More on Discipline

I will fully admit, as I have in the past: I'm not a good disciplinarian. I get scared when I have to actually call people out and help change their behavior. It's one of the things I've vowed to work on this year...being more consistent and carrying through with what I say I will do. That's a lot tougher than people think. I feel like kicking people out is a sign of weakness; that I'm demonstrating that I can't handle my classroom. But on the other hand, if there's something I'm having trouble with, why shouldn't I ask for help? My principal is fond of saying, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." Well, I guess I'm going to have to squeak a lot this year!

Some things are getting better. The fifth grade is great, the junior high had an excellent rehearsal today. The high school...well, let's just say that if I don't start doing something about these girls who are making my life hell, I'm going to start losing some good kids. Not because of me, but because they're sick of the discipline problems. I've got to keep as many of the good kids in as possible. Many of them are the future of my band.

Football

We marched last night. My color guard just learned their routine on Thursday and Friday, so I did the color guard routine with the girls...and failed miserably. I just blanked and couldn't remember the routine. Oh well. It's over, and the 10 fans in the stands probably didn't even notice. And the band played less than I had hoped. I'm chalking it up to lack of practice. It's been raining here for two days (we can actually see blue sky today) and we haven't been able to get outside. I guess you don't know what's going to happen unless you try it, but in some ways I feel like making them play that second song when they hadn't played it since Wednesday was a stupid move on my part. Well...it's done, and we learn from it and move on.

I'm trying to do some serious reevaluation of how I want to do the next two games. I'm considering scrapping the rest of the show that we haven't learned yet and doing some pep band charts instead. It's something they know a lot better and will probably do a lot better at. I think I'll definitely do that for the final show, and let the seniors pick the chart to do. It will give them something to look forward to and maybe make them feel a little better. I'm also trying to look ahead to next year. Do we even want to HAVE a marching band? Would my time be better served just doing a pep band for football and working on giving a concert in the fall instead? It would definitely be more educational. And the kids hate marching band. They LOVE pep band, and they're good at it...so maybe I should consider playing toward their strengths a little more. Lots to consider.

I felt pretty craptastic after last night. Like I'd let the kids down. I have to keep reminding myself that's it's just my first year. The kids are still trying to figure me out, and I'm still trying to figure them out.

My fifth graders, on the other hand, are FANTASTIC. They are getting through the book faster than I thought they would. They are polite, they listen, they want to work hard...I really hope we can keep this momentum up until they're in high school. Just a few more years, and then things will REALLY start taking off!

Personality

There are four high school girls I can't even stand. Three of them have MEGA-attitude, and I'm not sure what to do about it. I think I'm going to just start kicking them out. Maybe once they've had their 7th or 8th detention, they'll get the point. I need to go back and take another look at my discipline policy. Or be more consistent with it. And it's JUST THOSE FOUR!!!! The rest of them are fantastic. HELP PLEASE?!?!

Homecoming...

I HATE HOMECOMING. I think most teachers probably feel this way about this week. The whole purpose of being in school is to learn something, and that just kinda goes out the window during this week. Le sigh. Well, only two more days, and both of them are shortened because of student olympics and the pep rally.

So rehearsals are getting better. I told the high school on Monday that if they proceeded to whine at all, I would keep them outside as long as possible. That shut them up. And with the junior high, all I have to do is reach for my clipboard where I record loss of points, and it's like church mice. The 5th and 6th grade I'm bribing with a pizza party. If they get any minus signs for poor behavior, no party. So far, it's working. We'll just have to keep it up.

I had to go to the doctor this morning, and consequently canceled all of my lessons and rehearsals for the day. The choir director was kind enough to take my band as a study hall. I sent an e-mail to all staff saying band lessons were canceled, but apparently I should have been clearer about there not being any rehearsals. Whoops. I wrote an apologetic e-mail to the 6th grade teachers. I'll just chalk it up to being new and not let it happen again.

