It seemed like an okay idea at the time
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Today was one of those beautiful spring days when the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and the air is clean and fresh. So as I set off to my teaching gig (at an after-school program in Camden, NJ) I was trying to think of how I could incorporate this beautiful weather with my teaching. I arrived a little bit early and as I was sitting out in the school yard, I had what I thought was a brilliant idea. Well, perhaps not brilliant, but at least okay. I'd split the kids into two groups and have them compose a piece of music using just the items they would have at their disposal in on the playground. I realized I'd have to put some limitations on it, so I came up with what I thought were some pretty great ground rules.
We gathered inside in the classroom and I set up what we were going to do. First, we discussed the difference between noise and music, and I got them all to agree that ORGANIZATION is the main difference between the two. Keeping in mind that these kids are in 2nd grade, I figured this was an accomplishment in itself. I'm getting pretty good at telling when these kids "get it." And they definitely understood.
Now, my list of "things I wish I'd learned in music school" is ever-expanding. And some knowledge of children's development might come in handy at this point in my (very short) teaching career. But I'm learning by trial and error, and I'm constantly fascinated just by watching what my younger kids (in 2nd grade) and older kids (in 4th through 6th grades) can and cannot do. The way each of them learns so differently, and how they process information constantly fascinates me. I have the advantage of only having eight of them (at most) at one time, so I feel like I am getting to know them pretty well.
Now, to frame this a bit: These are kids in an inner city charter school in Camden, NJ. Camden isn't really a place that anyone goes, and is a pretty textbook example of "urban decay." While I think that Camden is seeing a new day, it is still the most crime and poverty ridden place I've ever been. These kids are pretty tough for only being 2nd graders. But they are sweet, and good kids overall. I tend to be fairly strict with them, but I try to keep my sense of humor intact. Like most people, if you show them respect and follow through with your threats, they seem to respond pretty well.
So I took 8 of them outside while the other four had their violin lesson for a half an hour. I split them into two groups. So far, so good. The violins (all girls) were one group, and the cellos (three boys and one VERY bossy girl) in the other. Their assignment was to work with their group and create some music. They could sing or use rhythm and anything on the playground area, but I wanted to see good group skills and communication.
After a few minutes of observing them, it became apparent that some leadership needed to be put in place. The violins didn't need it so much, but the cellos were obviously having authority issues. The worst of them was K., who is a very smart kid, but obviously has some behavior problems. So I decided that instead of taking responsibility away from him, I gave him more. He became the cello group leader. This worked for a little while...
The violins stayed on their side of the playground coming up with a great routine. One or the other would periodically run over and ask me something.
"Can we do stomping?"
"Yes, that's a good way of showing the rhythm."
"What about climbing up the ladder and.... etc. etc."
"Sure, just don't hurt yourself and make sure that it is all while keeping a steady beat."
But while they were busy with that, I spent a lot of time mediating for the cellos. K., according to the others, didn't want to listen to other people's ideas. He, of course, said that they weren't listening to him. They had no discernible work done, and at one point, I looked over and M. was on the slide, upside down or something. I called him over and gave him a stern talking to about group work and needing to contribute. M. is a really smart kid, but he has the social skills of a toad. He won't look you in the eye, and I think if someone doesn't straighten him out, he's going to turn into a real pain in about a year or two. I told him that sometimes you have to go along with what other people want if you're outnumbered, but next time maybe he would be the leader and would get his say. But I explained that you can't sabotage a performance just because you don't like the leadership.* J., the bossy girl, could only holler about how M. wouldn't do anything the other three agreed on, and all he wanted to do was rap. L. was just trying to make everyone get along, without much success.
I left to check on the girls who were working out the logistics of chorus line kicks with a steady tempo.
I went back to the cellos. M. was again on the slide. J. and L. were yelling about how bossy K. was, and K. had a look of defeat on his face. It was an incredible chorus of "he said she said." If they could have done it with a steady beat, it actually would have made great performance art, but I wasn't about to try to explain that.
We went over to hear the violins perform. There was stomping, clapping, a steady beat, and choreography that was actually pretty sophisticated. It even ended with a flip. I was proud of them, and they seemed pleased with themselves.
The cellos didn't perform anything because they couldn't even agree on what to do. All of them were visibly annoyed with the others. I did have a really good talk with K. about how sometimes its not easy to be the leader. Overall, though, he did try really hard to do the right thing. He just didn't really have the right circumstances. I was proud of him for trying. And I learned at that point that giving him more responsibility will help to keep his behavior under control.
M... geez, I don't know. He had his hands balled up with dirt to throw at the girls when they were done performing for (in his words) "ammunition." That was the only time I really lost it, and I could see the fear/guilt in his eyes when I looked at him and said, "Drop it NOW. You know better that to try to get that past me."
All this only took up 1/2 hour. But I learned all I needed to know and just let them play for the remainder of the time. I knew that this would be an experiment, and it isn't as though I had terribly high hopes for this exercise. I wanted to see how they'd do in a group situation, and I learned a ton about each kid, especially the cello players, from this exercise. I'm not upset or bummed that it didn't work. Sure, next time, we'll stay inside and say "do-ta-da-ta" for an hour, but it probably won't be nearly as illuminating for me.
*I think some professionals I know could probably stand to hear this lesson again.
Posted byL. at 10:52 PM
