Subtle (and not so subtle) Differences.

I come to the world of elementary music from a secondary focused degree, a student teaching course with high school and middle school, and only a little tutoring experience with real elementary schoolers.  In my time thus far, I've noticed a few subtle differences, and even some similarities between secondary students and elementary students, and a few other differences in the education world.

One is this.  If I high schooler notices that my shirt has a stain on it, or that I have a scar or pimple, or that my hair is sticking up on the side, they will quietly motion to their neighbor, or make fun of you at the lunch table, where I can't (or at least likely won't) hear them.  If a first grader notices my pimple, he or she will gesticulate WILDLY to a neighbor exclaiming in a whisper rivalling a jet engine "look at Miss Alexander's face! Right there! Look at that pimple!"

It stung, kid.

Another is a little bit of a language difference.  "Abso-freakin-lutely" is an acceptable word in high school.  Not so with elementary schoolers.  I was immediately informed by the entire third grade class that my language was out of line. Really, I should have known that, but I just slipped into my old language pattern. Another word that has gotten me in trouble is "dude."  If a high school boy was doing something really dumb or rude, I would look at him and say "dude, really?" and the behavior would usually cease.  I look at a second grader and say the thing and he looks back at me and laughs because I called him dude.  Kinda kills the effect.

The biggest difference I've noticed is between morning classes and afternoon classes.  My third graders this morning were on it.  We mastered Frere Jacques in a round.  The kids pulled out all the stops.  They sang almost in tune.  They were focused and excited about their accomplishment.  My second graders in the afternoon were a wreck.  They were like little hulks that specialized in smashing xylophones.  I tried and tried to get them to listen while I explained the movement directions.  I really was trying to get them up and moving, and it did not work.  By the end of class I was reduced to Simon says. I had to save my sanity and try to prevent bloodshed.

I'm operating in a whole new world.  It's a world with a chorus of "I have to go potty" and "tie my shoe" and "When's recess?" But it's also a world full of kids who want to hug you.  It's a world where a majority of the boys haven't discovered that girls are pretty yet, and they still just have fun being boys.  It's a world where my kindergarteners wave goodbye after every class. 

It's a world that will take some getting used to.