The first few days of school are daunting for even the most veteran teachers. We all want our classrooms to be places that are safe, predictable, and fun, but how do we get there? I often say I can't wait for week 3 of school because we are finally into our routines and down to the "nitty-gritty" of rehearsals and actual music-making. I am anxious to get to know my new students and find out he nuances of my ensembles. But this rush to get going should not negate the importance of starting my year off well with the very first rehearsals. Want to talk beginning of the year documents? Check out the companion post to this: Starting the School Year: Logistics. Seating Charts Many teachers will have a seating chart ready to go for Day 1. When students walk in the chart is posted in the classroom or there are index cards with student names already placed on the risers or chairs for students to find their assigned seats. I have found it easier, personally, to give them a seating chart for the 2nd rehearsal. On day 1 the students choose where they sit. My advanced ensembles will naturally sit in sections even on day 1, and I get to see the personality shifts in the choirs (i.e. who used to be best friends last school year but this year seem to be avoiding each other). I will also create seating charts for Day 2 for my freshmen ensembles where students are assigned seats alternating with what middle school they attended. This sometimes makes students a bit more hesitant to sing out right away, but I have found it forces them to meet new people AND is a powerful classroom management tool for the start of the year. Because they're not by their "buddies" they automatically focus on me and the rehearsal agenda. I highly encourage seating charts in choirs. Of course play with standing arrangements, room arrangements (i.e. section circles, one large circle, etc.), and allow students choice throughout the year. But starting off the year with a seating chart will help you with attendance, getting to know student names, and ease student anxiety about where to sit. I also let my students know seating charts are always able to be changed. If someone is uncomfortable I ask them to speak with me individually and I'll make a switch. Some students have hearing or sight issues and others may focus better in certain rows. You'll find out which students you don't want near each other (behavior/talking OR blend/balance). Don't hesitate to use seating charts to your advantage! Day 1! Start with music-making! Get your students singing and get them in the understanding that each day making music is the priority. I will often start by taking my time with energizing and focusing warm-ups addressing the following:
I choose things that are simple enough for the students to have success with right away. This time is a great litmus test for me to see how the group responds and how they listen. I will then finish my warm-ups by teaching something by rote. I have some standard part songs, rounds, or folk songs I sometimes use. More often I will choose a part of their fall concert repertoire and teach that by rote. With my training or beginning ensembles I will limit "teacher talk" and get them used to following my nonverbal cues during this. Some veteran teachers project a round or canon onto the board for students to begin sight-reading already. After we sing I will then do some sort of student introductions. This is my way of taking attendance for that day and starting to build relationships with my students. Often I'll project a slide on my SmartBoard (when I started teaching years ago I had this on my chalkboard) with something like this: What can wait...
Wait to do the syllabus/handbook logistics until Day 2. Students in middle and high school will often spend their first day sitting at a desk listening to each teacher go over rules and expectations. Get your choirs excited for the year by making music, and teach your expectations through these early music-making activities. If a student wants the calendar or requirements for the school year, by all means have them ready to go. But often saving the more "business" tasks for Day 2 will allow your students to go home excited for their year in choir. I often do not assign binders/folders until we have been in school for a few days. No matter how amazing and proactive I am with checking my rosters and communicating with the guidance department, my class lists always seem to change slightly. I will generally wait until about Day 3 to assign binders and hand out repertoire. Finally, no matter how ambitious your programming is, heavy-hitting rehearsals on the repertoire can wait. Get your students excited about being in choir, get them to feel safe in your classroom, get them to know their classmates, get them singing in tune/listening/watching you, and the repertoire experiences will come in time. Be patient! Miscellaneous tips
0 Comments
Classroom management is a huge concern for most beginning teachers. Building relationships, pacing, and planning are your keys to having a well-run and safe classroom!
