As I continue at Chapin, I've become much more comfortable with the classroom management aspect of teaching. In order to have a successful lesson it is vital to have control over the class. I don't mean control in an "almighty ruler" kind of way, but in a way that allows other students to learn without distractions. I find that the best way to keep disruptive students under control, is to address them in a friendly supportive way. For example, I played Charlie Over the Ocean with a first grade class. One young girl has had consistent issues with self-control. She likes to yell out in class and has trouble keeping her body calm. During our game we allowed the student walking around the circle to play the teacher part. That student led the song and everyone sitting in the circle echoed. This one girl I described kept interrupting and trying to sing the teacher part when it wasn't her turn. When I would indicate for her to stop singing by putting my finger over my closed mouth, she would just stare at me and continue singing loudly. Knowing the way she has acted in past classes, I was concerned this would grow into a huge disturbance. Instead of just telling her to be quiet when it is not her turn, I said with a smile, "What a beautiful singing voice! Thank you for helping, but right now we're going to let them be the teacher." She felt satisfied with the compliment and didn't feel like I was reprimanding her. She was able to save her voice for the echo and still enjoyed the song and game.
This weeks big lesson for me was lesson planning. In my praxis experiences and at the beginning of the school year, my lessons were short or just one time lessons. With the guidance of my cooperating teacher, I have started to build some of these short lessons into longer units. One of my bigger projects right now is a Japanese unit with the fourth grade classes. They are learning about Japan in their social studies class and were excited about the connection between music and the general education class. It was originally just a short jump roping song using only do, re, and mi. This one class lesson of "Kuma San" has since grown into a more in depth unit. We have revisited "Kuma San" using hand signs and solfege, turning it into a cognitive lesson rather than just experiential. We will move onto more Japanese songs and incorporate instruments for a well-rounded musical experience. This unit planning has helped me realize that not everything needs to happen in the first lesson. Sometimes the knowledge needs to be prepared before it can become a cognitive lesson. However, I do think it is important to reach a cognitive point. To sing "Kuma San" without understanding and practicing the do, re, mi pattern would be leaving out a vital part of the lesson. Since our goal is to recognize and sing do, re, mi, we need to knowingly practice this skill.