So, as a result of not getting to work til 11, I don't have to teach today. Instead, I'm cleaning my office. I also get to leave early (at 2:15) to go to a meeting in Waterloo. Gotta love the short days! :-)

Attitudes

So that bit about rehearsals being quieter...yeah, if only Guard Girl would go away! I don't know where people get off thinking the world owes them something. Whining only makes me want to work them HARDER! "It's hot out here." "I don't wanna do this." "Can I quit?" Jiminy crickets! My band is already small; it's not like I can afford to lose anyone else. Grr! But what do I do??? It seems like everything I try isn't working. Maybe calling her parents would help. It just seems like these freshmen and sophomores think they're the kingpins and everyone else has to bow down to them. On the flip side, junior high and fifth grade were pretty good today!

I talked to a fellow teacher friend last week, who also had a rough start at her job. It's her fourth year, and things are just now starting to get to the point where she's happy. That made me feel better. It helps knowing I'm not the only one with these struggles! I think I have to put up with them for four more years? Oh no. They have to put up with ME for four more years! HA!!!

Quitters never win...or something...

Detention girl DID show up on Thursday! I think it helped that I e-mailed the cheerleading coach, who backed me 100%. Boo-yeah! BUT...I get a note from the secretary on Friday: Detention girl's parents let her quit!!! Over a 15-minute detention!

Okay seriously?! What kind of precedent are you setting for this kid?! You're teaching her that the rules shouldn't apply to her and that she can whine her way out of a situation. Boo bad parenting! Even worse, in a society where no one wants to take responsibility for their actions, the parents are simply reinforcing that behavior. Someday, it will all blow up in her face, though. Mom and Dad won't always be there to bail her out.

In conclusion, we need more 3-day weekends. That is all.

Discipline

I handed out my first detention today. We'll see if she shows up after school. If not, it's an in-school suspension. Honestly, where do kids get off thinking they can talk to adults the way they do?! It's ridiculous! This just goes along with my post from a few days ago. Or yesterday maybe. All the days seem to run together after awhile. I have the majority of the band who wants to work and do a good job, and then three of them who I have to concentrate all of my attention on and are ruining it for everyone else. It's totally lame.

*sigh* So, that's that. Tomorrow's Friday and then a long weekend.

School pictures and study halls

Let's get one thing out right now. I HATE STUDY HALLS. I think they are the most pointless waste of time ever. I had to monitor one today. The choir director was gone, so I had to "babysit" the choir. Earlier that block, I had to "babysit" my band kids AND the choir kids that aren't in band, which is totally not fair to my band kids. And, they want me to do it again Friday. No way. I can't get stuff done when I have to take care of both groups. It ends up being a waste of time for all involved, and a very frustrating 90 minutes for me. It's great if the kids are actually STUDYING, but otherwise it's just a chance for trouble to happen.

School pictures were also today. Now, this normally shouldn't be a major disruption. However, there is no overhead intercom system in this school. Everything is done on the phones. And my phone is in my office, which I usually keep shut to keep kids out. So, when the door is shut, I can't hear the phone. I posted a couple of my guard girls by the door to listen for pages, but of course they got sick of that after 5 minutes and gave up. *sigh*

My jazz band is going to end up being an overgrown combo. I don't have enough kids to do a real band. I think doing combo stuff and making it a little "looser" will be a better experience. You can't get the same impact with big band charts with only 7 people!

At least there's a three-day weekend coming up. I'm going to need it!

Rules

I was having trouble deciding what to blog about today. It was a good day, albeit a little on the tough side...

I had a parent write me a note yesterday on her daughter's behavior contract saying that she didn't understand why I needed so many rules and why this couldn't be a more fun class. So, I called her. That's right. I followed up with this note and called the mother. Ensuing was a calm explanation that success is fun, and in order for there to be success, there has to be rules, with the understanding that my expectations are probably higher than they're used to. All I ask is that they come to class on time, are respectful, and do their job. The parent wasn't exactly dumfounded, but she didn't argue too much with me after that. I think that's part of the problem with teenagers (now, remember, I'm not a parent-I'm just going off of what I observe). People are afraid to discipline their kids. They are afraid of their kid hating them or not being the "cool" parent. You know what kids? I'm not here to be your friend. If you get to know me outside of the classroom, that's great. I'm here to make sure that you become successful. Rules aren't instilled to make your lives miserable; they're there to keep order and make sure the job gets done. Isn't that just common sense? Apparently not! As one of my greatest teachers once said: Never assume anything. Assume that children know two things: their names and how to pee. Never assume they know anything else. I guess that can probably be extended to adults, too!