http://sywtt.com/?p=2247
Above is a link to a very touching post on "So You Want to Teach?" The author explains that he was troubled with the behavior in his classroom but was afraid to discipline the students out of fear that they might think he hated them. After reading scripture, he decided that those who don't discipline their children don't actually love them. He began to reprimand students often but possibly went to the extreme. After reading the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (which I don't fully understand quite yet) and reading deeper into scripture, he decided that the teacher needs to enforce essential rules without forcing students to fit one specific image of what he believes a student should look. He did discover that many of the students were not following his 3 basic rules for rehearsal behavior: (1) Do not turn and talk to neighbors, (2) Do not talk while the director is working with another section, and (3) try not to play past the stopping point. He encouraged readers to establish a few basic rules that are taught at the beginning of middle school and remain consistent throughout high school. He then warns the reader not to be obsessed with nit-picky annoyances and try to understand that student behavior will never fit one's conception of "perfect behavior" all the time. I thought his advise was sound, and I'll be honest - I really like reading the Bible, and I think it does provide infinite suggestions on how to become a successful teacher. It was cool to see this author tie the scripture into his career.
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This author realized that he hadn't shared his expectations with the students. It's easy to overlook that very important step, especially if we see students only once a week. It's such a critical thing for students to understand if classroom management is to be effective.
ReplyDeleteI'll echo Tammy's comments. I've always been lucky to have my students several weeks before school begins; sometimes as early as six weeks. This has allowed me to lay out the expectations of the classroom and rehearsal etiquette very early in their time with me. I think the author of the blog you chose to write about has the right idea with their "3 basic rules". Of course they would need more rules to efficiently operate in an instrumental music settiing. But those three are a good start.
ReplyDeleteDr. Bauer has published a great article on classroom management in one of the music ed journals. If you can find it, it is a great read!
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