Episode 49 - Chaos Happens - 5 Ways to Use it to Your Advantage

Hey, elementary music teachers. Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and stuck in the chaos of your classroom? It's time to transform the way you teach with Chaos to Calm, my upcoming course designed to revolutionize your teaching experience. Say goodbye. Bye to stress and hello to harmony, as I guide you through practical strategies to reclaim balance, joy, and efficiency in your music classroom.

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teachbetterpodcastnetwork. com. Now let's get on to the episode. It's the happy music teacher. Are

you an elementary music teacher who's frustrated and overwhelmed. I'm Jeanette Shorey, a happy music teacher who loves teaching every day. But it wasn't long ago I was in your shoes. Join me Wednesdays to help you find happy in your music classroom. We are pushing the end of February and I know it's It's been a long month, even though it's a short month, we keep talking about that, right?

But if you haven't heard me say this yet, February tends to be one of the hardest months to teach in, February and October. And there are lots of reasons for that. First of all, we've got lots of random happening. You've got Valentine's Day, you have Black History Month, you've got President's Day, all of the things.

Then you have the fact. That your students have not really had a break unless you are blessed and lucky to have a winter break that comes after the holiday break, if you will, and but otherwise you're teaching, teaching, teaching, and they are learning, learning, learning plus. As we talked about last week, the teachers, the classroom teachers are now going into test mode.

So things are getting very serious and very focused. And what you need to realize is that chaos is a part of your day. First of all, everybody in the school thinks that music is fun. Hopefully, including you. I mean, you, your goal, your number one, your A number one goal should be to make your class fun because you want it to be that part of your student's day that is the best.

Like you want them to leave music and be like, that was the best class ever. That was the best class all week. So it's really important that they think it's fun. Second, it's music. So it is fun. And even though it bothers us to go, Oh my gosh, that people are saying, have fun when you go in there. I mean, let's be real here.

It's music and it should be fun and I hope that it's fun and if your music class is not fun, then this episode is specifically for you because we are going to talk today all about chaos and five ways to use it to your advantage because let's be real, it's gonna happen anyway, everybody in the school So, Thinks that music is fun.

Music probably is more fun and active than most of their other classes and That's just the way it is. So today we're going to talk about five ways to use chaos to your advantage And hone it and make it a part of your day That makes it just better as a class all the way around. The first thing we need to do is Is we need to change your mindset.

So you need to just accept that chaos is going to happen. It's active. It's fun. You have instruments in their hands. The instruments many times are very noisy. Chaos is going to happen. Even teachers who've got the most fantastic, phenomenal classroom management skills. That would be me because I have a really, really solid behavior management system in place.

And if you are not yet part of my course, Chaos to Calm, or part of my masterclass that's coming up next Tuesday the 27th and Wednesday the 28th, we are going to talk a lot about My classroom management system and it is unlike probably anything you've ever heard so definitely worthwhile to attend those masterclasses and check out my new course chaos to calm because we are going to be taking a very deep dive into my classroom management system and part of it is changing your mindset and accepting that you're in the music room you The kids are playing with things that are fun, and active, and noisy, and you just need to accept that chaos is going to be a part of your day.

So, If it's happening, that's okay. The difference is between that person who doesn't have classroom management skills, good classroom management skills, and that person who does is the way that you handle it. So chaos is going to happen. Don't think that chaos does not happen in my classroom because it does every day.

Every day, but the difference is in the way that I handle it. So let's talk about that for a moment. So the first thing you're going to do is accept that it's going to happen and move on. The second thing you're going to do is you're not going to let it ruin your day. You're going to think to yourself.

This is happening in everybody's classroom, no matter what they're teaching. They could be teaching math, or science, or reading, or P. E., or music, or art, or whatever it happens to be that they are teaching. Here's the deal. You are teaching little ones. Part of what we do as educators is train our students to know how to behave.

And whether or not they're getting that at home, hopefully they are. And even if they are, they're little and they're gonna forget. And every single time they come into your classroom, and this includes people, my fourth and fifth graders, I am going to remind them. Of how to behave because that's part of my job and when they don't behave correctly either they've just forgotten or Maybe they're doing it on purpose because they think it's funny and some of their classmates think it's funny or Maybe they're trying to share something with you and if this is the case, then there is a podcast that I will link to that tells you more about how to handle behavior when a student is trying to tell you something and they just don't have the vocabulary to do that because sometimes early When kiddos misbehave, there is a reason for it, especially those children, you know, those children who are always trying to get on your last nerve, there is something more going on.

So you need to make sure as the adult in the room that you don't let it ruin your day when chaos happens, because you know what? It's going to happen and it's okay that it's happening and it's okay that they're doing it because again They're little they've only my mom used to say all the time. She was a an admin administrative assistant in a couple of different schools Before I became a teacher and then I got to work with her once which was amazing Because she was so awesome at her job but one of the things she always said was People seem to forget that if you do the math and you think about how many days a child has been on the earth compared to how many days you've been on the earth and how much knowledge you have.

