Reply To: Confidence

[nafmeadmin]

i guess that i wasn’t clear on what my issue was. my issue hasn’t been that there are issues going on outside of class that need to be addressed before we can go on, we might have had that happen once or twice this semester, and we addressed them before continuing, but it’s not my main issue.
i never yell at my students because i learned that it doesn’t work. so that’s not my main issue
if there’s a discipline issue i deal with it outside of the classroom as much as i can. and this class has very little discipline issues, so this is not my main issue.
they don’t have too much energy, the usually come here right after lunch and they hardly move. they hate even standing up because it “takes too much energy” so that’s not my main issue.
i use a non-verbal way of getting their attention bey counting down from 5 with my fingers, so that’s not my main issue
the only girl that has “cried for no reason” is doing so because of stage fright, we’ve been working on it, and now she doesn’t have a problem with it near as much, so that’s not my main issue.
the bathroom we have is adjacent to the room, so only one goes in at a time, so that’s not my main issue.
i have my rehearsal schedule posted on my board a week ahead of time, so all of my students know what to expect when they get into class. so that’s not my main issue, but you said “your kids want to sing…” that’s actually my main issue because they whine and complain when they are asked to sing, and when they do sing they hide behind the piano sound. when i take the piano away they just stand there silently.
as for what they deem “stupid” it varies from day to day, it’s basically whatever they don’t want to do. i’ve done things that would be considered below their level that they like, and things that are above their level that they hate, and the other way around.
i would love to have the choir listen to other choirs, but we are in the middle of nowhere where i am at. i’ve shown them recordings of professionals and they dismiss it by saying “well we’re not as good as they are,” “they’re not us,” or “they’re older than us,” etc…

it seems that most of the students in the class have signed up for it thinking that they’ll just stand in the back, and get an easy A while the rest of students sing for them and carry them through the school year. so my question is, how do i get them to sing out, sing louder, and sing with support.