“The journey, not the arrival, matters.” –T.S. Eliot
Being successful in music education is often a question of being good at a lot of little things that don’t necessarily contribute to your accomplishments but rather amplify and compound the successes of your students.
When you're working with little kids, it's often about the little things, the little steps, the bite-size increments of achieving goals.
For that matter, that applies to big kids, too. One of the first things that legendary college basketball coach John Wooden instructed his players on was the proper way to tie their shoes. Get enough of the little things going right and you'll get big things going right, too.
Whether you are a school teacher or not, these next three post will provide insights on the way I approached some of the little things that, when left unaddressed, can turn into big problems and even worse habits.
When I'm asked if I ever get butterflies before I go out to perform, my usual response is no, because I've trained my butterflies to fly in strict single line order. One of the greatest gifts you can give little kids in an elementary school is showing them a way to get from here to there that is painless, always works, and draws praise from all who observe them in motion.
Being an elementary music teacher is similar to being a grandparent. They generally bring the kids to you for a while and they return to pick them up.
As an elementary music teacher, I'm usually not taking kids to the music room or sending them back. That's the job of the classroom teacher. I've seen just about every variation, good and bad, on the theme of how to get kids from here to there. What I'm going to detail here is the best amalgam of ideas and techniques for “getting from here to there” that I employed with children in ages ranging from kindergarten to 5th grade.
Getting Out the Door – Preparation is Everything
Before I had the kids line up, I explained exactly what we were going to do.
Anytime you need to have kids go from here to there, clear expectations are paramount. An old classroom credo of mine is to tell them what you're going to do, tell them how we're going to do it, tell them what they're doing while they're doing it, tell them what they did after they've done it, give a little feedback, and hopefully be in a position to give a lot of praise.
Right before it was time to leave, I would tell the kids that in a minute or so, I would give them “Go” time (time where they could talk to each other or me), and during that “Go” time, they were supposed to line up at the door. When I moved the magnet on the chalk board back to the “Stop” sign, the expectation was their hands, feet, and mouths would “stop”, their brains would keep working, their hands would be behind their back, and they would be showing hallway expectations (no talking, hands behind our backs).
Sometimes after signaling for “Stop” time, I'd approach the line and identify the four most focused kids standing in line. I would rapidly point to each of them and say, “Five, ten, fifteen, twenty!”. That meant that those kids were supposed to get out of line and into the fifith, tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth spots in the line. I often told them that “A line is like a chain, it's only as strong as its strongest links”, which is a play on the old cliché. The children that I pointed to we're going to be my strong links. They were my helpers, my inside line leaders, and they were going to assure us that we would get us from here to there.
This technique firms up the line, gives me more opportunities for recognizing effort and leadership, and took attention away from the solitary kid who was at the front of the line.
Once I had my strong links in position, I would often remark that I might need one more “strong link kid”. If I said that, the entire line would snap into perfect position hoping they might be the one I would pick.
Only after everyone was exhibiting hallway expectations did I ask the leader of the line to choose one of the five air fresheners.
By the door to my room, I had five aerosol room fresheners that sported fake labels I designed. Each of them had a silly, gross name and a funny graphic, creating kid-friendly products you would never want to spray in your house or classroom. Scents like “Rat Fink Fruit Punch” and “Gooey Garbage Can Delight”.
Being successful in music education is often a question of being good at a lot of little things that don’t necessarily contribute to your accomplishments but rather amplify and compound the successes of your students.
When you're working with little kids, it's often about the little things, the little steps, the bite-size increments of achieving goals.
For that matter, that applies to big kids, too. One of the first things that legendary college basketball coach John Wooden instructed his players on was the proper way to tie their shoes. Get enough of the little things going right and you'll get big things going right, too.
Whether you are a school teacher or not, these next three post will provide insights on the way I approached some of the little things that, when left unaddressed, can turn into big problems and even worse habits.
When I'm asked if I ever get butterflies before I go out to perform, my usual response is no, because I've trained my butterflies to fly in strict single line order. One of the greatest gifts you can give little kids in an elementary school is showing them a way to get from here to there that is painless, always works, and draws praise from all who observe them in motion.
Being an elementary music teacher is similar to being a grandparent. They generally bring the kids to you for a while and they return to pick them up.