You need to remember that all the time, so don't let it ruin your day because they're gonna do things that are cray cray. That is just part of their being. It's part of being children. They are gonna push the boundaries. They are gonna try and do everything they can to be silly and funny and make their classmates laugh and, you know, That's just going to happen.

So do not let it ruin your day. Number three, join in the fun. I want you to be silly with your students. Some things that I like to do, uh, anytime, I love to use silly voices. When I'm reading a story, I love to use my cow voice. Sore. I love to use my ing pig advice or, you know, I try to use silly voices with the students because they love that and I try to do silly things.

For example, instead of handing them a bouncy ball, I may toss them the bouncy balls. So when I'm, when I'm passing out the, the bouncy balls. I will toss them to the students instead of handing them or sometimes I'll walk around with scarves and instead of Putting the scarf in their lap. I will just drop it on them So wherever it lands it lands and you know It's funny and it's silly and I keep telling you and this is the honest truth Somebody told me this years and years and years ago If you don't add the silly to your classroom, they will.

Another example, if you are passing out instruments or you're walking around and trying to do something instead of just walking, maybe do some skipping or do some wiggle walking or, you know. So, something, anything to join in the fun. One of the most wonderful parts about being a teacher is, in my opinion, and if you haven't tried this, I so totally recommend it, don't be the adult in the room.

Obviously, you have to be the adult from the perspective of being consistent and making sure that people are following the rules, people are safe, all that good stuff. Bye. That doesn't mean that you have to be very serious all the time. You can be silly. They love it when you're silly, and guess what? It is so much more fun.

To join in and do fun things than to, you know, just be serious all the time and be coming down on them all the time because nobody likes that. They don't like it. It makes you in a bad mood. So as much as you can join in the fun, that is what you should do. Number four. Use the chaos to your advantage. So we've already talked about a couple of things.

One of the things I love to do is when I'm passing things out, I'll do it in a silly way. I love for my students to, when we are passing out instruments. Let them play the instruments. It is okay for them to be able to play the instruments. So I have them play softly. So today we were doing a story and in the story, there was a rhythm.

And so I taught them the rhythm. We read through the whole story first. And as we were reading, it was a repeating pattern rhythm and it was TTTT, ta, ta. So after the first three times, it was, um, the characters were saying different things each time. After the third time, I was like, wow, did you guys notice there's a pattern in this story?

And we talked about the pattern and then I pointed it out to them. TTTT, ta, ta. And so every time we would read it. in the rhythm, they would echo it in the rhythm, and then we would go ti ti ti ti ta ta. So when I passed out the rhythm sticks, I said to them, I showed them how to hold the instrument, because that's always part of what I do.

I also showed them how to play the instrument softly and loudly. And we talked about loud is fine, but nasty noise is not fine. Ooh, nasty noise. And then we go, Oh, beautiful music. So again, these are other ways that. I like to put a little silly in there. So we, we talk about, cause they giggle every time I go, Ooh, nasty noise.

And they're like, Ooh, nasty noise. And they hold their noses and it's like yucky. And then I'm like, Oh, beautiful music. So anything you can do like that to join in the fun. And I'm going to try and keep reminding you about that and giving you different examples, but so. I tell them how to play softly. I tell them how to play loudly.

Then we use our finger rhythm sticks and we play softly ti ti ti ti ta ta with our finger rhythm sticks and then we bounce higher and we do our finger rhythm sticks ti ti ti ti ta ta and we do it louder and then I say to them And they know this by now, so I'm now asking them, even my kindergartners and my pre k, I'm asking boys and girls, when I hand you your instrument, are you allowed to play it softly or loudly?

And they know that they're supposed to play it softly, so I start out and I'm like ti ti ti ti ta ta, and then I hand somebody an instrument. Ti ti ti ti ti ta and I hand another person an instrument. So they are familiar already with that rhythm because they've heard it 80 million times during the story and all that good stuff.

And as I'm passing it out, and then as soon as I pass it out, they start practicing. So, and that's what we call it. We call it rehearsal time. So. This is a good way to use chaos to your advantage because they want to play and you're always going to have a couple kiddos that play anyway and I don't want them to get in trouble and lose their instrument before they even get a chance to play because they're little and it's okay that they want to play so I give them that opportunity another way I like to use chaos to my advantage is let's say um, let's There's a really cute storybook that RD Almeda does called Mortimer and in Mortimer The mom and the dad and the 17 brothers and sisters, etc, etc Take him upstairs and they're like Mortimer be quiet.

And then there's one point where The brothers and sisters take him up the stairs and when they, I'm sorry, they don't take him up the stairs. They go up the stairs and I'm like, okay, 17 of them, should it be loud or soft? And they're like, it should be loud. So if we fast forward through the lesson, they are playing their orphan instruments and I have them play loudly and they are allowed to play as loudly as they want as long as keys aren't flying off.

And So, so I, I kind of use that they want to play loudly and as long as, you know, I mean, you have to do you, so if that's going to bother you, if it bothers your ears, your sensibility, whatever, then that would not be something you would do. But for me, that kind of thing doesn't bother me as long as they're playing properly because they need to know how to play the instruments loudly and medium and soft.

