Dun Dun Dun.
The funny thing is that I never saw it coming. I knew the old leader had been asked to do something else, and I had been wondering who the new music leader would be, but I never once considered that I would be asked to do it. (You know, because I work with kids all day and have a good amount of training in music. Who would have thought? Hello.)
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the LDS (Mormon) church, the primary leader teaches music to the children ages 3-11. Our ward splits the ages into two groups, so I teach two 20 minute "lessons" each Sunday.
I was the primary music leader in Cleveland for pretty much the entire time we lived there, so I knew how much work it was. Also completely intimidating. Had I thought about it beforehand, I would have dreaded the calling. BUT when they asked me if I could do I just felt peace--like this was a calling meant for me, and I could do it.
Fast forward to today.
This is the first primary I've ever been in where the Jr. kids (ages 3-7) are better behaved than the Sr. kids (7-11). It's kind of crazy, because I was trained in secondary education and I much prefer to teach the older kids. Until now, that is!
Junior primary is awesome! We did a happy dance, they sang nice and loud, I was go-with-the-flo relaxed and flexible. We even learned two new songs--no problemo!
First thing in Senior primary, I had to stop the pianist a few measures in because the kids were talking. Then I had to take a paper airplane that was whizzing through the air out of a 9 year old boy's hands. We were going to sing a fun, active song (Do as I'm Doing), but when a few of the kids would not stop clapping (before we even started) I said, "Bummer. I guess we can't handle it today." Well, you get the idea.
The airplane boy was actually the quietest he's been since I've been in primary, mainly because he was mad at me for taking away his plane. I conferred with the pianist, and she had the wonderful idea of sitting by him for a minute to tell him how great he was being, and then she gave him some tic tacs. Worked like a charm! He sat in his chair the entire time, and while he didn't sing, he didn't shout out nonsense, either. I definitely need to be better at reinforcing good behavior.
I have spent the bulk of my evening pondering how to help these children. I am reading a book called Teaching, No Greater Call, and scouring the Internet for suggestions. I am chanting to myself, "The greatest motivator is love." I don't deal well with chaos and noise, so I'm trying to get a few tools ready for next week. My mom sent me this video, which was perfect.
Hey. I've got this.
No comments:
Post a Comment