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!
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