Set-Backs
Every class has a personality and sometimes a student comes along who is only invested in her or himself. Someone who sits and glowers or causes disruption is very difficult for a teacher or class to endure. “It’s not a favor to let them think what they are doing is o.k.,” She noted that people with these characteristics would go on to destroy a work place. Dempsey tries everything before recommending that a stu- dent drop her class or forcibly removing the child. “I can count on one hand the number of times I have had to send s student to the office,” Dempsey said. But removal is an op- tion when phone calls to parents fail to bring needed change. Sometimes students become frustrated with their musical ef- forts. “When a student says, ‘I can’t do this,’ I say ‘yet.’” She says students are fully capable of fixing problems if she insists, and she is amazed at what they accomplish. “I’m the biggest nag.” Dempsey finds that students often get frus- trated with her nagging, but they know she still loves them. That’s what she wants them to know about her right from the beginning. She strives to correct without a harsh tone. Some- times she is surprised by the accomplishment of a student who she thought would never catch on. It just takes time and patience – sometimes years. When someone gets something right, such as getting a note in tune, students in her class ap- plaud. This validation is something she fosters from the very beginning and pays dividends throughout the year.
Author’s Observations
Observing a student teacher in Dempsey’s classroom was revelatory. All of the students seemed to be on-task, espe- cially during the warm-up routines. During a rhythm test, one group of students was at the board, working to write down the counting. Another group was busy with pencil and paper, completing the written portion of the test, and a third group was playing an assignment for the teacher – all with minimal verbal instruction and zero confusion.
Students relaxed a bit when they got toward the end of the class period as they started rehearsing their concert music, but they all seemed to be enjoying the experience and con- tinued working as a team, quickly refocusing their attention when given a subtle cue. Their portable classroom was bare- ly large enough to accommodate the many students. There were no elaborate room decorations, and the temperature was quite uncomfortable (broken thermostat), but it didn’t seem to impede the class in any way.
Even though a student teacher was directing students, it was clear that Dempsey had empowered students to learn and had enjoyed her loving validation from the moment they first tucked a violin under their chin or balanced a string bass in front of them. Her basic philosophy, expressed during the
interview, echoed with truth, “I’m invested in every kid. It’s a privilege to be invited into their lives.”
Chris Earl
Chris Earl has just finished his 21st year as a junior high band teacher. Earl has taught in the Weber, Murray and Da- vis school districts with a current assignment at South Davis Jr. High School. He has also garnered distinction as a pub- lished composer of band literature. “I’ve felt that most issues can be taken care of before students get into the classroom,” Earl claimed, saying that preparing for most eventualities of classroom management and instruction is essential. To that end, he keeps and frequently reviews lesson plan notes from year to year, trying to find areas where he can be more ef- ficient and stripping away extraneous and counterproductive procedures.
Lesson plans
He loads his lesson plans into Dropbox, so that they are available to him wherever he goes and on whatever device is available to him – laptop, tablet or smart phone. He keeps his plans simple and quite general with concepts that he will be covering during the period. To him, lesson plans are more like a journal and contain notes for future reference like, “Do this a week later,” “Try this a week earlier,” etc. This helps inform him about where he wants to be at the end of the term.
Earl never allows himself to get in front of a class without knowing exactly what he wants to accomplish that day. Stu- dents in his advanced group often tease his specificity, be- cause he will list the exact time he wants to begin a new activity on the board. That not only helps his pacing but also lets students know it is important for them to stay on task.
Rules
Over the years, Earl has pared-down his classroom rules to three: be on time; be respectful of people and school proper- ty; use only your own equipment. Basically, he says it boils down to the “golden rule,” of treating others as you would like to be treated.
Years ago, he spent the first two or three days of school talk- ing about “dos” and “don’ts.” Now he handles issues as they arise, discussing cause and effect and keeping explanations as simple as possible. He strives to put a positive spin on behavior issues.
If students start talking during a rehearsal, he doesn’t yell. He’ll usually just say, “I’m waiting.” Students quickly calm down so he can move on. Earl notices that this method
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