Week 9: Classroom Management

This week, I decided to try something really different with my students, and it really payed off.  Some of my students were learning how to play their lower Concert F, and while others were not, they were very patient and allowed me to work with the woodwinds and brass players that were learning the new note.  First, I had them get the note in their ear, so we all sang it together, which worked really well.  Then, I had the brass players buzz the note into their mouthpieces before playing so that they could have an idea of how much speed of air and pressure they should use.  It really worked, and the students were able to grasp the new note and work through the piece in a constructive way. I hadn't really thought about it before, but what I actually did was a means of classroom management.  I tried a different approach and had the students do something other than the norm, and it caused them to pay more attention and focus in on the activity.  I've seen Mr. Knasas do the same kind of thing in having the students do breathing exercises instead of just playing the entire time.  I think that there's a lot of value in switching up the usual procedure, both for the students' benefit and for the teacher to find new methods of instruction. I'm definitely going to try and keep this creativity constant in the rest of my lessons.