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©InternationalMusicEducationwww.internationalmusiceducation.com
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THE ULTIMATE MUSIC TEACHERS’
COMMUNICATION GUIDEBOOK
INTRODUCTION
Music educators are incredibly busy and teachers of all subjects are expected to
do more with fewer and fewer resources. Yet, music teachers all across the country
continue to positively impact the lives of their students. They generate opportunities for
their students to learn music and life lessons through the vehicle of music and positive
interactions with other human beings in their classrooms.
We music educators are incredibly fortunate to have music as a prominent force
in our lives. Through our medium we can provide meaningful experiences for our
students and ourselves that embrace our humanity because of the unique aspects of
music. Each of us could have chosen another career path, yet someone inspired us
enough to embark on the journey of music education. I have been teaching more than
25+ years and during that time I’ve been privileged to spend countless hours in
classrooms observing various master teachers create magic with their students. Yes,
those teachers utilized effective instructional strategies, but more importantly, they also
provided that little extra for their students. In other words, their teaching focused on
quality human interactions first, and then music.
Additionally, traveling nearly every week for two years as MENC (now NAfME)
National President gave me the extraordinary opportunity to visit conferences all across
the country. I interacted with respected educators, leaders and students at more than 40
state, division and national conferences. I owe all of those individuals a debt of gratitude
for inspiring me to constantly improve my own teaching. They sparked my curiosity to
learn more and fired my enthusiasm to share it with others. Through examples and
stories, their collective knowledge is shared in this book, along with my own insights
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and personal experiences from working with students in the K-12 school system, student
teachers and cooperating teachers.
This book is primarily for K-12 school music teachers and is intended to provide
ideas and reflections about teaching and interacting with people. Many of the
discussions and concepts may also be applicable to teachers in higher education,
administrators and leaders, since the book explores aspects of building and maintaining
relationships with the various individuals we encounter each day.
Most of us spent the majority of our college years mostly focusing on the how:
1. How to sing or perform on an instrument.
2. How to conduct.
3. How to identify the chord progressions in aural skills.
4. How to pass theory and piano proficiency exams.
Although this is another how-to book, it is also a why book. We will examine personality
traits and behaviors that master teachers have in common and look at reasons why
successful teachers flourish and stay in music education. By concentrating our thinking
about our interactions with other people, we can explore how the thoughts in our minds
influence our teaching behaviors. Consequently, reflecting on why we teach can impact
our interactions with people in the school community and influence how we teach.
Exemplary Teachers – Exemplary Communicators
This book addresses the vital aspects of developing successful connections with
people in our classes, schools and in the local community. A major key to improving our
teaching is by taking a serious look at our communication skills. Why? Because all of the
degrees in the world are of little use to students if teachers have difficulty sharing their
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knowledge so students understand and are motivated to learn. Communication happens
in every facet of our lives and we unconsciously forecast information in every waking
hour. Communication can range all the way from a sideways glance at a stranger, to a
painful conversation between a husband and wife who are struggling to maintain their
marriage. Even casual contact with others entails complex layers of intentional and
unintentional messages, because, both the sender, and the receiver, perceive
communication in so many different ways.
People share information both verbally and non verbally. For instance, lack of
eye contact can mean different things to various cultures. An interested, respectful gaze
in one arena may be interpreted as an uncomfortable or hostile stare in another setting.
Since teaching involves constant interactions with other people, the communication
discussions in this book center on those within a school and the surrounding
community. Although we constantly talk to our students and colleagues, keeping the
lines of real communication open requires constant refining and attention, because what
we say may not always be what the other person hears.
Communication styles of master educators vary, yet there are similarities in
components in respectful exchanges between a teacher and his or her students. This
book highlights communication strategies of successful people and presents ideas for
applying those strategies in a school setting or with people in the community. It features
strategies to fine-tune speaking patterns and limit unnecessary teacher talk so students
are engaged in music learning the majority of the time.
Furthermore, our inner dialogue affects the way we communicate in our heads,
and plays out in our conversations in the classroom and beyond. What we think colors
the way we teachers talk to our students, our colleagues, and our family members. So,
self-talk affects how we speak, interact and ultimately teach. As we progress through
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this book there are several questions that can guide us as we explore which
communication skills help teachers be effective and efficient music educators:
Questions to Consider
• What types of verbal reinforcement are the most effective to help students learn?
