We all know classroom community is important. So what do we do when things just don't go right and we really don't know what to do next? Today, I'm going to be sharing how we can do a community reset.
You're listening to that music podcast with Bryson Tarbet, the curriculum designer and educational consultant behind that music teacher and the elementary music summit each week, Bryson and his guests will dive into the reality of being an elementary music teacher and how music can truly be transformative in the lives of the students you serve. Show Notes and resources mentioned in this episode can be found at that music teacher.com
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to that music Podcast. Today, I'm going to be sharing one of my favorite ways to kind of proactively fix classroom community. When things start to get a little angsty. Let's be honest, there are times during the year where we as the teacher as well as the students are just kind of over things. Tensions might be really high. It might be one of those times where the students have been testing for a couple of weeks, so they're just kind of tired and exhausted, and we're just trying to get our stuff done and get ready for the concert. There's just all this going on, and the vibe of the classroom is just off, or maybe the you know students aren't listening, and in the you know you're they're not able to be safe, they're not able to go through the lesson, and you just have to stop, as much as I think it's important to continue a lesson whenever possible, especially for those students that are doing what they're supposed to do. And, you know, trying to deal with things on an individual basis when we can sometimes, all we can do is stop and take a pause. So let me paint a picture and give us kind of this little scenario. So we have a fourth grade class. They just came into your classroom, and they just get back, got back from recess. They're hot, they're sweaty, they're exhausted, and they're kind of getting on your nerves, and they've only been in your classroom for a couple of minutes. They're bickering, and they are really kind of groaning every time you ask them to do something. Okay, so you kind of, you know, go through, you're like, all right, they're tired. Let's, let's get them up. Let's use, let's do something that I know they'll like. So you bring out one of their favorite games, and they're starting to play the game, and they're getting really rowdy, and they're fighting over who's winning and who's losing. And, yes, that and the other thing, and the entire mood of the classroom, and the entire vibe of the classroom is just kind of feels broken in that moment, what I offer you is this that would be a good opportunity to do a community reset. So I originally, kind of understood this concept when going through before I actually started teaching the summer before, I read the book Responsive Classroom for art, music, PE, maybe tech. No, no, that's the book. We'll put it in the description, but it's the Responsive Classroom. And they talked about this concept of, like a community circle, which really comes from, like restorative practice, which is, I totally love restorative practices, because really, all it comes down to is, all right, this is the reality of what's going on. So in that moment, I would stop. I would have the students sit down in a circle so we can all see each other. And I would just without yelling, without getting, you know, super wound up or anything. Just have kind of a heart to heart with the students and be like, Hey, I see that we are having a rough time. I can see that some of us are getting frustrated, and some of us are really trying hard to play the game. What I see is that some students are getting way too competitive, and some students are not making safe choices that's making it in a way that we are not able, as a class, to continue with today's lesson. That could be enough, right there, just having a moment, kind of like all right? This. This is what I see. This is what's happening. This is it. If you want to take it a step further, which I don't do often, but I do when it's really necessary, is you go around, and this might take some modeling. And what I would do is I would take my tuning fork, and that would kind of be the hey, if you have the tuning fork, you can talk, if not don't, and I would pass it around. And I would say, before, before I would would pass it around, I would say, all right, when you get the tuning fork, I would like you to share one of two things you can share, something that we as a class can do differently next time, or can different, or can do differently the rest of today's lesson so that we can be successful. Or how did you feel when we had to stop? Or how did you feel when we were playing the game and things got a little heated? I make it very clear we're not saying, well, Johnny can No, no. What can we as a class do not? What can we stop doing? So what can we do? What are some proactive changes that we can put in implement to help us be more successful? And you just pass the tuning fork around the room and students share, and you'll get some basic answers, listen or not talk, but like they're getting at it, they're starting to understand it. And what I love about this is it also gets students to be like I got really frustrated when we had to stop, because this is one of my favorite games, and we're just not making good choices, and I'm really upset by that. And we get to start building some empathy. We get to start building some understanding, and we also are maintaining that community in the classroom. So. Do we see how this is different than me stopping the class and saying, Put your heads down. We are not doing this anymore. This is over. Do we see how that has a different vibe, how one of them is trying to take a step towards repairing the relationship, and one of them is just being like, all right, this is it. I'm done now. Don't get me wrong. I've had times like that, too. Don't get me wrong. I've had days where, you know, just literally anything I tried didn't work, and we just had to call it. Those days are very far and few in between. Because I think it's important for us more to to really work on on building that community and keeping that community and figuring out how we can move forward, rather than focusing on what what just happened. What can we do next? How can we fix the relationship? How can we fix the problem? How can we change our behavior so in the future, this doesn't happen, and it might take some some tries for your students to understand it, especially when it comes down to not pointing fingers, instead of saying, well, Johnny needs to make sure that he's following the rules. You know, just put it out, put out there saying, hey, we need to make sure that we're all following the rules. And it takes a little bit of a time, but it's one. I think it's a really good life skill. Let's be honest. I think it's important for us to teach and model that as well, because, quite frankly, our students aren't really seeing that a lot. That's not how our society functions a lot in actually listening and talking a lot of it is it comes from that authoritative you know, I'm in charge to do this, and I think that's a problem, and I think that's something that we need to to model other ways of conflict resolution and other ways of solving a problem. That's why I love having a community reset, because not only does it maintain the community and maintain their relationships, but it also makes it very clear that they are not meeting your expectations. And you can go through the expectations and remind them why you have these expectations and how they are are or are not meeting them. Another question I sometimes ask is, what are some ways that we can change our behavior so that we can make sure that we're meeting our expectations? So I make, I kind of go through it that way, to let this have kind of form, form the question in a different way for students that might not quite understand the other two ways. So again, this is not going to fix everything. It's not going to be a magic band aid that fixes everything all at once. It's going to be a practice that you install and you use an incremental little steps as your class gets a little bit out of out of whack, to kind of reset that room, that classroom reset is there to not to end it, not to put it all done, and say all you put your heads down, but really to say, All right, what we are doing is not working. We need to stop we need to put a book end here, and we need to move forward with some changes on our behavior. So if you try this in your classroom, I'd love for you to let me know how it goes. Send us an email, hello at that music teacher.com or if you have any suggestions for future topics for trainings, send us an email there as well. We'd love to see you inside that music teacher community, which is our monthly membership for elementary music teachers, just like you to receive content specific professional development by teachers who understand where you're coming from. To learn more about that and how to join. You can join. Check out the link here in the description of the show notes wherever you're listening and like always, in case nobody has told you lately, thank you so much for making a difference in the lives of the students that you teach you.
