A different filter

Some years ago I gave up my AP music theory class to go back to teaching Beginning Band.  Not by choice, per se... the principal at the time was intent on pushing kids with no playing experience into my concert band, and I figured that it would be better to put them into a separate class where I could bring them up from scratch, rather than try to drag them along with more advanced players.  This meant going from working with (mostly) sophisticated juniors and seniors to (mostly) 7th and 8th grade boys. 

Within a few years I came to regard that class as my 'bad' class, because there was a much higher percentage of kids who were just thrown in there by the counselors - some of which who had no desire to pick up an instrument, and a few who made it their mission to destroy the class however possible.  It didn't take long before my general 'mission statement' became: "Make these kids so miserable that they never want to come back to my class.  Ever."  At the same time, I wondered why I couldn't get my enrollment in the band program up.  That's the thing about trying to discourage select students - you usually end up discouraging *all* the students.

I took a look at my syllabus and realized that it might as well have had "Abandon All Hope All ye Who Enter Here" stamped on it.  Everything was a warning.... or a threat.  I had forgotten that kids join band because they think it will be fun.  I did, anyways.

So this year I decided that I didn't want to be that guy anymore.  I welcomed the kids into class, and tried to engage them as if I expected them to be my favorite class.  Turns out they were a bunch of really sweet kids, or at least they appeared so (you teacher types know that things have a way of changing after the honeymoon wears off).  Did I get lucky this year, or is it just that I'm making a change?

I'm going to run with it, nonetheless.