7 Quick Takes Friday!!

~1~

Don't Smile 'Til...Spring Break??

The jr high has been AWFUL this week for all their teacher. I guess we've all gotten a little slack...combine that with the fact that the 8th graders think they rule the world, and there were major problems this week. Why can't kids just get along with each other? The Middle School department has really decided to crack down on behavior (which is a really good thing!) and now we're all on the same page. (which is also good!) But, this week we've been forced to go back to a very strict management style for awhile. Once we whip these kids into shape and they can handle it I'm already looking forward to being able to relax a little bit.

~2~

The Secret Garden!

We started rehearsals for the spring musical this week! HOLY COW it's a lot of work. Putting on a show is so much more than just the rehearsals. I already knew that, but It's still extremely overwhelming! We've had two rehearsals - a read through and a music rehearsal where we went over 3 songs. I've got some REALLY hard workers in the cast! Our rehearsals have gone very well - one of the songs is almost memorized and ready to perform (i'm telling you, i've got some special kids!). All the other organizational stuff is leaving me with a perpetual headache though! The paperwork to send home! The costumes! The set! The lights! The Schedule!! Any readers ever put on a musical before? What do I need to know??

~3~

Good Teaching Moments

This week I played the song "The Background" by a rapper named Lacrae for my 5th-8th grade Listening Log. It's a deep song that uses the metaphor of being a background singer. For one of my questions, I asked the kids to uncover the metaphor and tell me what the song was actually about. NO ONE GOT IT. They are so used to listening on the surface level! Eventually, they all got it, but we spent waaay too much time on it because I didn't want to just give them the answer. It was neat to see the lightbulbs go off in their heads when they did. We had some good discussion. Later the kids came up to me and told me "I listened to that song all night last night!" or "A bunch of kids had that Listening Log song as their facebook status yesterday!" Those are the simple moments when I know I have them in the palm of my head. They are learning and they don't even know it!

~4~

A Good Quote

"Ms. (Mary)... you're so... YOU!"
Me: "And how exactly is that??"
"You're really deep and you try to get us to think deep, too!"

(in my head: well...duh! that's my job!)

*By the way, When I sat down to write this, I had a couple more quotes to put here, but my brain is full, and I forgot them.*

~5~

Being Mary

This weekend, I'm going to just be Mary, and I'm really excited! I got a gift card to target for my birthday, and I am going on a shopping spree. :) I'm also going to do grown-up things like clean out my car and laundry. (Exciting stuff, huh?) I'm also going to do something just for fun.. I don't know what yet. Maybe I will play the wii... or write a song.. or play a game. I don't know, but it's gonna be epic.

~6~

Tony Chestnut

I did a silly song with my Prek-2nd grade today (and my 6th grade is begging me to do it with them... I told them I didn't think they would like it, but they insist, so I'll let you know how it goes). The kids loved it! It's called Tony Chestnut, and it's an active song with names that are parts of the body for example, the name tony chestnut is Toe/Knee Chest/Head. It has a lot of fun actions and goes really fast. If you teach little ones, I highly recommend it!

~7~

Welcome To Choir!

I decided to do an all choral unit with my 6th-8th graders. They haven't really had any experience with singing in a choir, so I figured it was about time. We are doing a wide variety of songs from Glee to the Samba to Michael Jackson. Most of the kids are doing well, but there are some who want to make my life miserable because they don't like to sing. I need to find a way to motivate them! Getting middle school kids to sing is very difficult, but I'm trying to make it as fun as possible! I have found so far that I am not the best teacher when it comes to rehearsing. I think that's why I went away from band and towards general music.. I'm finding it really difficult to come up with interesting ways to learn the parts! I'll let you know how it goes.