Lions and Tigers and Middle School Choirs...

During my tenure as a PreK-8 music educator I had the opportunity to teach one section of Middle School Chorus; a mixed-gendered group of 47 students in grades 6-8. This class met one time per week for 43 minutes directly before their lunch period. In theory, this course was going to be an enriching musical experience for the students and an opportunity for me to “teach great music” to the next generation. In practice it was a nightmarish experience where I learned far more about my lack of skills as a teacher than they learned about music.

At the beginning of my time at Michigan State, I knew it would be vitally important for me to pursue opportunities to learn more about teaching voice at the middle school level to rectify this very large gap in my teaching. Although class discussion have aided considerably in my understanding of vocal development and appropriate teaching techniques, attending the observation in Doug Armstead’s classroom helped me to better understand how routines, pacing, and classroom environment can contribute to positive, productive rehearsals in the middle school classroom.

It is very apparent that Mr. Armstead adheres to a very strict rehearsal routine designed to keep the students actively engaged. The class period began with warm-ups, run by Josh Gronlund, the student teacher in Mr. Armstead’s classroom. The warm-ups contained both vocal and kinesthetic exercises. The vocal exercises seemed to be designed to get student into their “singing” voices through phonation and resonance rather than scalar, pitch-based vocalizing. Following warmups, the students sang through “When I Close My Eyes,” a choral piece by Jim Papoulis. During this rehearsal moment, Mr. Armstead began to insert himself into Josh’s teaching to make an almost seamless transition to the next portion of rehearsal. At this point in time, Mr. Armstead took attendance using a number system (math integration), taught them a new vocabulary word (ELA integration), and read and discussed a brief motivational blurb (ELA integration). The students then engaged in a sight-reading activity. Mr. Armstead devoted the last portion of the class period to rehearsing two musical selections for their upcoming concert. The rehearsal is structured to minimize opportunities for off-task behavior.

In addition to a very strict routine, Mr. Armstead keeps the class moving at a rather brisk tempo. There are very few moments in rehearsal where active participation from the students ceases. Transitions are extremely smooth, and there is frequently some sort of vocalizing occurring to set the students up for the next activity. By keeping the pace moving, Mr. Armstead has limited the opportunities for off-task behavior, and has the students engaged in or discussing music-making for at least 90% of the rehearsal period. This is definitely something that I will incorporate into my future classroom.

Finally, Mr. Armstead makes sure that his classroom is a welcoming and safe environment. I was stunned at how open students were in this class, particularly during the reading and discussion portion of class. While I was teaching there were a handful of students who were willing to be honest and open about their feelings and thoughts in my classroom or in front of their peers. I would love to know what Mr. Armstead does at the beginning of the school year to make his students feel so comfortable sharing personal thoughts and feelings in his classroom. It is also very apparent that the students have a great deal of respect for Mr. Armstead through the lack of talking and the degree of attention the students gave him during rehearsal. It takes a very special person to inspire the trust and respect of middle school students, and I would love to know his secret so that I can work on embracing those behaviors in my teaching.

The Takeaway:

-          Routines can make or break a rehearsal—make them good and stick to them.

-          An active class is a happy class—more music making equals less behavior issues.

-          Trust and respect between all members of the group—vital for music making?