First day with the students - tiring but great! They are really good kids, and I'm so thankful.
However......
EVERYONE WANTS TO SWITCH INSTRUMENTS! Why is this happening? We had a discussion about goals for the year and some students proceeded to list "switch instruments" as a goal! Bummer.
Obviously I don't want a student to play an instrument they hate. But at the same time, I don't want to start 6 kids over on a new instrument in their 2nd year of being in band, because then they will be behind everyone. And will they really like their new instrument anyway? Will they put in enough practice to actually catch up with the other 6th graders? Do I really need 6 drummers or 6 clarinet players in a band of 20? (it seems like those are the two instruments kids want to switch to the most)
How do I tell my students who so strongly dislike their current instrument and their parents, for that matter, that they have to stick it out and i'm not going to let them switch?
Anyone out there.....suggestions on how I should approach this?
In addition, I'm just throwing this out there - be careful what you put online, teachers. Read this article about some of the things teachers were fired for: http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2010/08/23/facebook-and-teachers-still-a-potentially-dangerous-combination-for-your-career/?cxntlid=cmg_cntnt_rss
Let them. Remember when you switched to clarinet? It worked out pretty well for you!
ReplyDeletehahaha, Jenna - I know!! I always think about how I switched in 6th grade! But really, it is a dangerous thing to switch someone late in the game to a totally new instrument. I'm guessing Mr. Hamburg let me because I played piano and had some music background already? I don't know. But that's the only way I'd let my students switch!
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