March, March, Forward March

I know, my inner Marching Band Geek is showing! This is the month we have Marching Music Day, (March forth/4th) and I always feel the need to post on Facebook the video of my high school’s winning marching show from 30 (OK, almost 40) years ago.

I was one of the drum majors, and after prelims of our home competition, we were ahead by tenths of a point. The director told the staff and drum majors, but told the rest of the band that we were BEHIND by just tenths of a point. He didn’t want the band to think they had it won and not push for the finals performance.

Well, it worked! We won! I loved that show and finishing strong.

In our teaching year, here we are heading into the finals. The beginning of months of the school year were your prep and practice in your classroom, getting those routines and expectations taught and a normal part of music room life. December through February with many performances has been like your prelims, student skills improving more and more, performances becoming more fun for students and more normal for you.

So finals are coming! There are only a few months left in this school year. You’re probably feeling rejuvenated. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Lesson planning, classroom management, music selection, and class schedules are taking less brainpower and you’re probably enjoying your students so much more. You have learned even more about them and can see their progress.

You may feel like you’re ALMOST there, so keep that “tenth of a point behind” mindset for you and communicate that to your students. Now that they are having more fun playing/singing because they have better skills and practice habits, they are ABLE to play/sing even more enjoyable repertoire! This is the time of year I would get out the extra fun stuff - most recently my beginning bands would play Hard Rock Blues, a special arrangement we had in district. And my 2nd year players played an arrangement of The Avengers. “Finals” would be so fun!

One year, for particularly difficult 5th and 6th grade general music classes, I brought in some guest performers to play electric guitar and bass, and then we worked on 12-bar blues with many classroom instruments. Well-behaved students who could show me they knew the chord progression would rotate to play electric bass, and we put together a three-person “drumset”. I played piano, and we sang Elvis Hound Dog while we played. For a very tough year, it was actually quite an enjoyable “Finals” with them!

So enjoy your “Finals”. Include something extra fun if you can.

And if you can’t find the fun, maybe it’s a particularly tough year, make sure you talk to someone. Reach out to your school staff for more support. Find a mentor, someone who can come observe you and give feedback. Someone who can relate to teaching music.

If you can’t find a music mentor, my first hour session is always free. You can contact me by clicking below on Contact Amy. I’d love to help you find some solutions!

Forward March!

Amy