Tweaking (Not Tweeting)

I don't even have a twitter account. I couldn't tell you one thing about Twitter, except that it is something like facebook updates.

To TWEAK is not to TWEET. I am going to try to fix my lessons so that they are more interesting and go smoothly. I need to wake up my Kindies and keep my 3rd Graders interested. The nice thing about teaching elementary school music is that you get a LOT of practice teaching the same lesson. Here, in particular, we may teach the same lesson up to nine times (nearly two weeks' worth of classes.) We have finally gotten through a whole rotation (which was messed up a little because of the random snow days at the beginning of the semester.) Note to self: I began teaching the Purple Group and will need to have a new lesson by the time the Purples come back around!

Well, through the day, I have been able to achieve my goals...but I think I have over-tweaked. This time, the Kindergarteners were definitely AWAKE and HYPER. Holy cow times two. The pace of the lesson was good, but discipline was difficult. I got to incorporate games much more quickly this time. We went through the content portion of the lesson quickly and efficiently, so we had more time to play the games. See-saw was REALLY HARD to do! They were better this time at having opposite people going down at one time, but of course they weren't perfect. (They are still getting their coordination down physically--goodness, they're just 5 years old!) The second game (added into the lesson) was hysterical. It gave them opportunity to keep the microbeat and do a made-up movement to the macrobeat of the song of one person's choosing. Oh. My. One kid acted as if he was a belly dancer, and another was a break dancer with some hips that MOVE. WHOA. (Both were boys, too! They were awesome...and also, I've a feeling, the class clowns.) It was admittedly difficult to keep them at bay, but, honestly, it was worth it just to see those two let it loose like that.

The 3rd Graders were definitely not bored...and they were HYPER as well. I was able to roll through the lesson, but the students really couldn't focus. (Today was picture day, which probably contributed to EVERYONE being hyper.) After some reprimands from Mrs. Ward and myself, they finally left well-behaved, and I thanked them. One thing I firmly believe in is positive reinforcement...and I want them to know they did a good job. Oh, yes, and we did do the dance. One complication: a little girl who has autism got in the middle and was screaming (while smiling/giggling) when we collapsed the circle into a bundle in the middle of the classroom. She wanted to be involved (as she is high-functioning) but I'll just have to make sure she doesn't get in a predicament like that. She could have been truly scared or she could have liked it. Oh, my goodness, it could have been awful. Thank goodness it wasn't blood-curdling screaming. She had a great time before that and was dancing/being Vanna White for me while I was teaching the lesson. That probably contributed to everyone else being hyper, but I am glad that she got involved and learned with us.