Self-Reflection Always look back on your own teaching. The actions your students choose to do in rehearsal are often a reflection of your own lack of planning. If your lessons are paced too slowly students will get off track. If you are patronizing or punitive the students will stop listening to you. Teenagers want routines and clear expectations but they also value novelty and humor. Above all else they want feedback and to see regular progress. Consider the formality of your rehearsals and make sure students are engaging with the repertoire and having fun. If they are not, turn the mirror on yourself and make choices that will change things around. Your strategies and philosophies may differ from your mentors and cooperating teachers. You will have to blend your personality and discipline philosophies and identify what will work for you. My philosophy is that I am ALWAYS the advocate for the students who are doing the right thing. If I let little behaviors slide (such as chewing gum, talking out of turn, or being disrespectful), I am saying that those behaviors are acceptable. Procedures Here's an old document I created during my first years of teaching. I didn't necessarily share this with students each year, and honestly many of these procedures or expectations have changed since I created the document. But I made lists of every procedure I felt would help my classroom be safe and efficient. I then made sure to creatively and purposefully teach these to students and hold them to it. When I'm clear about expectations there can be no "wiggle room." Above all else this document served as a way for me to determine the "line" of what I would and would not accept in my classroom. I highly encourage new teachers to create a document (or copy mine) and think through how you would handle each of the scenarios. Be 100% consistent with procedures - don't "let things slide" because students will listen! Brainstorming your Classroom Management Philosophies:
Advice from Veteran Teachers
Last year in a philosophy course, our professor asked my cohort, "raise your hand if you would consider yourself creative." I found myself in the minority of those who confidently raised their hands. I grew up in a family culture that embraced creativity (paper bag skits, changing song lyrics, arts and crafts, free play, daydreaming, etc.) As a teacher I feel that I am creative in how I approach lesson planning, rehearsal technique, programming for concerts, and finding engaging ways to reach students. I was surprised that many of my cohort friends did not readily admit to being creative. As a teacher leader, how can I help others embrace creativity? Is there a stigma to labeling yourself as "creative" or "a creative"? Is creativity a skill that can be developed? Can people expand their ability to be creative? Bloom's Revised Taxonomy below prioritizes creating. (Image from mramusicplace.net)
The new (2014) national music standards really emphasize creating. As educators we know that a student creating work can showcase all of the other individual skills they have accumulated during rehearsals and years of music classes. In my traditional choral classroom my goal is regularly to get students to the "evaluating" phase. I am proud when they can be critical about evaluating musical work. However, I don't feel that I regularly get my students to be creative in my classroom. In his book, "Music Learning today: Digital Pedagogy for Creating, Performing, and Responding to Music," William I. Bauer says: Constraints (putting limitations or restrictions on creative assignments) often help to facilitate the creative process, providing a framework, or scaffold, for creative efforts. As a student I feel more comfortable with a creative process broken down, and I don't necessarily offer this to my students. Sometimes I have thrown students into creative projects (Compose an ostinato! Write a choral arrangement with this given poem! Write a bass part!) without any guidance, direction, or scaffolding. I don't want to merely "check off" a standard with a surface-level lesson on composition. I want to have my students leave high school as fully independent, creative, and expressive people. One thing I tried this year with great success was a composition project. My colleague in our partner high school and I asked students to compose for their final and we really enjoyed the student projects. Feel free to check out our assignment and adapt if you're looking to do composition with your choirs! Student choice and student leadership are definitely priorities for me, and I think I will ask my students for their leadership in how to make the choral performance classroom more creative. How do you incorporate improvisation? Creativity? (Image from theviewinside.me)
Ikigai: is a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being." The word "ikigai" is usually used to indicate the source of value in one's life or the things that make one's life worthwhile. Longtime Wisconsin choir teacher Susan MacAllister recently used the above graphic in a presentation at a Wisconsin Choral Directors Association event. My college voice professor used a similar graphic during my freshman year orientation, and I often refer to these as I give my high school students career and college advice. As difficult as teaching is we must remember that our choice to be teachers is meaningful, and we need to always go back to "why" when we struggle. Why did you get into the profession? Why do you love music? Why do you love teaching? Here's some advice from various veteran teachers about the role of choir teaching:
How does all of this affect your rehearsals and performances? You'll find yourself dealing with comparison. I'm not where my colleagues are with my students. The choirs at conference sound better than mine will ever be. I don't have time to deal with all of the pressures of my position let alone plan good rehearsals. Keep the faith! Continue to prioritize your rehearsal planning and let your time with students always be your focus. Everything else will happen in its time, but always remember you have training and skills and have confidence that with tenacity you will make a difference. No matter your political beliefs, know that the following image can truly be a representation of the teaching profession today. Know your "why" for teaching and keep perspective amongst all of the pressures you face. And always remember you are not alone! Reach out to peers, mentors, family, and your extended Professional Learning Network (including me!) if you ever need anything! Not every rehearsal is a great rehearsal. But what can we do to "reroute" ourselves when things go off-rail? Here are some suggestions!
