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Permalink Reply by Jerry Luzeniecki on September 8, 2011 at 3:56pm

Hello William (or do you prefer Bill or Will?)

 

Here's my situation.

I've been a band director for over 30 years.  I direct our 7th & 8th grade band classes and our jazz band.

Last year, I was assigned to teach 4th grade general music for the first time in my life.  

To my surprise, I'm enjoying it!

We're watching to see how this affects our beginning band in the near future.  (Another director has that band.)

I have many advantages: textbooks with CDs, a fairly well equipped music classroom with a piano, all kinds of Orff instruments and other percussion, TV/DVD/VCR, projector, lap top computer, stereo, etc.  Much of this equipment was accumulated by a now-retired teacher and friend.  The young lady who teaches general music in grades 1 through 3 has been a great help as has a veteran K through 4 general music teacher in another building in our district.  

In the near future, my kids will be starting to learn to play recorders.  (Recorders are provided by the parents.)  Besides the Yamaha recorder method, I also use the book "Recorder Karate" and heard about some "Rock and Roll Recorder" book with a play-a-long CD.  "Karate" and "Rock & Roll" were suggestions from band directors in adjoining districts who also teach general music.  (A network can be REALLY helpful!)

In class, we listen to a variety of music form my iPod (tunes this week included Miles Davis' "So What?" and Van Morrison's "Domino") and we sing, clap, stomp, snap fingers, etc.  We don't just sit there!  We're learning about rounds and canons using a "spoken word" piece in the textbook. I also have a set of rhythm flash cards that I'm using to teach basic rhythm reading.  When we learn the tune "Liza Jane" next week, I'll use my guitar instead of the CD or piano to provide some variety.  Next month, we'll start learning music for our Winter Concert-a collaborative effort with the 3rd graders and their teacher.

I see my kids twice weekly for 30 minutes.

 

Some suggestions:

Start accumulating stuff and ideas.  Start accumulating lesson plans from others.

Experiment.  If something doesn't work, don't count it as a failure: you've successfully discovered something that doesn't work.

Got a budget? Spend wisely.

Keep asking fellow teachers what they do that works.  (That's how one of my choir director friends became a very successful band director!)

Set some goals for yourself and the kids.

Attitude is important.  I've known too many band directors who see teaching general music as a "drag" or a burden.  I decided to look for the potential.  And yes, there will be days that just plain suck.  But don't we experience some of those days in our band rooms as well?

Enjoy those kids.  Let them enjoy your company as well.

 

I hope that you'll find something helpful.  Please let me know how things turn out for you.  Good luck.

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