Music Teachers have a very busy schedule. Possibly music teachers have the busiest life of all teachers, and they don’t have time to create the amazing music lesson plans that they should.
Of course, many would argue with that statement. Maths, Science and History teachers of course work very hard and no-one would say they don’t work extremely hard to bring excellent lessons to our children.
Music Teachers however have to do a lot of extra tasks that other teachers don’t have to – like running concert band and ensemble programs, preparing student concerts, co-ordinating private music teachers and communicating with students about rehearsals and fund raising for instruments.
WIth all these duties taking the teachers time, it is vital that they be extremely organized to ensure that their music lessons are both fun for students and stress free for themselves.
There are a few practical tools that can help music teachers
A diary. This simple thing can save you all sorts of embarrassment from double scheduling events if it is well managed. It is so easy to double schedule school events with personal events, as most teachers would well understand! You can use a modern Palm Computer or i Phone, or use the old fashioned paper planner for just a couple of bucks.
A consistent management plan for equipment. Even if you’re music room has one broken down xylophone and a broken guitar with three of the strings missing it is important that those two instruments have a set storage place, and that children come to appreciate that when in the music classroom. When you are seeing lots of students every week and sometimes many hundreds of dollars worth of equipment it is important that it is put away with respect. Draw a diagram, commit it to paper and put it up near the equipment. Being careful about this for a couple of weeks will make your life a lot easier in the long run!
Your very own blog – What if you could have a website where you post news for band members, music parts for practice and assessments so they can complete without you even being present? Its as easy as setting up a personal blog on blogger or word press, and getting going. Just think – if you put resources there that you ask students to access for additional work… once its done this year you won‚Äôt have to do it again!
Software tools. The latest music software often has inbuilt assessment and worksheet building tools, so you can write your own resources in minutes.
Prepared Lesson plans accessing ready made worksheets and lesson plans from the world wide web can save you lots of preparation, and there are many brilliant sources of material available now.
Music teaching can be such a satisfying career choice, as it is sharing the love of music and teaching – and it should be enjoyable for all!
