Classroom Management

Since rewards and competitions are not looked upon favorably in my school, I have had a difficult time coming up with a good classroom management plan for my music classes.  After 5 years (and of course with me getting to know the children better and being consistent throught the years), I think I have finally come up with something that works.

I have 5 expectations (all of which can be summed up in the 5th and final expectation "always try your best").  I review the expectations every class for the first 9 or 10 weeks.  I know that sounds a little extreme, but I have learned that children need a lot of repetition to really know and understand something.  By doing this at the beginning of the year as much as I do, then towards the end of the year I don't have as many problems because the children know exactly what I expect.  These are always posted in my room as well, right above the CD player.  When I introduce them, I don't call them rules.  I say "this is what good musicians do."  I have 2 reward systems working together in my classes for students following the Good Musician Expectations.

For individual students, I have a "Good Musician Award."  I choose 1 student from each class each week to be the Good Musician.  I tell the classes every week what I am looking for, and I am very specific.  I say that I will not choose a student that is talking, not listening, playing or being silly, not making good choices, etc.  I am looking for someone that is making good choices every single time.  This doesn't really make it a competition, because all of the students are trying to be the best that they can be.  I do the individual reward because I think it is important to recognize individuals for their hard work and good choices.  I also think it is important to teach students how to lose with a good attitude because in life we don't always win every single time.  So even though I don't call it "winning" the award, I stress the importance of being a good sport and congratulating the student that was named the Good Musician, and I tell them that even though they didn't get it today, that it does not mean they weren't doing a good job (unless, of course, they were not making good choices).  After a few weeks, they get it.  And of course, I always try to get around to everyone by the end of the year :)

The second reward I have in my class is called "free choice music day."  This is not a free day where the students get to do anything they want, but a day where I give them 3 choices of more fun activities and games that they can do instead of having a normal music class.  I do this 3 times a year and my students really look forward to it.  In order to participate in free choice day, the class has to have earned a certain number of awards.  I give 1 award to the whole class every week that they are following directions and working hard.
 

If they have not earned a certain number, then the class does not get to participate during free choice week and we have regular music class instead.  I review the expectations with the class at the beginning of music every week, and let them know that I will not give the class the award if they are talking, being silly, not listening, not following directions, etc.  If I have to stop teaching to address an issue with the whole class, I put a talley mark on the board (which can be earned back).  If the class has any talleys at the end, they do not get the award.

My consequences for not making good choices are very simple.  For every offense, the student gets a strike.  The 1st strike is a warning.  I write down the student's name on a post-it note and stick it to the outside of the class folder.  If that student starts making good choices again then I will mark it off.  But if the student does not start making good choices, the strikes are:
2 - I speak to the classroom teachers about the behavior.
3 - I speak to the parents about the behavior.
4 - We speak to the principal about the behavior.
I tell the students that we only have music for 40 minutes, and there is no reason that anyone should ever get 4 strikes in 1 music class.

Classroom management is a process and of course I don't have it perfected (and I probably never will), but I think the most important thing I have learned so far are:

• Students have to be taught what they are expected to do and how they are expected to behave before you can expect them to do it. 
• If you tell them that something is going to happen if they don't follow the expectations, then you better be prepared to do it because they will test you.
• Be consistent...don't adhere to your consequences just sometimes and ignore the behavior other times (or with certain students).

Super Awesome Teacher Binder

I spent a lot of time on pinterest over the summer looking for new and interesting things to make my year a little more organized, a little more fun, and a little easier for me.  One of the things I came across that I really liked was a teacher binder.  Even though I'm the music teacher, I've noticed that having a teacher binder does keep me a little more organized.  Here are 2 that I found that I really liked...

• http://beyondthegrades.blogspot.com/2011/10/teacher-binder.html
• http://teacheristatales.blogspot.com/search/label/Classroom%20Organization

After I did the research on how to make a teacher binder, I pulled out the important things that I would need as the music specialist in my school.  Of course, as the year progresses, I am changing my binder to better fit my school and my classroom.  Here's what I have so far...

Important Information
I put all of the beginning of the year information, the master calendar, school wide schedules, guided reading information, and anything else that I might need for quick reference in this section. 

Essential Standards
I put a copy of all of the Common Core Essential Standards by grade level in this section for reference.  I also created a check sheet for each grade level, so I can check off the standards when I have taught them.

Lesson Plans
I only put the lesson plans that I am teaching during a particular week in this section.  If I were to put all of my lesson plans for all 6 grade levels for the entire year in my binder, there would not be enough room for anything else.  I have a file folder pocket chart hanging up behind my desk that has 6 folders (one for each grade level) that have my pacing guides and my lesson plans that I have already taught.

Meeting Notes
In this section, I have all of the notes that I have taken at various meetings throughout the year.  This includes all of our staff meetings, our book studies, Leadership Team, and the county-wide music teacher meetings.

I do not have a section with a class list or student data information because I teach 21 classes every week.  I have all of this information in individual file folders that are in the pocket chart behind my desk.  At the beginning of the day, I pull out the file folders of just the classes I am teaching that day.  I keep all of my student data in the file folders along with a seating chart and a class roster.

Something that I do not have that I think might be handy is a calendar section.  At the beginning of the year, I bought a planning calendar from Wal-Mart.  It is a nice calendar, but it is something separate from the notebook, and then I end up having to carry around both (to meetings and such) or just not have my calendar with me.  I think in the future I will add a calendar section to the notebook.

Update:  See my new post on organizational binders here: New Improved Music Teacher Binder

First Steps in Music and Conversational Solfege

For the past 3 years, I have been using two method books as the primary resource for my classes.  For all grades, I use a method called "First steps in Early Childhood" and in 2nd-5th grade I use a method called Conversational Solfege.  Both of these method books are written by Dr. John Feierabend.  First Steps is primarily for Kindergarten and 1st grade students - teaching accurate singing and steady beat.  I use this in all of my classes to give them a foundation.  After we have built the foundation, I will only use this method in Kindergarten and 1st Grade.  I use Conversational Solfege to teach my students how to listen for, read and write rhythm.  I have to admit though, that I always start well but I have never even finished unit 1!  I am determined this year to be successful at comleting unit 1!  Then I will be able to set my goals for next year...teaching units 1 and 2 hopefully.

First Steps in Music is a method that teaches young children to sing in tune and to keep a steady beat.  It is an 8 step method...vocal warm-up, echo singing, singing simple songs, arioso (creating), movement warm-up, movement for form and expression (purposeful movement), beat motion, and songtales.  Each lesson contains all 8 parts.  What I like most about this method is that even though it is mostly for young singers, you can apply any of the activities to any age and it is still appropriate.  I use the vocal section of the book for all of my classes K-5th grade.  I also like the "whole-song" approach to teaching kids songs. 

Conversational Solfege is a method of teaching music modeled after how one learns language.  First you hear language, then you begin to speak words.  Then after you have been speaking for a while, you learn to read those words.  And then finally you learn to write.  In Conversational Solfege, students hear rhythms using rhythm syllables, they echo these patterns, then they have to learn to "decode" (hear a pattern and then say it back using rhythm syllables).  Once they have mastered the speaking part, then they learn to read the rhythm patterns.  And then finally, they learn to write them.  I highly recommend this method.  Even though I have never finished, my students really like it and they are fairly successful with it.

The hardest part I think is learning how to decode a rhythm.  My students in grades 2-5 have been working on decoding for about 6 weeks now, and when I did individual assessments during the last class, I noticed that only about half of them were able to say the rhythms correctly, and half of those took more than one try.  I am hoping that the more I teach this method, the easier it will be.