Teaching Tips

One tip for the music classroom that I have learned from observing other master teachers is don't give the kids time to misbehave, especially in big rehearsals. We have probably all been in large rehearsals where the director is obviously frustrated with the level of chatter that is going on in the room and proceeds to spend a few minutes lecturing the class on how they need to stop talking in order to get any work done, blah, blah, blah. The most effective strategy that I have seen in large rehearsals is to have every minute of the rehearsal so well planned that students don't have even a minute to stop and talk. When they do manage to sneak some disruptions in, call their name out, bring their attention back to the front of the room, and continue singing or playing. This requires a very high energy level and a lot of focus from the teacher, but I have seen it work very effectively on many occasions.