Class Revolt

One of my classes revolted this week. When I had to interrupt instruction for the zillionth time because multiple people were talking, I stopped. I walked out from behind my piano and stood silently in front of them with my arms crossed. The kids got quiet and nervous. Was I going to yell at them? Was I going to flip out?

Instead, I quietly said, "Let's talk. We all know this is ridiculous. What is going on here with you all?"

I gave them freedom to share their opinions. Many kids in this class (the most behaviorally-challenged class) are unhappy. I established guidelines for the discussion (which are the same expectations I shared at the beginning of the school year): Only one person talking at a time. Students had to raise their hands and wait to be called upon before they were permitted to speak. I had to escort two students to other classrooms who repeatedly violated these expectations so that the rest of the class could continue the discussion. After class had ended, I discovered an anonymous letter (written in red ink) on my desk which had apparently been passed around among students in the back row which listed some things which were discussed and other things which had not been discussed.

Their Grievances:

• They signed up for chorus before they knew my predecessor was leaving.
• I do some things differently than my predecessor.
• They get in trouble when they talk.
• They feel I'm not consistent with discipline.
• I don't joke around with them like my predecessor used to do.
• They feel socially deprived because I won't let them talk and they only have a 25 minute break in their day- lunch- at which they have to sit at assigned tables, so they don't have the chance to talk with their friends.
• The class feels too strict. It's not fun.
• Why do they have to do written work in class?
• Why can't we spend more time singing instead of doing all the sight reading and theory stuff?
• "The 'surprises' you give us- stickers and/or the silly song packets (pirate songs for "Talk Like a Pirate Day" and "Spooky Songs" for Halloween) are really not cool. I mean, we're too old for that stuff. And singing as a surprise? We sing all the time in here anyway."
• "Why does showing up and performing at next month's concert count as part of our class grade?"

I shared some of my complaints too ... and I also explained some of my reasons for why I do what I do:

• I feel as though I have to spend more time on classroom management with this class than on music-making.
• If you talk, you're disrupting others' learning. That cannot be tolerated. It's the same in your other classes.
• I too don't like that it's not fun, but I can't "reward" the class with fun surprises or with time to talk when they don't earn it based on their behavior.
• Yeah, I'm different than my predecessor; that's no excuse for you to not participate or to give me a hard time. I'm sure Mrs. Predecessor would want you to continue singing and that she'd want you to behave too.
• Maybe we could try adding a talking-as-a-reward component to the class, based on the 5-strike system. Each strike equals 30 seconds less to chat.
• We do the written work to reinforce the concepts you're learning in your music. It's important for you to know how to count music, how to read music, how to understand what it means. Written work is another way for me to evaluate your learning.
• The teachers from all the other middle schools in our area (not true, FYI for my readers) grade their students for attendance at their concerts. My colleagues were appalled that Mrs. Predecessor simply gave out bonus points to kids who showed up to sing.
• As for the surprises? It was an eighth grader who requested stickers. As for the song packets ... it was a way to take a break for one day (for each little packet) from our regular concert music. If you'd rather just focus on concert music and not sing other fun songs, that's fine too.

They accused me of not really wanting to be there. I told them bluntly that I took a $7000 paycut to accept this job, which is not full-time, instead of another full-time offer. Some kids gasped and others said, "Whoa, that's a lot of money." I agreed with them and explained that I chose to come here because I'd been told it was one of the best programs in the state and that the kids were really well-behaved (no discipline problems) and they loved to sing. This class has NOT demonstrated that.

I told them that if they want to do well, they need to cooperate. Mrs. Predecessor left for her personal reasons, and she isn't coming back. They're stuck with me for this year, for better or for worse. Didn't they want it to be a better experience than it has been so far? I want them to be well-prepared for the concert, I want them to have a good time, but if I'm the only one who's working for it, it's not going to happen. We need to work together to make this happen.

I gave them the last 3 minutes to talk. Our discussion used up the rest of the class period. I was emotionally and mentally drained ... and even lunch didn't fully revive me. It wasn't until I was making glorious music with my next class that I felt better. My final class for the day is my most musical class (and very well-behaved too) ... and I remembered again why I'd chosen this path.

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I was introduced to someone at the church where I sang this morning. When he learned that I teach middle school, he called me a saint.

"Some days, yes, that does feel like an appropriate title," I responded, smiling.