Essential Tips for Beginning Music Teachers, Part 2

Preparing the classroom is an important first step, but an organized room does not automatically create an organized class. Students need to be taught how to use the space, care for equipment, move between activities, and begin learning together.

Procedures are not simply directions you give on the first day. They are skills students need to learn and practice.

The routines you establish will shape how students use their time, take responsibility, and contribute to the musical community you are building.

Identify the routines that will shape each class period:

Entering the room
Storing backpacks and personal belongings
Collecting folders, music, or instruments
Setting up chairs, stands, and equipment
Beginning the opening activity
Moving from one activity to another
Asking questions or requesting help
Cleaning and returning equipment
Packing up and preparing for dismissal
Leaving the room

Teach these procedures explicitly. Explain the purpose, demonstrate the process, and give students an opportunity to practice. And remember, if something isn’t working after a few weeks, reset and reteach!

Teach and Reinforce the Daily Procedures

As music teachers, we have lots of great activities to share with our students. To get to the learning and the fun, we must continue teaching and reinforcing the routines until they become automatic. When a routine begins to slip, pause and reteach it. Correcting a small problem early is much easier than trying to change an established habit later. If you need to reset now, do it before it is ingrained in your students’ behavior.

Teach Instrument and Equipment Care

A note about beginning instrumentalists. Students who are taking their instruments home must be able to assemble, hold, clean, store, and transport their instruments properly. Demonstrate each step, allow students to practice, and ask them to show you that they can complete the process independently.

Do not rush through this because you are eager to begin playing. The time you spend teaching instrument care now can prevent damaged equipment, unnecessary repair expenses, and considerable frustration later.

This same care should extend to classroom instruments, percussion equipment, music stands, folders, keyboards, microphones, and other shared materials. Teach students how to carefully store every item.

Students need to understand that caring for equipment is part of being a responsible member of the musical community.

Plan Classroom Transitions

Transitions can create some of the most disorganized moments in a music classroom. Even during an active and productive lesson, moving from one activity to another can quickly lead to confusion.

Decide in advance how students will change music, move into sectional groups, collect supplies, pick up instruments, shift from movement to singing, or prepare to pack up.

Ask yourself:

How will I signal that it is time to transition?
What should students do first?
Where should materials be placed?
What should students do while they wait?
How much time should the transition take?
How will we know when everyone is ready?

A transition that feels obvious to you may not be obvious to your students. Teach it as carefully as you would teach a musical concept.

Create an Equipment System

Develop a streamlined system for distributing and collecting music, folders, instruments, tuners, stands, paperwork, and other supplies.

Whenever possible, give students age-appropriate responsibility for these tasks. Students can help prepare the rehearsal space, distribute folders, manage equipment carts, organize percussion areas, and return materials at the end of class.

The goal is not simply to save time. It is to help students become independent and invested in the care of their classroom.

Make sure every item has a clearly identified home. Then teach students how to return the room to its expected condition before they leave.

Define the First Five Minutes

Teach students exactly what should happen when they enter the room.

Depending on the class, this might include assembling instruments, collecting folders, preparing materials, completing a short written prompt, beginning breathing exercises, or starting a familiar warm-up.

Establish nonverbal signals for gaining students’ attention and indicating when complete silence is needed. Practice these signals before you are trying to use them in a noisy or unsettled classroom.

A predictable beginning helps students settle quickly and allows learning to begin without wasting valuable class time.

Establish a Manageable Warm-Up Routine

Select the scales, long tones, breathing exercises, vocalizations, movement activities, or rhythm patterns that will form the basis of your daily warm-up.

Keep the routine manageable at first. It does not need to include everything you hope to address during the year. Begin with a few purposeful activities, teach them well, and expand the routine as students become more independent.

Make sure students understand the musical purpose behind each activity. A warm-up should prepare students to listen, think, respond, and make music. It should not become something they complete without attention.

Choose Introductory Repertoire Carefully

Select two or three accessible pieces or activities that will help you assess the ensemble’s current abilities. Begin with music that allows students to experience early success while you listen for tone quality, balance, range, rhythmic understanding, sight-reading ability, and musical independence.

Tell students what you are listening for and what you hope to learn during the first few rehearsals. This helps them understand that assessment is part of the learning process, not a test they are expected to pass immediately.

Resist the temptation to begin with music that is too difficult (more on that later). Accessible repertoire gives you space to teach rehearsal procedures, establish musical expectations, and learn more about your students.

Mentally Rehearse Your Procedures

Walk through each class in your mind, beginning with how you will greet students and ending with how they will leave the room.

Think through:

What will students see when they enter?
What will you say first?
What materials will they need?
How will you move between activities?
What will you do if an activity takes more or less time than expected?
How will you close the class?

This mental rehearsal can reveal gaps in your plans and help ease some of the nervousness that comes with the first few days. Planning the sequence will become easier as you gain experience.

Create an Emergency Substitute Folder Now

Do not wait until you are sick to create substitute plans. There may be a day when you have neither the time nor the energy to write detailed instructions.

Your emergency folder should include:

Class rosters
Bell schedules
Seating charts
Classroom expectations
Emergency procedures
Information about reliable student helpers
One-page lesson plans that a non-music substitute can follow
Directions for locating necessary materials

Preparing this folder now will save considerable stress later for you, your students, and your substitute.

Reminder to Learn Your Students’ Names

Learn students’ names as quickly as possible. Practice using them, study seating charts, and turn the process into a game when appropriate.

Names communicate something important: I see you. You belong here. You matter in this classroom.

Students are more likely to trust your leadership when they know you are making an effort to know them.

Give Yourself Permission to Adjust

A strong beginning does not mean that every plan works perfectly. It means paying attention to what is happening, reflecting on what your students need, and making thoughtful adjustments.

Choose a few essential systems and teach them well. Ask for help when you need it. When something does not work, revise it without viewing the change as a failure.

Effective teaching is not the result of having every answer on the first day. It develops through noticing, reflecting, and responding.

Start with the little things. When students know where to go, what to do, how to care for their materials, and how to begin learning together, you have created more than an orderly classroom. You have begun building a musical community.

What beginning-of-year routine has made the greatest difference in your classroom? What is one system you plan to establish or reset this week? I would love to hear from you!