• How does a teacher’s internal dialogue affect students’ learning in the classroom?
• What strategies can teachers use to remain mindful of their own inner dialogue
and the types of mental movies that play in their minds?
• What verbal habits inhibit, or enhance, a teacher’s ability to communicate with
students and other people in a school or the surrounding community?
Critical Components of Communication for Music Educators
Since we have chosen the profession of education, we take on the monumental
responsibility of guiding and mentoring our students. Master teachers understand that
fostering meaningful relationships with their students, colleagues in the school and
members of the local community requires constant attention. Both seasoned teachers
and new music educators face similar challenges and triumphs the minute they accept a
teaching position. Skillful and effective communication is vital for teachers to build and
maintain positive relationships with the students in their classes or rehearsals, people in
the school, and members of the surrounding community. Just like a musical
performance, communication can always be refined. Consequently, master teachers
understand that they lead students more successfully when they consistently assess and
polish their own talking and listening habits throughout their careers. In a single day
teachers may communicate with peers, students, accompanists, private teachers, bus
drivers, staff members, parents, administrators and family members. Seasoned
educators understand that respectful and clear communication fosters positive
relationships with parents, administrators, staff, and people in the local community.
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We want our students to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills
through performing and creating music. I believe we enhance our students’ capacity to
acquire those skills through clear, respectful communication. Conversely, we can also
inhibit students’ learning in the classroom with poor communication. Effective
educators share information and guide students to comprehend an organized system of
silence and sounds that translates symbols written on a staff into music. Unfortunately,
talking at students is not always the most effective tool for keeping today’s children and
adolescents on task and excited about learning. Student teachers in elementary music
classes often spend too much time explaining how to do an activity. I am reminded of
how Charlie Brown cartoons on television depict adults’ conversations. Adults make
noise on those cartoons, but we have no idea what they are saying.
Incongruent messages include conflicting information and interfere with
understanding. New teachers may say yes and shake their head no at the same time.
They often want the students in the class to like them so they sometimes smile when
reprimanding a student. Instances like those confuse students and often create
management challenges; the words are inconsistent with the teacher’s body language.
Listed below are just a few of the complex and multifaceted issues teachers face when
they communicate with others:
1. Information needs to be communicated in a way so that it relates to the
world of the listener. Most of us experienced at least one class when we were in school
where we struggled to understand the curriculum because of a teacher’s communication
style. There was a disconnect between the way the teacher communicated and what we
needed to learn the material. We have a responsibility to relate to our students’
backgrounds and experiences. Once we have a common ground of understanding, then
we have a better chance of helping them grasp what we want from them in a way that
keeps them interested. If we reveal how the curriculum relates to their personal
experiences, developmental level, and maturity, we have a better chance of helping
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them create connections and ignite a desire to learn more.
For example, when working with experienced musicians a conductor can
immediately change their performance with phrases like: “Pay attention to the
subdivision;” or “Darken the tone.” If the musicians have the background knowledge and
skills to fully understand the conductor’s instructions, they instantly modify their
playing or singing. A less experienced instrumental or vocal ensemble may attempt to
follow that same conductor’s directions, but have absolutely no reference point in their
motor skill development or tonal memory to comply with the request. That is why
teaching is an exhilarating and exhausting profession. We are constantly assessing our
students, then monitoring and adjusting our approach, and devising solutions that
coincide with their world and level of understanding.
These same principles can be applied with meetings between adults in the school
or with parents. Approaching the meeting from a mindset of wanting to understand
another’s point of reference or perception is beneficial to all involved. If new teachers
have a concern and ask for a meeting with an administrator, prepare for the meeting in
advance:
a. Attempt to resolve the situation before the meeting. (If this involves a dispute
with another individual, meet with that person before going to the
administrator).
b. Ask questions to better understand the situation.
c. State the facts/situation or behaviors without adding personal judgments.
d. Share concerns from the perspective of how it may affect a student’s learning.
e. Bring in several recommendations for solutions.
