2021-09-29 Behavior Issues Webinar today

2021-09-29

Behavior Webinar - today 6:30 EST

Webinar Wednesday - Sept 29th

Musicplayonline is an amazing teaching tool for elementary music teachers!

In This Webinar Denise will share:

Strategies for dealing with Behavior Issues.

Question and Answer

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021

Time: 6:30 PM EST - 5:30 PM Central - 4:30 PM Mountain - 3:30 PM Pacific

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkc-morjItGtXcbItm9H2A8ujKZYpC0nUV

UPDATE: I must be getting old, because this is the 2nd time I've put the wrong date for the webinar in my newsletter. The Behavior webinar is TODAY, Sept 29th at 6:30 PM EST, 4:30 PM Mountain time.

We'll record the webinar, and will post it on Musicplayonline.com in the Dashboard-Webinars.
https://musicplayonline.com/announcements/?tax%5Bcategory%5D%5Bwebinars%5D=on

We'll also post the webinar to our Musicplay YouTube Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqqZCPZ39zVDZUXl-Pd4AVQ

NEW on Musicplayonline:

- Orange Shirt Day Unit. Includes the song, "We Won't Forget You" produced by the N'we Jinan project. Has song activities, and slides on Orange shirt day.

- Rhythm Assessments - in the Rhythm Practice section. (I'll add to the Lesson Planning section, Planning resources for Grades K-middle)

- What We Will Learn in PK-middle
These are in the Lesson Planning Section-Overview

Behaviors are getting more extreme every year. First – know that if what you’re doing is working with 5 other grades it isn’t you. It’s a systemic problem.

For the music teacher that teaches every student in the school, learning the students names is one of the biggest challenges at the beginning of the year. Sing attendance at the start of every class. Concentration is a great name game. You don't have to know the names of the students to play this game, so it's a good way to learn the names on the first day of class. More name games are found in the Back to School Unit including a link to "Up the Ladder" and "jump in, Jump out!"

Create a seating plan. Try seating 2 girls, then 2 boys. If you know your students well, try to put strong singers around those who struggle. And separate students with problem behaviors as much as you can. Put taller students towards the back. The Idoceo app is a useful tool for creating seating plans.

#1 – is there a school wide behavior program? Schools that manage behaviors well have a cohesive plan to deal with problems. If not, come up with your own, but keep it simple. Rewards shouldn’t be anything that costs you money. I did 10 good classes earned a request day. It was a good use of time, because they were reviewing everything we had done in the past 10-15 lessons, but the kids had ownership of the activities.

#2 – Teach the Rules. I have a Music rules lesson I really like. (Musicplayonline-Back to School unit)
M-make good choices, always be responsible
U-use good manners, be nice and be kind
S-speak when you’re called on, always put your hand up
I-in the music room always try your best
C-care for the instruments and all of the equipment
I have a suggested body percussion for MUSI and then kids create their own body percussion for C.
I’ve seen this performed – and the teacher who did it had a tough school, but the kids bought into it.
She transferred the body percussion to buckets – worked great.

#3-pacing – Artie Almeida and I have talked many times about how we managed behaviors in our rooms, and pacing is a part of it. Move fast. Talk less and do more. Have a rhythm reading activity to start the class with, and then turn it into a body percussion activity.

#4 – Have you contacted parents? In my last school I had an incredibly supportive parent group, and a note home in student’s agendas resulted in a letter of apology from the student. If your community is not as supportive, you still need to document the behaviors and reach out to parents.

#5 – Positive behavior notes and Oops behavior notes – I’ve got both varieties in the Back to School Unit on Musicplayonline. Try to send 2x as many positives home as negatives. Very tough when a class is determined to undermine you.

#6 – Use behavior reflections for serious incidents or for repeated issues. Examples are given in the Back to School Unit on Musicplayonline. One warning – then they fill out a reflection. Copy the reflection and keep one in your Behavior Binder and send one home with the student. Some teachers have a time out chair with a fermata sign over it. Students "pause" and think about their behavior.

#7 – Call home. As uncomfortable as this can be, sometimes it’s necessary.

#8 – Give them a pre-test. Find out what they actually know. It will give them some ideas of you’re your expectations are. And maybe when they realize that you have content you want them to learn, they’ll shape up. I had a tough 3^rd grade class not long ago, and they turned around after I did a rhythm reading assessment with them. There are rhythm assessments on Musicplayonline in the Rhythm Practice section. Start with ta, ti-ti, rest so most will be successful.

#9 – Keep trying different activities till you hit on one that they find engaging. For my Grade 5 students it was guitar or ukulele. They loved them, and with guitar in hand, they’d sing – then I had them singing for the whole year. Maybe it’s bucket drums. Maybe it’s body percussion. Think challenging so it intrigues them, but not so difficult that it’s impossible.

#10 – if they don’t respond to any of the above, resort to a written music program until you deem they are ready to try active music making again. If they are still difficult in your music room, take them back to their classroom and teach them in their own room. Tell them that they don’t get to come back to the music room until they’ve demonstrated they can behave appropriately. There are many musical reasons for practicing note names, note values, and other theoretical topics. And if this is all they can do, so be it. It’s on them. It isn’t you.

#11 – reflect on what is working well with your other classes. Remind yourself - You are a good teacher, with some difficult classes. When you’re new at a school, you will be tested. If the teacher before you was great, you’ve got very big shoes to fill and older kids will resent you because you aren’t the previous teacher. If the teacher before you wasn’t a strong teacher, you’re inheriting kids who haven’t had good behavior management. Stay at the school for 2 or 3 years, and you’ll have all the kids responding positively to you.

Question and Answers - Join us on Zoom to ask questions!

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkc-morjItGtXcbItm9H2A8ujKZYpC0nUV

Webinars are recorded! You'll find them on the Musicplay YouTube Channel, and in the Dashboard~Webinars.

Use for daily rhythm reading practice!

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Musicplayonline.com

The Musicplayonline website is the most useful resource you'll ever find for teaching PK-6 music classes.

This incredible online program includes:

1200+ songs searchable by multiple filters: rhythm, tone-set, concept, grade, type (choral, singing game) and so much more!
Lesson Modules for PK-K-1-2-3-4-5-6 (middle school) from August-June that you can now customize for your own use!
3000+ interactive activities to teach rhythm, solfa, tempo, dynamics, etc.
GAMES! You'll love the new Trivia Wheel game and our new Bingo games!
Lyrics, notation, kids demo videos (with REAL children!)
Poison Rhythm, Poison Melody, and beautiful Play Along videos sequenced to improve your students reading ability from the very young to middle school!
Note highlight videos of reading songs
Rhythm and Melody Composition tools that are child-friendly!
Instruments section with units to teach recorder, ukulele, guitar, bucket drumming, Boomwhackers, Unpitched instrument play, Body Percussion (performance and Orff based), and Frame Drum
Recorder Levels 1 and 2 AND Jazz Cats, Blues Cats Recorder!
Ukulele and Guitar resources starting with one chord songs, and pop song links!
Sequenced Boomwhacker section with links to Musication.
UNITS SECTION with amazing seasonal lessons! Check out the Back to School Unit for name games, mixers and music room rules. Healthy Habits Unit! Halloween Unit!
Rhythm and Solfa Practice!
and SO MUCH MORE!