So they're allowed to play as loudly as they want as long as keys aren't flying off. If keys are flying off. Ooh, nasty noise. So, we want to be careful about that. Also, when the brothers and sisters say, Mortimer, be quiet. They are shouting it because there's so many of them. So I'm always like, what should we do?

How should we say this? We're going to use our shouting voices, but we're going to use our indoor shouting voices. So that means we're not screaming like we would do when we were outside. And we'll all do Mortimer. Be quiet. And obviously I'm going to do a lot louder than that, but I'm not going to do it loud in your ear right now.

So these are some of the ways that you can use chaos to your advantage. There are lots and lots of ways to do this and believe it or not, this is part of the framework that I teach you in my course, chaos to calm, I teach you. All kinds of different ways and I've got checklists and I've got all kinds of different ways that you can use chaos to your advantage because it's going to be there anyway and you might as well use it.

Another way we can use it is during movement. So. In every single class I teach, there is always a movement element, and that is because, first of all, it's fun, second, my students love it, third, they need it. Oh my gosh, they need it so badly, especially we're getting into that time where I had a kiddo today that was like, totally getting on my last nerve.

I can't tell you how many times I said his name today in class, and it is the first time. ever that I've had to say his name. So you're getting into that time period where the more you do with movement, the better off you are. So today I was reading a storybook about a dog. And so we talked about all the ways that dogs can move and they wiggle, they wiggle their bootays, their booty, um, but I call it their bootay.

So that's another way, like I'll do these funny, silly words that are. Not quite appropriate, but you know, they like giggle at so they're not bad words, but they're like, you know, bootay is not really an appropriate word. So I'll do that kind of thing too. And so we talked about that dogs wiggle. We talked about that.

They jump. We talked about that. They run and run and run and run. And and then so we went through all of these things that the dogs, the ways that the dogs move. And then I put on, I literally just. looked up silly instrumental music and I, we, we went through and we did, you know, 30 seconds of each kind of movement.

So they got to help me using their background knowledge about dogs and how dogs move. And then we got to do some moving together. And with my pre K, I always move with my pre K. With my bigger kids, I will let them do the moving because you want them to be Creating as they're going, you don't want them, and little littles like pre k, they are not going to have that kind of background knowledge, so you're better off a lot of times, not always, but a lot of times to, you know, do with them.

As they get older, they don't need you to do with them and you don't want to model for them as much because you want them to use their own brains and their own background knowledge and explore their creativity that way. So any way that you can use chaos to your advantage. If you have ways that you use chaos to your advantage, I would so love it if you would share with us.

Jeanette at storiesthatsing. net, that would be amazing. Number five. Experience childlike joy. I said this a little bit before we went a little bit into this. When you are teaching, one of the best, most amazing parts of being a teacher is getting to experience that joy and that excitement that kids who are really little.

experience when something is happening. I mean, they get so excited over a new pair of shoes or that you're wearing the same color as them or, Oh my goodness, I have a wiggly tooth. I mean, you know, they get so excited over those things. Any kind of animal, any kind of something cute, any kind of something fun and silly, um, monkey noodles or bouncy balls or balloons or bubbles.

I mean anything that you can bring in to help them experience that joy. And I want you to think about experiencing it with them. That is one of the best parts about being a teacher and you know, I was talking to, I went to GMEA a couple weeks ago and I was talking to some of the middle school teachers and I was like, I could never be a middle school teacher because one of the things that I love so much about teaching is that joy that I get to I love experience over and over with my students and middle school kids are very stoic and they, they don't put a lot of emotion on their faces because they're afraid that they're going to get made fun of.

So I don't think that I could teach middle school because I think that would really bother me. I think I would be, I think I would be sad a lot. I don't know. I'd have to talk to some middle school teachers and see, but I really feed. off of that childlike joy. So let's go back and do a quick recap. So this is five ways to use chaos to your advantage.

Number one, accept that it's going to happen. It's going to be part of your day. It's going to happen. You need to just accept that that's going to happen and move on. Number two, do not let it ruin your day. Find a way to be okay with that chaos. First of all, don't blame yourself because they're little and they're going to do it and they're doing it to everybody and it's not your fault.

Second, just, just get through it, you know, find a way to deal with it. And that is something else in my course, chaos to calm, that I am going to be talking about a lot is strategies to use, to help you get through the chaos. And to help you get on to the other side, get, get through to the other side.

Number three, join in the fun in as many ways as you can. Make your class as much fun as humanly possible. Number four, use that chaos to your advantage. Find ways to add the chaos in ways that are going to be. Structured and are going to be part of the day and number five, experience that childlike joy with your students.

It will make the most amazing difference. It will truly make you a more happy music teacher to experience that joy with them. If you got some great tips and tidbits that are going to help you become a happy music teacher, I would be so thankful if you'd leave me a review. Thanks so much for your time.

Well, that's all I have for you today. But before I go, let me remind you, keep learning, keep growing, and keep being fabulous you.