2. Multisensory experiences enhance the learning process. People communicate
through verbal and nonverbal experiences. They access information through kinesthetic,
visual, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory experiences. And, schools contain students
with varied learning styles and ways of looking at life. So, a teacher who struggles to
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connect with people may be using a different language or metaphor system than the one
familiar to their students and colleagues in the school and local community. When I was
working on my undergraduate degree my education professors told me that I would
have kinesthetic, auditory and visual learners in my classes and I needed to teach them
all. What I did not know was how to transfer that information to actual teaching
strategies. Later on I started teaching voice lessons to several ladies in my church choir
and I experimented with this idea. One particular lady and I struggled to connect during
our time together. Try as I might, I never quite achieved the result I was hoping for
when I modeled or explained various concepts.
Finally I really began to listen to her speech patterns and observe her physical
responses. I realized that her conversation included words terms such as: “I hear”, “you
said,” “she told,” “sounds like.” My instructions were centered on visually oriented
terms like: “watch this,” “I see,” “focus,” and “picture how.” During a pivotal voice
lesson I altered my instructions to include more auditory terminology: “sounds like,”
“listen for,” “tell me,” and “talk about.” Her vocal tone quickly improved and for the
first time she finished the lesson with a huge smile. We both had a great time that
afternoon and my teaching became more about her than making sure I covered all of the
details in my entire lesson plan.
In classroom and ensemble settings, students primarily use kinesthetic, visual,
and auditory processing. Have students see it, say it, and feel it in every lesson or
rehearsal. Another way of saying the same thing is to sing or speak, move and play
either an instrument, or body percussion, in every class or rehearsal. I recommend that
you check out Medina’s Brain Rules for some fascinating information about how physical
activity prepares the brain for optimum learning.
Also, through trial and error over years of teaching, I learned that people of all
ages and educational backgrounds seem to retain content more easily if they move,
listen or vocalize, and use their eyes all at the same time. People remember more if they
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say or sing something and do it concurrently. What does that look like in the 21st century
classrooms? Instrumental teachers already have these components incorporated in their
classes when the students maneuver mallets, keys, buttons, levers, slides and strings on
their instruments. Every time an instrumental student produces a sound on their
instrument he or she incorporates all three types of processing. When I first studied
music theory I depended heavily on the piano keyboard to help me grasp the concept of
intervals. Patterns of white and black keys served as a visual, aural and physical
representation for the intervals. I even found myself “playing” the keyboard on my desk
during aural skills exams.
Master choral directors employ solfége hand signs and have their students tap
and speak rhythms simultaneously. Many use physical movements, such as twirling
their hands in small circles, to anchor a particular tone or articulation with
corresponding kinesthetic movements. By incorporating physiology, sound and visual
anchors the students build a memory bank of large and fine motor skills.
Experimentation with various combinations of moving, singing or speaking and visual
icons help the students develop a broad spectrum of vocal abilities.
In general music class, master teachers maximize young a child’s love to
manipulate objects such as pipe cleaners, cups and straws when they teach new rhythm
patterns. Kindergarten students differentiate between high and low sounds by singing
and moving. Movements range from crouching down to the floor to stretching as high
as they can on their tiptoes to reach the ceiling.
Singers of all ages usually enjoy body percussion and playing classroom
percussion instruments. When kids play in a drum circle they fill the room with energy
and enthusiasm. Everyone focuses on the task of listening and responding to the
drumming patterns. Although there may be exceptions to the previous statements, most
usually enjoy drumming. Adults benefit from this approach to teaching, too. National
Association for Music Education (formerly MENC) Past President Will Schmid
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constantly reminds teachers in his World Music Drumming workshops to speak a
drumming pattern when they are learning how to play it. The reinforcement of
kinesthetic, visual and auditory processing all at the same time helps solidify those new
psychomotor skills more quickly.
3. Relationships between teachers and students may blossom, or
disintegrate with words. When students understand what their instructors are teaching,
and know that their teachers care, they are more likely to learn. Conversely, even though
children and adolescents expect their instructors to provide feedback, constant criticisms
can destroy their desire to learn. Students in negative class environments may resist
learning from the teacher, even if they enjoy the subject matter. They quickly cease to
care about their teacher’s expectations if they are bombarded with an onslaught of
disapproval. As a result, high school and middle school music teachers who use a
condescending tone or a steady stream of disapproving comments often drive
adolescents away from their ensembles. Elementary students usually take music with
the same teacher for several years during their time in kindergarten through fifth grade.
