One of the things I have learned since I have started teaching is to have clear goals and objectives for each class every day. As band directors (music teachers) we learned much of what we do from our college band or high school band rehearsals. I remember in college, the conductor would show up, and we would play music. That was it. The warm-up would be a one of the famous 16 Bach Chorales, and then we would go straight into literature rehearsal.
The problem with this, is that in college, we also went to music theory class, private lessons, history, etc... In school music programs we have to teach all of that through our band class. I like to refer to band class as applied music - students are learning all about music through the performance on their instruments.
I thought about this today because I did not do a very good job (actually a poor job) of planning for today. At the end of the day, I sat and asked myself, "What did they learn today?" I have no answer for that. My older classes did an okay job reading some new music. The beginners did an okay job of playing through a new exercise - but as far as a new skill or concept - absolutely nothing.
This is not a good way to go about teaching, especially in middle school. Normally, I sit down, and figure out exactly what I want them to know at the end of one week, one month, one year, etc... and then come up with a plan. Within that plan is all of the daily lessons and the methods I will use to accomplish my goals. Each class I work on a concept - I give them experiences with that concept during the warm-up time, and work on that concept within the music they are playing. Every class should provide students the chance to strengthen concepts and learn new skills.
So, ask yourself tomorrow, after school, "What did they learn today?" I know that question makes me take a hard look at my teaching and planning. Students need to learn more than how to play individual pieces of music. Learning concepts and skills that they can apply to music performance will make them better musicians, and improve your ensembles.
Today my students didn't learn much, so I will need to plan better for next time!
