Give It Time

I liked my job from the first day of school, but I certainly didn't love it. There were days when I wondered if I made the right decision, which happens with any job. By the time December break rolled around, I was ready to be done. December had been crazy with rehearsals and concerts, I couldn't remember half of the kids' names, and I was completely exhausted. But everything changed after vacation. I actually looked forward to going back, the kids were excited to be there. Without the immediate stress of concerts, I took time to try various lesson ideas, and the kids enjoyed the variety. My advice is this: if you're struggling with your career decision, deal with it. Stick it out. Every job comes with a learning curve. My situation was by no means unique, so know in advance that you will probably feel the same way. On those days that you want to throw in the towel, just do your job - smiling students are the best medicine!

Who Do You Know?

Want to bring a speaker into your classroom? Who do you know? My fifth graders are studying music through the 20th century, so I asked my dad to take a class period introducing music of the 1950s and 60s. Rather then spending hours researching, I figured it would be even better coming from someone who lived in that era. As a kid, my dad spent hours listening to the radio and recording music. He can tell you the title, artist, and year of almost every song of that time period. He brought in his reel machine, so the students got to see something other than a CD player. We've been connecting music to historical events, so he discussed Martin Luther King and JFK, which was perfect because he spoke the week before MLK's birthday. He even played radio clips of the announcement of JFK's death. The students were impressed, and they were happy to sing along with "What the World Needs Now" and "Eve of Destruction." Think about who you know to bring into your classroom. The students will remember the experience for a long time!

General Education Meets Music Education

Although it's easy to regard music as isolated from the general classroom, don't do it! Especially in an age when emphasis is placed on math, reading, and writing, music teachers can do their part to support the work that takes place in the general classroom. Actually, this work enhances the music experience. In my classroom we use Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast pieces of music (usually in a discussion of dynamics, instrumentation, tempo, and tonality). For another assignment, students listened to two versions of the same song and wrote a critique of their favorite versions (using complete sentences, of course). Incorporating different questioning techniques is also a wonderful way to encourage critical thinking. Have students perform a piece, or part of a piece, two times and decide which was better and why. Always ask WHY. Students won't expect the question at first, but they will learn to consider it before raising their hands. So don't be afraid to try different techniques, because you can help your students become better musicians and readers.

Don't Stress Over the First Lesson

One benefit of being a music teacher is that you get to teach the same lessons several times in one week. I teach 6 kindergarten classes every week, and let me tell you, my lesson is solid by Friday afternoon. Mondays can be rough, but thankfully my schedule is such that I teach one class of each grade, so I have the chance to teach each lesson once. Teaching the same lesson 4 to 6 times every week was a drag at first, until I realized that each class gave me the opportunity to improve my teaching style and methods to meet the needs of my students more effectively. But I've learned not to judge my lessons based solely on Monday's classes. That doesn't mean that I don't do my best, but I also don't give up on a lesson objective if the first try bombs. So use each class as an opportunity to grow in your teaching, and take the time to reflect on what worked and what you can improve upon.

Sing For Them

Never underestimate the simple things. Sometimes I find myself stressing over elements of my music curriculum. Can they read music? Do they understand what "steady beat" means? Can they sing in tune? But I've realized that although these aspects of music are important, there is another aspect which is just as important: do they appreciate music? Do they enjoy listening to concerts, CDs, and the radio? Is music an important part of their lives?

One of my professors in graduate school changed my teaching philosophy when he told the class to sing to our students. Just sing. Maybe a song that the students will never sing. It's about vocal modeling. Students hear different vocal models all the time, but it's my job to share appropriate vocal models with them when they're in my class. It's made a huge difference in their singing, and I'll never remove it from my daily lessons.

Since I sing echo songs with my first graders, I decided to incorporate an echo song into our December concert. A few weeks later, a 4th grader approached me and asked me why I didn't sing to her class like I did to the younger students. I didn't have a good answer, but instead made the decision to sing for my older students.

Here's another idea. My fifth graders are learning about music in the 20th century. We discussed that people used to gather and sing songs for entertainment instead of watching TV or playing vodeo games. So, all of the students gathered around the piano while I sang them "Bye Bye Blackbird." They thought it was the coolest thing. So if you have a class that you can trust to stand behind you while you play, go for it! Don't assume that your students will think that it's stupid. You might be the best model of a musician they'll ever see!