End of the School Year - 2010

courtesy of my blog: http://cjferrara.blogspot.com/

(CJ plummets into a storm of negativity, waiting for the angel of positivity to pull him up.)
Well, another school year has gone by. Once again, I'm loaded with ideas for how to improve next year, most of which I'll forget by September, and won't follow through on in January to June, so that I must come up with new ideas next June for the following year. Downward spiral. Overall, the year was a downer. Here's a short list of everything that went wrong this year.

My so-called "Select" 7th and 8th grade choir completely failed. There was an out-and-out mutiny in the ranks as 5 students decided that no matter what the consequences, no matter how much I beg or threaten, no matter how badly they fail, or how it effects the rest of the group, they were NOT going to participate in rehearsals or performances, and in the meantime, they will disrupt every rehearsal with the most disrespectful and asinine comments and behavior imaginable. This made the other "good" students feel self conscious and effected their morale and performance. In fact, some of my best students confessed to me that they didn't want to sing in chorus anymore, because these kids made it such a negative experience.

It wasn't just them... The 9th graders did the same thing. The only difference was that they are more mature, and the "good" kids won't let a bunch of miscreants stand in the way of their success. Problem is, their presence at the rehearsal was disruptive enough to eat into their real rehearsal time, and plus their immaturity calls for every disrespectfull disruption to be responded to which leads to more disruption.

Now you may be thinking, "Why are these kids in Chorus if they don't want to be there?" Answer: because Guidance is incredibly hesitant to switch kids out in mid year. I can send them to the office, but often they're sent back with a note saying, "take care of this yourself." Call home? Good luck finding parents. Write a letter? Parents can't read. They have been removed from chorus class for next year, but a new crop of 7th graders will follow.

(The angel reaches down) So, how will we resolve this next year? I will change my attitude. No child will be allowed to take over my rehearsal. We WILL get students dropped from the group if they won't behave or achieve. Don't want to participate in rehearsal? Go over there and complete the written assignment. Won't do it? Do it in Detention. Won't attend detention? Written Up. Written up often? Good-bye, Welcome to General Music.

September will be a nightmare of disciplinary action, but the kids WILL sing, and they WILL try, and they WILL learn what is expected of them in a choral rehearsal. They'll learn to love the art later.

(The angel lifts CJ a bit higher) Of course, this will be done with an incredibly positive and supportive approach. This IS, after all, Chorus; the most amazing activity that can be done by everyone. Our music next year will be, as always, top notch and enjoyable. And I will personally try to have fun with it, hoping that that will rub off onto the students. I even selected some novelty numbers to lighten the mood.

I also think that I got too ambitious this year. I forgot Rule Number 6 (Don't take yourself so G-Damned seriously.). I had 9th graders for the first time this year, and I was pushing them to be a full fledged SATB choir, even though we realistically had only one male singer. I did that thing that I hate to see other teachers do. I focused more on WHAT the kids did than on HOW they did it. They would compete at level 4, that was the goal; not that they would perform WELL. They would learn 5 songs including a medley. Never mind that we didn't really focus on any of them enough to perfect them, or spend enough time with them enough to love them. I could kick myself for letting that happen.

Bottom line. They have to sing FIRST. They have to sing well, FIRST. Once they get to the point where they can learn music quickly and instinctively perform well, then we can move on to high achievements. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid. My role at the Middle School is to build on the basic skills learned at the elementary level, and bring them up to the point where they can be amazing at the High School Level. If, along the way, they should become amazing at the middle school level, great!

(The Angel gets CJ to highlight the high points of the year.) So, what happened that was GOOD? I chaired the SCMEA All county festival, and did very well. My 9th graders learned level 4 music, and prepared a large amount of music in a short time. They got to sing behind Larry Gatlin, Crystal Gayle and Andy Cooney  at the Theatre at Westbury. My 3rd period group did amazingly. My 8th period group consistently sounded great, behavior aside. The 7th/8th grade students need to learn to behave, but now they KNOW how to sing. My students got good Sight reading scores an NYSSMA, one of them got a 10. The Board of Education FINALLY came to see our Drama Club, and were impressed by what they saw! We even took our show to the Elementary School and performed for the 6th grade. My Star pupil, who has been having a tendency to sort of half-way prepare her performances, really shined as Cinderella this year, and found her key! Her level of professionalism improved immensely. I built 3 new flats for our scene shop, and we now have a sort of working set!

I now get to get spoiled by my summer chorus, recharge my batteries and begin next year with a plan, a scathing letter written to me by me in the future reminding me of the consequences of laziness, and this blog entry, reminding me of my plan, and I get to teach Kindergarten Music every day!

Onward and upward!

(The Angel gives CJ a big kiss.)