Music. It works

To: Aria
Ohmigosh! Working with group 2 is almost like a nightmare for me! These kids are incredibly hard to control and whenever they don't want to do something they just act like they don't understand! Incredibly frustrating! I know that group 2 is good and that they're trying to pay attention (at least some of them). 

I tried to keep them focused by doing team activities. The first one was fine, everyone had their heads together and they worked on getting the task done; the second one was disastrous! 

You should know how it is, what kind of things did you do with them in order to maintain order?

To:  Corbin

Honestly?  I sang.  Like all the time.  And they liked hearing me sing and so when I wanted them to write or read or something, I'd sing quietly in the classroom while I gave them time to work.  It helped me gauge time as well.  They at least quieted down enough so that the kids who wanted to do the work were able to get it done.  Start class with a song.  When they lose attention play a game or sing.  They've been in school for a good part of the day, so I felt like their brains were sludge by the time I got to work with them. 

Teach them their new favorite song and help them understand the words.  They know the words, but they don't always know what they mean.  Make that a type of reward. 

To: Aria

 Hey! Thanks for the tip on using music. Today we picked some primary hymns, I wrote the words on the board and we went over them, I explained what they didn't know and then we sang. I know I can't do this every lesson but it was a lot more controlled than my past lessons with group 2.