusiasm to read, but the books need to be checked out and returned properly.” Approval

b. Take away library privileges until brooks are returned. Disapproval

c. Tell the students there will be no consequences if the books are returned. Approval

9. Damaged musical instruments

a. Make students pay for damages. Disapproval

b. Participate in band, but without instrument (clapping rhythms, holding imaginary instrument). Withdrawal of approval

c. “Wow. You’re really strong. You bent that slide in half. Does it still work?” Approval

10. Damage to teachers’ automobiles.

a. Letter to parents. Threat of disapproval

b. If students step up with information about guilty party/parties, they will not get in trouble for it. Approval

c. “We can tell who did it by the video surveillance. If you admit what you did, the consequences won’t be as harsh.” Approval

11. Book slamming

a. “Make a rhythm out of that!” Approval

b. “Stop that.” Disapproval

c. Don’t’ do anything, they’ll get bored of trying to get attention. Ignoring

12. Lunch stealing

a. Hold them back from lunch until 5^th grade is already eating. Withdrawal of approval

b. Ignore situation. Ignoring

c. “Hey—give me your lunch.” Disapproval (oozing with sarcasm)

13. Kissing in the halls

a. Bring your spouse to work day. Kiss in front of the class. “How do you like it? Do you feel uncomfortable?” If they can do it, so can teachers. Approval (dripping with sarcasm)

b. Establish a no PDA rule with consequences for breaking it. Disapproval

c. Stop them. Disapproval

14. Turning assignments in late

a. Give bonus points on random assignments to those who turn homework in on time. Approval

b. Lose points for each day the homework is late. Disapproval

c. Meet with student at special study time to work on homework. Approval

15. Graffiti

a. Make students clean bathrooms. Disapproval

b. Repaint the stalls. Approval

c. Assign poetry and song lyrics to be posted in bathroom stalls. Approval

16. Teacher mimicry

a. Ask them if they would like to teach the class. Threat of disapproval

b. Send them out of the room (principal’s office) Disapproval

c. Give them a part in the school play because they’re so good at acting. Approval

17. Teacher threats

a. Go to the police. Disapproval

b. “The grades are up to you. If you work hard enough to pass, I’ll give you a passing grade. You’ll get what you earn.” Ignoring

c. “Well then, I hope you don’t fail. You’d better get to work.” Approval

18. Book tearing

a. Pay for new books. 10 times isn’t an accident. Disapproval.

b. “You’re really good at tearing.” Have them tear used paper out of spiral-bound notebooks and recycle. Approval

c. Pretend it doesn’t happen and they’ll get tired of it. Ignoring

19. Glue sniffing

a. Show informative presentation in health class about the dangers of drugs. Ignoring

b. Detention/counselor. Disapproval

c. “The last person who did that woke up in the hospital three days later and hasn’t fully recovered.” Threat of disapproval

20. Profane language

a. Swear jar. Once it’s full, I tell the principal, class gets detention. Disapproval

b. Make a list of all the good words that can be used instead of profanity. Approval

c. “That is totally inappropriate.” Disapproval

21. Abuse of privileges

a. “You may leave as long as I can pull you out of your Honor Society meetings to complete your class work.” Approval

b. Don’t let them leave because class is more important. Disapproval

c. "What are the other Honor Society students doing?" Ignoring

Secondary Methods
Kelsey Wilhelm/Casey Behm
9-6-09

1. Child refusing to go outdoors for recess
a. Straighten up and clean classroom
b. Remain seated for duration of recess
c. Make them go outdoors and participate
2. School Phobia
a. Have them sit in the hallway. Ignore them until the tantrum passes
b. Make them go into classroom – they may not want to do it in front of peers
c. Explain the situation before hand. Let them know what is going on and introduce them to people in the classroom.
3. Blanket bringing behavior
a. Make them start to leave it with their jacket. Know it is in the room but not needed.
b. Ask them why they feel they need it.
c. Introduce them to new students so they don’t feel that they are alone in the classroom
4. Headaches
a. Offer a tutoring situation to help the student relax and understand material better
b. Recommend they go to the school nurse
c. Talk to the parents
5. Teasing a handicapped child
a. Talk to them individually
b. Show them information on the students handicap and how they cannot help what they have
c. Sit out of recess
6. Pants wetting
a. Let the entire class- particularly that student- know that if they need to go to the restroom they can
b. Talk to parents
c. Move child to a desk closer to door- so they don’t feel so obvious when leaving
7. Tattling
a. Let them know you don’t need to know unless it is causing a great disruption
b. Tell them to worry only about themselves and let the other students do their own thing
c. Tell them to move what they are doing. Move them to somewhere where they aren’t around the trouble causing group.
8. Book stealing from library
a. Supervise student
b. A rule of no backpacks ect.
c. Notify librarian and other school officials so they can keep their eyes open
9. Damaged Music Instruments
a. Show them the cost of instruments
b. Make them pay for damage
c. Take away access to instruments
10. Damage to teachers’ automobiles
a. School assembly
b. Use a school watch system with trusted faculty
c. Keep students within building- no exit granted
11. Book Slamming
a. Talk to students tell them it is a disruptance and needs to end
b. Ask the students to leave, and try entering class again, but appropriately this time
c. Take away books and make them come in for a separate tutor session
12. Lunch stealing
a. Have a security watch system
b. Make them all eat lunch in a separate place
c. Shorten lunch time and give them classroom work in the extra time
13. Kissing in halls
a. Address that it’s a school policy and make them aware of the consequences
b. Move their lockers to a new place in school separated
c. Detention in separate places
14. Turning in assignments late
a. Take it off their grade
b. Do not accept
c. Make them come to a study session after class
15. Graffiti
a. Issue bathroom passes and check after usage
b. No backpacks/ other packages in bathroom
c. Alert the hall monitors
16. Teacher mimicry
a. Assign a paper for them to write
b. Meet with them after class
c. Detention
17. Teacher Threats
a. Parents must be notified
b. Faculty- principal and superintendant notified
c. Police notified
18. Book tearing
a. Pay for book
b. Only supervised use of books
c. No books

