My day started off bad, but surprisingly, my orchestra kids made it better! I got out to the car this morning only to find the car was covered in snow and the doors frozen shut. After I wrenched one door open, I had to climb into the backseat and kick that door open since it refused to budge. Then ten minutes after I left the house, I finally left the driveway.
I was seething the entire way to school, which was twenty minutes away, and I found myself a little frustrated by it because this is the school that completely misbehaves and causes me all sorts of grief, and I wanted to arrive with lots of patience and happiness to hopefully float me through the end of class.
Surprisingly, though, they didn't misbehave! And I know why. Last week, while we were in Brigham City, I got to have a long talk with Kyle's aunt Sherrie, who worked in a reading group at an elementary school. She understood where I was coming from, because this orchestra has no grading system and not particularly part of school, that it is very difficult to keep the kids under control. She told me that I need to have the kids come up with some rules for them to adhere to, and then to strictly enforce them.
So we did that! Today, they came up with some rules, and then I told them if they broke any of those rules, I would allow them two warnings. After that, the third time I had to call out on them, they would go to the office and call their parents, and for the rest of the class (or until school started), they would stay at the office. The secretary promised me that they would not make it fun for them, and that they would never want to act up in class again.
It was amazing! While I was working with one group of students, the rest of them were quiet! It was so nice to be able to work with them because they were already waiting quietly for me to come back to them. I have a feeling we're going to get a whole lot of things done this way. It's a huge relief not to worry about that anymore!
It's still snowing, though. Blegh.
3 comments:
Yeah! Great job!
It's stopped snowing up here...
I wonder how long that will last! The good kids part I mean.
It's lovely here, temps in the 70s, flowers are blooming like crazy, everything is green, orange tree is in bloom, strawberries are producing yummy berries, green beans and tomatoes are blooming. Shall I go on?
Yes, Mom, go on! You forgot the three birds that hatched out of their eggs in the orange tree.
I'm sorry it's still snowing, but I'm so happy you were able to get the class under control.
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