Renew your Focus on Classroom Management

Renew your Focus on Classroom Management

By Tiffany English, AOSA President

A new year brings many resolutions and these may apply to our school life as well as our personal life. After the bustle of December, the new year can be a refreshing time to renew your focus as a teacher. This gives you a fresh start in the classroom and offers your students a chance for a clean slate. We know our Orff classrooms should naturally function as a positive learning community; sometimes bringing your mind back to concrete management systems can help this happen even more effectively. When your classroom management strategies function in a systematic, organized manner, the learning in your class will grow and the natural creativity of your children will come to the fore. I have found the following ideas to work beautifully in my classroom. If this seems a bit overwhelming at first, choose a few things to try. At the end of this list of management ideas, I describe “Mozart Money” as a concrete example of a positive reinforcement strategy that has worked well for my students.

Affirmation – When your focus is on catching students doing the right thing rather than the wrong thing, pretty soon you will have most of the students wanting to do the right thing.

Organization – Sometimes it is the attention to detail that allows a lesson to be well paced and can avoid student frustration, boredom, feelings of defeat and/or embarrassment. These feelings often lead to behavior issues. Plan exactly how to get the students from point A to point B every time. It’s my personal opinion that you should teach from memory and not be tied to notes. This gives your full attention to what the students are doing rather than what you are doing.

Preparation of Materials – Have all needed materials close at hand and ready to go. If you have to stop your lesson to find a book or song on your playlist, you will lose your students’ attention and behavior problems will arise.

Plan for Transitions – Do not leave any down time in your lesson. Use transition time to introduce or review a concept, teach a new song, learn new rhythms, etc. When transitioning, be specific about what you want them to do: “When I get to 10 you will be in a boy/girl circle standing quietly.” This is much clearer and more specific to children than, “Make a circle.”

Routine – The children should know what to expect from classroom procedures. When everyone is comfortable with how your class is run it allows the children to focus on the “meat” of the lesson.

Consistency – Every student should know your expectations and consequences. Don’t say it unless you are willing to do it!

Humor – Using humor is a great way to keep your classroom managed, to smooth over situations, and make the children feel positive.

Word Choice/Tone – What you say and how you say it really matters to kids.

Personalization – Know the students’ names and interests! This is one of the most important tips – know and use student names! Seating charts and name games are very useful for this.

Non-Verbal Communication – Talk less and do more! Train your students to watch you and do what you do. Make it a game and they will love it! It is also a great way to start training the students to watch the conductor.

Value – Your lessons must be engaging to have student buy in. Your lessons must not only be interesting to your students, but also to you! If you love it, they will love it.

Active – Lessons must be rooted in active music making! Children who are involved and have ownership do not want to interfere with the process of learning.

Energy – You must take care of yourself! Eat right, exercise, and get your rest. High energy levels are a must when motivating your students.

Change It Up! – Just like adults, children begin to tune out familiar things. Sing your redirection to children. If you need to redirect a child, don’t be afraid to sing their name and what they are doing in the middle of a song you are teaching. It makes a huge impact and uses humor to deflect a potential behavior issue. A recorder can be used as a management tool as well: play it as a “stop” signal when students are working independently or in groups or use it as “travel music” when students are moving from one part of the room or lesson to another.

Confidence – You must believe in your abilities as a teacher. Children can smell fear from a mile away!

Stay Calm – Don’t lose your temper even if a child keeps pushing. Being calm and unflappable will diffuse most situations. The volume of your voice works wonders. Do not allow your emotions to interfere in the situation. Teaching music is highly personal and this can be difficult, but it must be done.

Rules/Expectations – Maintain high expectations for behavior and musicianship. Students naturally want to please their teachers. Rules are important for your classroom, but it’s a good idea to call them expectations. When introducing your expectations, discuss with the children why they are necessary. These expectations need to reflect your teaching style and your tolerance for behaviors and also be aligned with your school’s behavior plan. I have five expectations in my room:

Mozart Money There are many extrinsic behavior motivation systems out there. Many teachers use movie days, game days, etc. I prefer an individual reward system. This gives responsibility to each child rather than allowing students to “hide” in the class and reap the rewards of others’ work. While it begins as an initially extrinsic behavior system, as the students get older, I begin to wean them from using this as a behavior system and it moves into an academic reinforcement system. I call this system “Mozart Money” and dispense “money” (or stickers for K’s) for behaviors I want to reinforce: Coming into the classroom quietly. Sitting boy/girl and not telling other people where to sit Remembering to raise his or her hand Being nice to a friend Remembering to put mallets down when we are finished playing Using good manners Remembering to put an instrument down when we are finished playing Lining up quietly Eye contact with the teacher Answering a question correctly Going to personal space quietly Not interrupting the teacher Use the management system to “train” students to meet your expectations. I give out many dollars to the younger children for behavior reinforcement. By the time the children are in the upper grades, they know expectations for behavior so the dollars begin to naturally be used more for academic goals. I take back dollars for poor behavior choices, if a child is playing with them, or if a child leaves them lying around. After earning 3 dollars, a child may buy something from my treasure box or candy box at the end of class. A good source of inexpensive treats is www.orientaltrading.com. If you don’t have the resources to purchase prizes, consider lunch with a teacher, play your favorite instrument, read to the class, sit with a friend, etc. A few more tips: I do not replace lost dollars but will replace them if they go through the washing machine. Children must write their names on the back of the dollars and I check them at the beginning of class each time with a quick walk around the circle. (This is also a good way for me to review names!) I tear them up after they are spent to avoid confusion.

Even as a veteran teacher, it is good to revisit my classroom procedures and strategies regularly to stay refreshed and focused on what matters – making music joyfully with children. If you haven’t considered these things, I encourage you to do a little New Year’s reflection and try a few. Wishing you a great second semester!

Reverberations – January 2018