Maybe I should just go work at Burger King. This has been my “little voice” all day today. I’m not trying to have low self-esteem or anything, but I m feeling defeated for sure.  Motivation has always been my standard answer on interviews for the question “What is your greatest weakness?” I just can’t seem to intrinsically motivate kids and I have run out of money and time to deal with any more extrinsic “carrots”.

I have a group of 5th graders and a few tough 6th graders that just want to be difficult. Granted, they aren’t acting out or anything, but their standoff-ish attitude about EVERYTHING I try to teach is getting old. No matter what I seem to make “cool” for them, I get no response. But first, a little background for those just joining the blog: My current 5th grade unit deals with the Blues and we are running through some African American History right now. The class has been respectful during the class reading, no major disruptions, and I’m thinking that they are getting into it, until today when we get to spirituals, and I give them “This Little Light of Mine” to sing. You’d have thought I’d asked them to eat escargot! They looked at me with one raised eyebrow as I basically entertained them singing by myself in my best gospel singer voice. One kid ( our “never” kid) tried to mock my singing a little, but I shut it down quickly since he’s on a behavior plan and all I had to do was give one sharp glance at his point sheet hanging on the white board behind me. But, it’s not that kid or kids like him that really bother me. It’s the one’s who just sit there and act like a doorknob, not causing any trouble, but not participating for absolute fear of social death by embarrassment. Granted, there is some bullying going on in our school- and our 5th grade “community” needs some team building skills- but is that my job? I feel like I’ve let down the kids in not providing a “safe” environment, free from ridicule and “un-coolness”.

Dance class is a whole other beast. Our PE program got cut last year and  so I was “volunteered” with my dance background to teach dance to the whole school once a week. I have 60 sixth graders one period and 60 fifth graders the next period. I anticipated the anti-dance mentality that eventually surfaced by trying to get some hip-hop dancers to come and help me with instruction, but still the kids are standing there with arms crossed watching the 4 of us do jazz walks, arm pops, and swings by ourselves. I’m sure it’s pretty entertaining watching a 32 year old and 3 twenty somethings up there getting down with Justin Timberlake, but still! When it’s time for their turn to show what they can do, the kids basically walk to the other side of the gym as fast as they can to avoid embarrassment, or play it funny like “Erkel” just to try to get a laugh from everyone. They’re like goats running away from the sheep dog in a big conforming herd. It’s annoying. We’ve tried threatening grades, refocuses(time-outs), and even sent the worst to the principal, but it seems like week after week more and more let on that it’s not “cool” to do this, so they just shut off.

So what else is there to do? God forbid I ask them to perform anything. It would be like asking them to come to school naked. I’m turning to you, dear readers. I need your best motivation tips. Any words of wisdom for an “uncool” music teacher?