What happens after mistakes? The great thing about having your own classroom is you get to decide how to handle things when they don't go according to plan! If a student gets off-task or asks an "off-topic" question you get to decide if you stick to your plan or take the risky journey with your students. If a section is floundering, you get to assess what steps to take next to fix and address those issues. Embrace this new ownership over the repertoire and your role as a teacher! When you make mistakes remember that it's natural that some things will work, and some things don't. It's easy to blame disengaged students or the stresses of your program, but we have to learn to take ownership for what happens in our classroom. I had the pleasure of attending a Poverty in Schools workshop with Eric Jensen a few years ago and took this tool away from the experience. He shares 5 rules for engagement:
How do you address student mistakes? Want your students to look professional walking on stage? Practice walking on stage. Are you across the risers and then up? Or up then across? You AND your students need to know these answers and then rehearse. Rehearse EVERYTHING. Don't ever assume students will just "know" what you want or expect. Always address every mistake made in rehearsal. If there is a mispronunciation, fix it. If you hear a wrong note, fix it. If a student interrupts you, address it (more to come on classroom management). Just as your repertoire will improve with practice so too will your teaching! Be patient and allow yourself to learn from your mistakes. Admitting you're wrong to your students can also show you are human and teach them how to handle life when they make mistakes! How do you break up a rehearsal? Choral director Rick Bjella recently gave this advice at a Wisconsin Choral Directors Association presentation. He aims for 4 levels of difficulty in each rehearsal. For instance, you want to be sure to rehearse music the choir will feel success on and also have part of your rehearsal be challenging as well. He recommends balancing the rehearsal time on different aspects of music-making (e.g. don't spend a 50-minute rehearsal on only pronunciation). Consider the energy flow of your rehearsal and be willing to adapt - you will begin to be able to "read" your ensembles and know when they need a focusing activity or an energizing activity. Allow yourself the flexibility to flip to a different song if needed (and make sure you still have a clear plan and goal). Chunk up your music - too many new teachers simply "run" each piece and then correct what mistakes you hear. Pick one section to focus on and work this section until it's your "ideal." Note mistakes or "next steps" for that section and then be sure to address those specifically in the next rehearsal. Also consider how you can use transitions and warm-ups to help you! Every minute of rehearsal benefits from intentional planning. Don't waste reflect time thinking on the fly if things are not going well. Move on to a different song or section and reflect on your own time about how to "make it work" in the next rehearsal. How do you scaffold a rehearsal? Go back to your methods, educational psychology, and fundamental classes on this. The theories on child learning can really help you. Vygotsky's "zone of proximal development" can help you meet your choir at their level and then determine the scaffolding or next steps to increase their independence and abilities. My district uses Gradual Release of Responsibility (G.R.R.). The idea is that for any task it's helpful to give the students more responsibility but in a structured way. So often we rush this process without taking the time to give students ownership of their own learning. I use this process a lot with writing about music (stay tuned for a future blog post about literacy in the music room). I will demonstrate how I would write it - and not just by providing a "prefab" example I wrote but actually writing it as the students watch. Then the next lesson they will help me write something. Then we'll break into smaller groups to write. Then finally students will practice on their own. And after all of that I will then assess their learning! Assuming you have your repertoire chosen, how do go about getting your students to learn it?
The number one theme I hear from veteran teachers in regards to advice for beginning teachers is PLANNING! The more intentional and purposeful you are in your rehearsal planning the more efficient and effect you can be as a choir teacher. During my first year of teaching and first concert cycle, I remember a senior telling me, "You don't help us." I kept rehearsing and rehearsing but not breaking down the music in a way that was helpful to them actually learning their parts. I thought they would "get it" even if I didn't stop and correct them or address problem areas in the music. I then began to break down the repertoire and rehearsals and make sure each part was confident before moving on. Years later I know if I hear a mistake, I address it. If I ignore it the students will assume that is correct. Most new teachers use digital formats to lesson plan, but if you want to go "old school" there are tons of lesson planning books you can buy online. Like most aspects of teaching, you'll experiment and find what works for you! Most often you will start with choosing your repertoire and work backwards from the big unit or concer-planning all the way down to the daily "nitty gritty" of rehearsals. Daily Lesson Planning Format Your school, district, or administrators may ask you to submit lesson plans for your first 1-3 years of teaching. This varies per district so make sure you're clear on what they expect and if there is a format they would like you to follow. Common lesson plan designs: Each rehearsal you should have very specific objectives. Think about your favorite rehearsals in choirs you have sung in - the conductor was hopefully prepared, energetic, and your choir made significant and meaningful progress. Great choirs are made with intentional rehearsals. Also keep your school calendar in mind - when are field trips? When are testing dates? When will you have adjusted schedules? Weekly Lesson Planning If you don't have to submit daily lesson plans it may be more helpful to map out your rehearsals a week at a time. You can think about ways to add variety to your rehearsals. When can they stand in different standing arrangements? When will you integrate technology? Which songs will you focus on each day? Weekly Lesson Templates:
Concert Cycle Rehearsal Planning Look at your entire concert cycle. Map out week-to-week where you would like the students to be. Think broadly about the "non-rehearsal" items you want to address in the song. How will students understand the meaning of the text? The historical/composer background information? How will the choir emotionally and expressively connect to the music? Long-Term lesson planning: Coming up next: what to do when things go wrong! Stay tuned. |
Proudly powered by Weebly