As an elementary music teacher, I'm usually not taking kids to the music room or sending them back. That's the job of the classroom teacher. I've seen just about every variation, good and bad, on the theme of how to get kids from here to there. What I'm going to detail here is the best amalgam of ideas and techniques for “getting from here to there” that I employed with children in ages ranging from kindergarten to 5th grade.
Getting Out the Door – Preparation is Everything
Before I had the kids line up, I explained exactly what we were going to do.
Anytime you need to have kids go from here to there, clear expectations are paramount. An old classroom credo of mine is to tell them what you're going to do, tell them how we're going to do it, tell them what they're doing while they're doing it, tell them what they did after they've done it, give a little feedback, and hopefully be in a position to give a lot of praise.
Right before it was time to leave, I would tell the kids that in a minute or so, I would give them “Go” time (time where they could talk to each other or me), and during that “Go” time, they were supposed to line up at the door. When I moved the magnet on the chalk board back to the “Stop” sign, the expectation was their hands, feet, and mouths would “stop”, their brains would keep working, their hands would be behind their back, and they would be showing hallway expectations (no talking, hands behind our backs).
Sometimes after signaling for “Stop” time, I'd approach the line and identify the four most focused kids standing in line. I would rapidly point to each of them and say, “Five, ten, fifteen, twenty!”. That meant that those kids were supposed to get out of line and into the fifith, tenth, fifteenth, and twentieth spots in the line. I often told them that “A line is like a chain, it's only as strong as its strongest links”, which is a play on the old cliché. The children that I pointed to we're going to be my strong links. They were my helpers, my inside line leaders, and they were going to assure us that we would get us from here to there.
This technique firms up the line, gives me more opportunities for recognizing effort and leadership, and took attention away from the solitary kid who was at the front of the line.
Once I had my strong links in position, I would often remark that I might need one more “strong link kid”. If I said that, the entire line would snap into perfect position hoping they might be the one I would pick.
Only after everyone was exhibiting hallway expectations did I ask the leader of the line to choose one of the five air fresheners.
By the door to my room, I had five aerosol room fresheners that sported fake labels I designed. Each of them had a silly, gross name and a funny graphic, creating kid-friendly products you would never want to spray in your house or classroom. Scents like “Rat Fink Fruit Punch” and “Gooey Garbage Can Delight”.
At that point I would ceremoniously hold the can high up in the air and scat the melody to “shave-and-a-haircut”. The “two bits” response would be two sprays from the air freshener which the kids would mimic with a “Pssst, pssst!”. It was a great routine, very predictable once the kids learned it, and put a smile on their faces as they walked out the door.
As the kids would pass me smiles, standing by the door, they would often turn to me, close their eyes, take a whiff, and say, “This smells like a garden!” or “This smells like a rainy day!”, or “This smells like my Grandmom's house!”
The best was one day when a kid walked by and nonchalantly said, “This smells like pot!”
My promise to the teachers picking up their classes was that the kids would always be lined up and in a proper mindset to approach the hallway as well as the rest of the school day. What happened after they left my room, well, that was on the teachers, and as you can imagine, some teachers had a plan to “get from here to there” and some didn’t.
When the teacher arrived at my room, I would tell them what score of the kids got for the day as well as give them a thumbnail sketch of what we did in class that day.
Now suppose I had to take my class to the multi-purpose room halfway through my music session with them. I had a plan to "get them from here to there" for that, too. That will be in “Getting From Here To There – Part Two”
As the kids would pass me smiles, standing by the door, they would often turn to me, close their eyes, take a whiff, and say, “This smells like a garden!” or “This smells like a rainy day!”, or “This smells like my Grandmom's house!”
The best was one day when a kid walked by and nonchalantly said, “This smells like pot!”
My promise to the teachers picking up their classes was that the kids would always be lined up and in a proper mindset to approach the hallway as well as the rest of the school day. What happened after they left my room, well, that was on the teachers, and as you can imagine, some teachers had a plan to “get from here to there” and some didn’t.
When the teacher arrived at my room, I would tell them what score of the kids got for the day as well as give them a thumbnail sketch of what we did in class that day.
Now suppose I had to take my class to the multi-purpose room halfway through my music session with them. I had a plan to "get them from here to there" for that, too. That will be in “Getting From Here To There – Part Two”
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