Classroom Management Tips for Ensemble Directors (Part 2)

Classroom management truly is one of the most important topics for ensemble directors. For any concept to be conveyed in band, chorus, or orchestra, an environment conducive to learning must first be set. Besides the large numbers of students involved, there are many logistical and personal variables that can potentially get things off-track. Many music educators identify this as an area for improvement and for which they are hungry for practical help. Others are uncomfortable asking for suggestions about maintaining order and productivity in rehearsals.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, we observed that ensemble directors who foster a safe, positive, and effective learning environment are usually those who approach the issue on multiple fronts. We began our discussion of these “fronts” in Part 1 with the first five key strategies for maintaining a good learning environment for ensemble music-making:

1. Set the Tone
2. Employ Purposeful Routines
3. Conceive Preventative Measures
4. Use Limited, Concise Rules
5. Play More, Talk Less

Here, we continue with four more important tools for classroom management in ensemble music:

6. Be Aware of Pacing and Proportion

Creating a successful rehearsal is like baking a tasty cake: You need all the right ingredients, and in the correct proportions. Spend too much time warming up, or “woodshedding” a tough passage, and you risk emotionally fatiguing students, rendering them unproductive and/or inattentive. Instead, keep rehearsals moving by segmenting them into smaller chunks of time spent on various items, such as:

• Warming up and tuning
• Reading through a piece or section with little/no stops
• Digging into a limited, challenging section of a piece or two
• Playing a piece or section that is near concert-ready, or is a student favorite, for a confidence-building wrap up
• Brief announcements

Add to the above ingredients a few musical games or challenges to use as ice-breakers, or to reward students for focused, hard work, or to insert when students seem to be glazing over in rehearsal. Some games/challenges I use include:

• Long Tone Contest.
• “Who Played It Better?”—Pitting individuals or sections against each other in side-by-side performance of a passage. The ensemble votes with their fingers (1 or 2?).
• “Right or Wrong”—The director, or a selected student, performs a measure or two of music. The player may play the measure as-is or with some intentional error. Students vote right or wrong using a thumbs up or down.
• “Active Listening Challenge”—Question students about a passage just played to reveal how discerningly they listened (Which instrument was last to release? Which instrument section sounded the loudest? etc.)

7. Employ Rewards That Motivate and Train

Dorothy Schneck was a 4th grade classroom teacher I always admired for her students’ good behavior. When picking her brain for the secret to her success, Dorothy shared with me, “Discipline is simple. Just find out what students want and give it to them for doing what you want.” I know some consider the idea of extrinsic motivation educational bribery, but I’ve found the use of certain rewards to be helpful. The idea is to use rewards to train rather than enable. Offering colorful stickers or small pieces of candy may be just what students want for meeting regular home practice goals or to conquer some especially tough passages of concert music.

Some of the best motivators, however, don’t cost a penny! Many students beg to be chosen as an announcer for their upcoming concert. Tell your band that you’ll be observing them in the weeks ahead to select students who are:

• Courteous during rehearsals (“After all, if you expect the audience to listen politely while you announce, shouldn’t you be able to sit politely in band?”)
• Responsible to bring their instrument and music to band each day/week (“I’ll need to depend on you to remember your script.”)
• Musically prepared (“I won’t feel comfortable giving you a script to prepare when you still need to learn your music.”)

Then, from time to time as the concert approaches, stop rehearsal to hand out one of your announcer scripts to an exemplary student. Students will notice! Similar rationale can be used to select students as solosists, to lead warmups on Fridays, or even to conduct a song (or part of one) in rehearsal from time to time.

Another behavior motivator is “student's choice”—allowing a well-behaved student to select an exercise/song from the lesson book at the end of a lesson, or the hardest working section to select a piece to close a rehearsal. Longer-term incentives to consider include concert music and/or scale preparation “check off charts,” or some sort of recognition for maintaining a perfect record of responsibility (i.e. having instrument and music for every band meeting throughout the year).

8. Create Encounters with Excellence

A while back I was working with a student teacher whose teaching strategy seemed to be pointing out student mistake after mistake, but never helping fix the errors. Instead, after having students attempt a passage incorrectly a few times, he’d say, “Okay, keep working on that.” This cycle repeated itself again and again, and I noticed that the students behavior began to mirror their mediocre playing. After the lesson, I explained to the young man that if the majority of our contact time with students consists of them failing, they might not want to keep coming back. Instead, I explained, students should have an “ encounter with excellence ” each time they come to band!

