I want my music classroom to be a safe place. That’s what we all want. I’m not even talking about the kind of safe your mind might have jumped to…especially with all of the safety/lockdown drills we go through (I want that too)…no I’m talking about a safe place to try new things. I’m talking a safe place to try and fail. I want my classroom to be a place kids can create without fear of wrecking social status when it goes wrong. We know we must fail and learn from those failures but how do we tell the elementary/middle school students that without sounding like a classroom poster from the 90s. (You know the ones:)
After many years of trying to achieve this environment and succeeding in some areas (go me) I couldn’t quite put my finger on why it wasn’t like that all of the time. Nothing is full proof, but I was missing something. Then I had one of those “duh” moments. I must change the way we speak to each other in my classroom. I must change our “language”
I know that makes me sound like I was just letting them speak horribly to one another and use bad language. That wasn’t the case at all. The things we were saying was fine but it could have been more constructive. (And the kids stare at me….)
Lol. That’s not what I told them. I thought this… and wanted to change it without them even knowing what I was doing. (Sometimes I am sneaky like that).
Sometimes the kids were harder on each other than I was on them. They would be so distracted they would stop playing their own instrument or singing their own part to tell someone they are not doing it right. They were doing this to try and make the piece sound better, to help their friends, and to try and please me… but it wasn’t working. The other kids were shutting down feeling like they had let the class down despite all of my kind words. I wanted something to change. Something I referenced often so it would make a big impact.
We needed to change the “language” we used. It makes it easier to teach creativity (composition and improvisation) when we speak a different “language”.
So to get the kids to speak a different “language” I knew I must model it. I thought I was, but when I really stopped and thought about the way I teach and manage my classroom I was able to turn it up a notch. I started with my rules and it worked wonders. Some did it cause they are rule followers (bless em), some did it cause it made sense to them, some still have to be reminded…but the change is clear and I love it.
I know there are a ton of educational theories on how to state your rules and the results you will get…and to be honest I haven’t paid that much attention. The kids are in my room once a week for 45 min so I had always kept mine simple and easy to remember. It was working as far as management goes, but now I was ready to change that. (Rules 2 and 3 were not changes. They had always been rules)
What my rules became…
- Be Encouraging. This is something I say ALL THE TIME now because it is rule number 1. Some of my youngest students don’t even know what it means which gives me a chance to introduce a new word. (Yay cross curricular!) I explain that some things we say could be said in a way that makes me want to try again…that makes me want to do better. I DO NOT tell them to lie and tell people they are good when they are not. We talk about giving people criticism constructively and in an encouraging way.
- Be Respectful- This is always a rule and probably one of yours. It covers personal space, property, manners, etc.
- Have Permission- You can’t play with something unless you have permission and such like.
- Have Fun!- This was my other big change. I had always talked about having fun in my class but now when I mention the rules or go stand beside where they are posted (just to remind little what’s his name) they always get to see that I want them to have fun. It seems to relax our classroom atmosphere into a place where we can explore more. Kids don’t seem to be as nervous about making a mistake on the playground because they are just having fun, (well..except little what’s her name who needs to be perfect…bless her). PLEASE don’t think my classroom is like a playground. It is managed well with few disruptions, but when I tell them they must have fun…it’s a rule, (in my most dramatic voice) it seems to change the way they approach my well-managed, standards focused, learning environment.
All of that encouraging talk sparked a song and I wrote “Super Piggy” (Get it here). It is a song about encouraging each other.
The kids love it and we have a lot of fun with it. (We have to… it’s a rule). Check it out to reinforce your new “language”…or just listen for fun.
So there it is…the main thing that changed the “language” in my classroom. I hope it works for you, or sparks an idea in you that will create the same change.
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