orchestra Parent-Teacher Conferences:
Not Only About the Student Carrie Lane Gruselle, WMEA State Chair, Orchestra
Parent conferences! Our semi-annual chance to touch base with “the folks” and explore the nature of each child’s support system, or what is happening behind the scenes in the life of our young musi-
cians. At conferences we can be presented with myriad bits of information about the student, and we can present a variety of data to the parents, but these brief five or 10 minutes provide a particularly unique opportunity to glean insight into the value parents place on music in the schools, especially in the performance classroom. Knowing the parents’ point of view not only helps explain achievement (or lack thereof), attitudes and behaviors of chil- dren in our classroom, but can steer us to examine and modify our lesson plans to implement appropriate and differentiated strategies to boost the chances of success for all of our musicians.
In my experience the parental comments (testimonials of one sort or another) tend to fall into one of the following three categories.
First is the parent who says: “I remember how much playing in the orchestra meant to me – I played viola all the way to my senior year. I want the same for my Geof- frey.” These are parents who as young people experienced the power of music, the power of the community and the empowerment that comes from sticking
Practical Pointers 48
with a pursuit even though the temptation to jump ship might have been attractive along the way. Most likely they experi- enced their music classes with teachers who loved kids, loved the repertoire and modeled the enthusiasm for the process as well as the product. Odds are these parents will provide quality instruments, encourage practice, praise progress and will always come to the concert. As long as I keep up my end of good teaching, the odds are good that this student will learn and will stick with it.
The second type of parent is the one who says: “Just so you know, the cello was Maddie’s choice. I’m not going to butt heads with her on this. If she wants to play, it will be up to her.” I no longer shudder when I hear this one. To me this is a glass half full situation. I know that it is entirely up to me to steer this student and provide motivation. I know coming out of the gate that Maddie will have to want to practice on her own, so I may need to initially have some extrinsic motivators for her class – stickers, rewards, etc. – at least until after the first concert. And this is a child that needs to know that you value her activity and that you value her participation in class. This will be the student that will especially benefit from lesson plans that include community building activities and experiences, which allow her to make personal connections with the music, the composer or the genre of the music. Her teacher and her peers will become her support system. If we let her slip through the cracks, then Maddie may grow up to be parent type number three.
The third type says: “I’m so disappointed that my parents let me quit playing my instrument. I wish I had stuck it out! So we have decided that Jeremy WILL play the violin until at least the ninth grade. Then if he wants to quit he can.” The good news is that these parents will probably encourage practicing at home. The bad news is the child may be coerced into studying an instrument he would not have chosen for himself. It will be up to us to nurture a love of the violin, or perhaps, if we see that Jeremy displays an affinity towards the lower sounding instruments, to provide him an opportunity to explore a C-stringed or end-pinned instrument. And let’s not forget that it is also our responsi- bility to teach meaningful practice to the students. Jeremy’s parents may set a timer for 30 minutes and send him to his room to practice. That’s 15 repetitions of “Swal- lowtail Jig” and once through “Rosin Eat- ing Zombies” – which were both on his last concert. For Jeremy, a practice chart with specifics will be valuable, or at least goals copied into his school assignment notebook.
No matter which category the kids fall into, be it one of these three or any of various other possibilities, we need to re- member that although we may be training lifelong musical performers, we are nur- turing and educating lifelong consumers of music, not to mention the future parents of musical performers and consumers!
Carrie Lane Gruselle teaches elementary and high school orchestra in Appleton. Email:
grusellecarrie@asasd.k12.wi.us
~ Carrie Lane Gruselle
When creating practice charts, include information about HOW to practice as well as WHAT to practice. And how about an opportunity for self-assessment? Students can grade their practices!
September 2011
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