I am mentoring several new music teachers in my district
this year. The biggest concern of every single one? Classroom management. I was
right there with them my first year; if you are a veteran teacher who had
amazing classroom management right off the bat, then please let me know who you
are… so I can grovel at your marvelous feet.
Management is nearly impossible to master as a student; you
can learn Fred Jones until you are blue in the face and yes reading can help,
but it just can’t be mastered until you have experience. A lot of it. But what
do you do until then? What do you do when 19 2nd graders are doing
their absolute best, but 6 have checked out due to the one who is hiding behind
your instrument storage, singing “Twinkle Twinkle” as loud as they can because “half
notes are evil and I won’t learn about the devil in school”? (Yes, that really
happened.)
This was me, the next morning.
We have all been there. While it’s hard to have ironclad “you must do these things”
in management because every teaching style differs, here are some general tips that
I’ve found helpful in establishing my classroom.
1.) Don’t take it personally.
If you’re brand new or even new to
a school, it can take time for students to trust you. This is especially true
for your at-risk students. At first, students are learning much more about you
and what your limits are than your actual subject. They will push, and
sometimes they will say terrible things that they don’t mean. It doesn’t mean
the kid is bad. It doesn’t mean you are bad. Most likely, you’re both just
adjusting. Clear rules help this adjustment. That way, when that 4th
grader is using a mallet to annoy their buddy, you can calmly point out that
they made the choice to break rule whatever, and can now sit out. Then, it isn’t
personal for them either; it’s simple cause and effect.
2.) Stay calm.
For some students, getting a rise
out of the teacher = VICTORY. Use extreme volumes only in extreme situations. This
can also apply to getting flustered. If I make a mistake? Hurray, I am
officially human and not an alien. I always acknowledge the mistake quickly and
move on. Do I still get flustered? You bet. I just don’t make a huge deal out
of it. The goal here isn’t for it to never ever happen, the goal is for it to
not be a part of the culture of your classroom.
3.) Find the positive.
This should be easy, because if you
weren’t freaking awesome you wouldn’t be teaching. But the truth is, our
culture is currently quite focused on rooting out the “bad apples” and
education can be very overwhelming. It is easy for teaching to become an oppressively
negative experience. I absolutely, completely guarantee: EVERY SINGLE LESSON
you teach every single day has at least 3 things about it that were good. Maybe
they were small, but they were there. Find a few of them. Sure, you need it so
you don’t go insane, but it is also helpful to know what is working so you can
build on your strengths. If you can’t find them, call in reinforcements from a colleague
or video-tape yourself teaching your best management class.
4.) Self-evaluate
“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion
that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that
creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I
possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be
a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In
all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be
escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”
-Haim G. Ginott
Here comes the tough love, folks:
if you are having classroom management issues, your kids are only half the
problem. Hear me on this though: That does not, ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT mean you
are a bad teacher. Do you expect kids to get a concept perfectly 5 minutes into
a lesson? Probably not. Don’t expect the same thing of yourself, because you
will make mistakes and that is OK. However, for most lessons you will have to
take an objective look at the things you do and figure out what isn’t working
so you can improve. Often, it is a behavior that leads to the escalation of a negative
situation. What were you doing before a normal situation got bad? If you aren’t
sure, bring in a video camera to your toughest class and tape yourself. That
can also help you spot escalating voice inflections, like sarcasm.
5.) Be the positive
Kids are incredibly sensitive about
the “s” word: stupid. I have kids who aren’t great at one subject, and become
absolutely convinced they are stupid and terrible at school (despite being geniuses
in other subjects.) Humans tend to focus on the negative, and one of the best
parts of teaching music is our ability to find that one thing kids are great at
and highlight it until you can see that sucker from space. We can’t do that
until we establish our classroom as a place of mutual respect. Using positive
language like “please walk” instead of “Oh God DON’T RUN ARGH” (I’ve totally
caught myself saying that exact sentence before) helps you establish a safe
space where kids can fail but continue on to succeed. I also use positive
reinforcement whenever possible. Word to the wise: stickers are magic, and
Dollar Tree has foam music-themed ones.
6.) Balance novelty with procedure, and insanity with
structure.
I know I’m getting through to a kid
when they laugh and tell me I’m crazy. Because guess what? Kids pay attention
to the crazy lady. (Or crazy dude. This tactic works well for anybody willing
to be nuts.) They want to see what I’ll do next, so they give me the benefit of
the doubt. One of my best engagement strategies is being an unpredictable crazy
lady. My students no longer blink twice when I show up in a wig and frock coat
to be their substitute Herr Mozart, and even my jaded 5th graders
put up with my antics because they know something good is coming. They also
know exactly what my rules are, exactly where my limits are, and exactly what
the consequences are for each action, both good and bad.
7.) Be consistent
Yes, I know that one first grader
is stinking cute. But if they break a rule, they need to have consequences. That
isn’t to say you shouldn’t differentiate; several of my kids have deals with me
for specific behaviors I am looking for, or a hand-sign for when they need a
chance to cool-off. As a whole, though, be clear about your expectations and
stick to your guns. If playing out of turn on drums, recorders, or tone bars
means two minutes of silence in your class, then you need stick to the that
consequence. Only set consequences you are willing to follow through with. Do this
with positive actions as well. For keeping track, I have individual systems as
well as a class-wide system using Class Dojo.
8.) Get them moving
Music teachers have an advantage
with this, because so much of what we teach is naturally kinesthetic. But even
if you are doing a lesson focusing on theory, find a way to get kids up and
moving. If that means they jump while reciting a definition, cool. Braindance
at the beginning of the lesson? Word. But you don’t want kindies to sit
criss-cross-applesauce for 40 minutes if you want to keep your sanity. (Let’s
be real, it’s probably hanging by a thread anyway.) If you have longer classes,
consider taking quick one-minute brain breaks. I also let students earn dance
breaks if they finish what they need to get done in a lesson. Go Noodle is a
great resource for this.
I hope these tips will help you. I plan on going into more
detail with certain things, like procedures, soon. Have a great day!
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