The other day, for example, I was working with a group of seven 5th grade alto saxophones. I was rehearsing a small gesture, just a few notes, and it sounded rough. Each time we fixed one problem, another one emerged. Someone missed an accidental. Another held a staccato note too long, another rushed the rhythm. We played the passage, fixing every last error until they sounded really awesome together. It was only a small phrase, and frankly in a 30-minute lesson I don’t have the time to devote to refining everything to that degree of excellence, but I strive to do just that at least once in every lesson or rehearsal I lead.

The idea of bringing students into an encounter with excellence at least once each rehearsal isn’t mine. I first heard it in college from my trumpet professor and mentor, Dr. Kenneth Laudermilch. Years later, I found the same principle in Peter Boonshaft’s wonderful little book, Teaching with Passion . Boonshaft suggests that, “in every rehearsal we need to make one beautiful pearl.” These “pearls” serve as beacons of perfection, giving students an example of our expectations, while encouraging students that they can produce something (no matter how small) that is truly beautiful.

9. Be a Relationship Builder

I saved the most significant and effective classroom management tool for last: forge meaningful relationships with students and their families. Every time you greet students at the door with a smile, or sit briefly with them to chat in the cafeteria, or ask them about their softball game or piano recital (or better yet, attend one), or allow them to come to the band room during recess or free periods to receive extra help or play fun music (even though it’s your prep period!), you are building relational “capital” that you can draw on when needed. When a student who knows you truly care gets chatty in band, it may only take a silent look or nod to pull them back into the rehearsal.

Make regular contact with the families of your students, and do so in as personal a way as time allows. To this end, a face-to-face conversation always beats a phone call. A phone call always beats a handwritten note. A handwritten note beats an email. An email beats a text. You get the idea. It’s my goal to make contact once per quarter with a parent of each student, and hopefully mostly to relay the good stuff (i.e. your child is making great progress, is developing a wonderful tone, is working ahead on her own, was especially kind to another student in band, etc.) or to offer help (i.e. “I’d be happy to work with ____ after school next week if that would help,” or, “I’m sensing that _____ needs more challenge. Would you consider private lessons for him/her?”). I have to chuckle at how many parents are utterly and pleasantly surprised when I call to praise and not critique!

I know many younger teachers are apprehensive about speaking with parents to deliver “bad news,” fearing a contentious reaction. Viewing these conversations as relationship-building, focused on conveying your genuine care, should dispel fears about confrontation when reaching out. When you have to raise an issue of concern, use the “sandwich” technique: start with a compliment, then share the concern, then wrap up with something positive. The other day the father of one of my trumpeters contacted me via email. He began by sharing how much his daughter was enjoying band rehearsals and was looking forward to our concert. He then shared how another trumpeter in the section had done something to hurt his daughter, asking if I could intervene. He then closed the email by sharing that he appreciated all I had done as director, mentioning that band was his daughter’s favorite part of the school day. When I read the email, I smiled because I knew I had been “sandwiched!” But seriously, his approach made me really want to help his daughter.

One caveat: It takes time to build relationships. Successful classroom management is about winning the “long game,” so you may need to be patient with your students and yourself. Author Josh MacDowell sums it up succinctly: “Rules Without Relationship Leads to Rebellion.” Just ask any parent of a teen: All the rules in the world fall on deaf ears if students don’t believe you are in their corner. You’ve all heard the very true statement, “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Poet Maya Angelou says it this way: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Many Tools, One Goal

Successful classroom management is a way of running your program, with many varied, concurrent approaches, not simply a single list of “do’s and don’ts.” For more ideas on classroom management, and to decide what’s best for your program, seek help and suggestions from respected colleagues, look for opportunities to observe successful directors in rehearsal, join a professional learning network on social media, and attend sessions on the topic at professional conferences.

Always remember that the big weapon in your classroom management arsenal—and, incidentally, something that will increase satisfaction, enjoyment and longevity in your career as a teacher—is building good relationships.