19. Glue Sniffing
a. Supervised use of glue
b. NO backpacks allowed
c. Explain the detriments and tell parents
20. Profane Language
a. Detention
b. Leave classroom
c. Write a well worded paper
21. Abuse of privileges
a. Only allow them to leave a set number of times
b. Talk to the Honor Society advisor if this is legit and why so many times.
c. Don’t allow them to leave at all. Take away full privileges

Reflection

Handbook Reflection

This textbook and handbook was quite helpful in many areas of managing a classroom, but I think it could have been more beneficial had we gone through it a little bit slower and actually had time to comprehend what we were reading and writing about. To me, it seemed as though I was always just scrambling to get the assignment done on time, and I never had time to think about what I was reading, and now looking back on it, I struggle to remember what was discussed early on in the book.

I feel as though I learned the most in the last two sections of the handbook; the section relating to starting school off on the right foot and the section about cooperating with other teachers to manage students were particularly interesting. I’ve always thought that having a good, strong relationship with students is the basis for creating a positive classroom environment, and makes students more likely to respect the teacher. In my experience, students are a lot more likely to listen to a teacher whom they like and enjoy being around, possibly because they do not want to lose that personal relationship with the teacher. It is also important for teachers to do our part to build and maintain these relationships with students. I never understood how much work teachers have to put into these, nor did I realize all the different ways to go about building the relationships, from standing in front of class and introducing myself to everyone, to calling the students and parents before the school year starts to introduce myself and welcoming them to class, it is necessary that all students feel welcomed and appreciated in class. I also think it is very important to learn students’ names as quickly as possible. If there is a way to learn them even before school starts, that would be the best way to approach it; by studying faces and names of previous yearbooks and asking former teachers about student interests, I could bet “ahead of the game” in terms of gathering information about students and start building relationships almost immediately.

It also surprised me to see how much work and planning has to go in to creating school-wide or district-wide plans for student management and how necessary these plans are, even for smaller schools. In high school, I never paid much attention to what kinds of school-wide rules and procedures we had (aside from the usual fire and tornado drills), mainly because I never got into trouble and had to worry much about rules and consequences, but having these expectations in place is definitely important so students know exactly what to expect and the consequences are uniform throughout the school. School-wide planning is also important for safety reasons. Even though students sometimes think the tornado drills or fire drills are a waste of time, they are necessary to understand how students might react during an emergency.

Another interesting section of this book was the section dealing with ‘withitness’ and avoiding teacher burnout. The first thing I noticed was how many of the burnout signals mentioned are similar to what students feel currently, and it seems that we have no time to ‘escape’ from it and take time for ourselves. I feel like we’re often too busy to try to prevent or recover from ‘music student burnout’ and it becomes emotionally and physically wearing. I can’t decide if it’s comforting to know adults often feel this way too, or if it’s scary to think that I may never escape the feeling of being burnt out.

The section on responsibility was an easy one to carry over into music teaching, since band students will generally have different levels of responsibility in the ensemble based on age or talent. Students might be asked, or they may just assume, the role of being a section leader in band or choir, and during sectionals, will need to be in control of their counterparts. Each individual member of the ensemble has his or her own share of responsibility to the group, as well. All members are responsible for knowing their parts and being a positive addition to the ensemble. Each student must understand his or her importance to the group, as well. It would be important for me as a band teacher to express to each member, individually, how much I appreciate having them in class to keep them motivated to do their best.

I thought the ideas for getting student attention at the beginning of class periods was important, as well. Especially in ensemble courses, students have the tendency to be talkative and get distracted easily by playing their instruments or talking to their neighbor. Though I thought some of the methods mentioned in the book maybe wouldn’t work as well in ensemble courses, it made me think of some ideas that could potentially work in a band room. One of my favorites was the idea of playing a famous piece of music (either classical or more contemporary), and asking a question based on the listening. A short activity like this would make students enter the room quietly and get them interested in classical music, especially classical music that they’ve possibly heard in movies or on television. Music that they recognize often excites them, and makes them eager to learn more about it.

Although many of the ideas discussed in this book were interesting, some were a little difficult to transfer to an ensemble course because they seemed more directed towards lecture-type classes. Also, it was difficult to remember what all the sections were about without rereading them completely, which I honestly do not have time to do. Like I mentioned before, I think the material in this handbook would be better retained had we studied it a little slower and taken more time to learn it.