Submitted by Dianne Park, San Diego, California
Idea posted June 30, 2010
Since I was asked to make a presentation about this to the governance team at our school (which I serve on as secretary), I presented the document below.
The two men in attendance (chairman and 2/3 representative) thought it was great and agreed with it all. They made a couple of helpful suggestions. So we shared the document with the faculty at the next staff meeting. As I expected, not a single comment from any teachers.
The governance team men gave their suggestions:
1. Make sure an aisle up the middle is maintained (we try but sometimes it gets narrowed) and separate classes with a space (so teachers can have easy access to trouble makers in the middle or end of a row). Practical advice.
2. Governance team chair decided to take what I wrote about teacher/parent responsibilities and try to distill into three bullet points, to be presented by the principal or a teacher in both Spanish and English.
3. I explained to the teachers that the audience rubric was merely a suggestion and that the best thing to do would be to create a behavior rubric WITH their kids.
TEACHER AND PARENT RESPONSIBILITIES/AUDITORIUM SAFETY GUIDELINES
All adults have a collective responsibility to uphold safety and ensure proper audience behavior during performances.
A. Parents should be asked to keep their children, babies, toddlers in the audience area.
B. Parents and audience members need to be aware of the director and the performance space.
C. Only performers should stand or sit on the risers.
D. Toddlers and other children need to stay out of the performance area, away from microphones and cords, scenery, the sound system and doc camera/presentation table.
E. Teachers need to assist parents in these efforts and see that their own students follow these guidelines.
AUDIENCE BEHAVIOR RUBRIC FOR STUDENTS:
Sometimes our students have problems being polite listeners in assemblies. One of our music standards in EVERY grade is to learn to be an appropriate audience member. Below are grade level music standards below and a rubric to use with students before and after an assembly.
Students need to be aware of their behavior as it affects not only the listeners around them, but also those giving the performance. Someday it may be their turn to perform and they will certainly want to be respected when they do.
Ask your students the question: Did the audience do their part to make the performance successful? I hope our audiences receive an "assembly behavior grade" of 3 at every performance! This will help the performers and their teachers who have worked so hard to feel appreciated and respected by their peers. Teachers need to ensure that their classes follow these guidelines.
Audience Behavior Rubric
3 - The students always focus on the performance (e.g., speakers, singers, etc.). They exhibit excellent behavior, providing a good model for others. They participate in an appropriate manner by listening attentively and need no teacher reminders to sit quietly. Keep hands and feet to themselves, do not chat with neighbors, show appreciation with appropriate applause. They do not get up to go to the restroom or wander about the auditorium.
2 - Students need occasional teacher reminders to listen attentively and/or to be quiet. Students turn around to talk to other students, may get out of their seats, or not follow all the rules for good audience behavior above.
1 - Students need frequent reminders to sit still, be quiet and/or listen attentively. Students talk to neighbors, make comments, and make it difficult for other students to listen. Students need to be moved to a different seat, or removed from the setting because they are showing disrespect to the presenters.