If that music teacher sets a continual negative tone in the classroom, the students may
participate half-heartedly, not at all, or intentionally behave disrespectfully.
One of our most fundamental responsibilities is to provide constructive guidance
to the students entrusted to us. Verbal feedback is one tool we incorporate in our
guidance. What is verbal reinforcement? Is it lavish praise? Is it only criticism? Is it a
mixture of the two? Peggy Bennett and Doug Bartholomew discuss the concept of
constructive feedback in Songworks I: Singing in the Education of Children. They suggest
that students who receive accurate and descriptive details about their actions, with no
judgment, usually become independent learners.
I have observed teachers who unknowingly destroyed trust in relationships with
their students by incorporating reinforcement strategies that belittled or were over
critical. Even though I normally make an effort to present ideas in a positive fashion
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when possible, for a brief moment I am going to present this situation from what does
not work. I believe that our personal speech habits are key in the context of
reinforcement because unnecessary negative words may be unconsciously woven into
our vocabulary. Well-intentioned teachers may send disapproving phrases flying
around the room during a class or rehearsal. Consequently, students receive a relentless
steam of judgmental words, from a teacher who has the best of intentions, to monitor
and guide them.
Words have power. More than once I have heard that we have more negative
words in the English language than positive words to manage and guide our students.
stop don’t can’t never quit hadn’t didn’t
couldn’t no not shouldn’t won’t haven’t
Even shhh comes across negatively if our students hear it over and over again
throughout the day. All of us have numerous critical adjectives at our disposal, which
have the potential to diminish our students’ efforts (terrible, unmusical, awful, flat,
boring, lackluster, terrible, etc.). Words are imprecise vehicles for clear communication,
even though we know our words have power in the classroom. Our students’ self-
concepts are developing, and what we say may make or break their will to be an active
learner in our classes. We all know adults who refuse to sing. Unfortunately, they can
usually recall, in precise detail, when their music teachers, or other adults, told them not
to sing as a young child. Students are listening even when we don’t think they are
paying attention and they will remember negative things we say to them long after they
leave our classrooms.
4. Feedback needs to be shared in a manner that fosters learning, trust
and a safe learning environment. Musicians are highly skilled at identifying details that
need to be fixed. Think of how many wrong things we can find in even one measure:
pitches, rhythms, subdivision, articulation, intonation, dynamics, and phrasing are only
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a few of them. Each of us can list specific and detailed inadequacies about our students’
performances or participation in music class:
• “Late on beat 3”
• “Rhythm is wrong”
• “Need variation in dynamics”
• “16th notes are dragging”
• “Brittle tone”
• “Missed the fortzando”
If only we were as adept at pointing out the things our students accomplish.
Media bombards our world with negative news. We can easily fall into that trap in our
classrooms, too. Music teachers constantly look for errors in music class or behavior
problems so we can correct them. That’s our job and we are good at it! Unfortunately, we
often repair things by focusing only on what is wrong instead of also identifying and
reinforcing all of the things that are going well, too.
Why are we so prone to identify our students’ errors or imperfections? Then, we
glibly offer a quick “good” or “better” when they accomplish a chosen objective or new
music concept. Does that truly provide specialized guidance and insight so our students
know exactly how and what to do? Diagnosing problems is necessary. Still, we can be
more aware of our approach and how it nurtures or hinders our students’ progress.
Master educators offer reinforcement that spotlights precise details of ensembles’
or classes’ contributions. Instead of a steady dose of negative words, exemplary
educators use student directives. A student directive reminds them of the desired
behavior without adding a sense of judgment to it.
• “Criss-cross applesauce”
• “Feet on the floor”
• “Eyes front”
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• “Quiet, slow, warm air as you inhale”
• “Singing posture”
• “Rest position”
Master teachers model or describe the behaviors that are taking place and then
tell what is desired. This allows the students to isolate the things they are doing correctly
and focus in on the areas where they need to improve. As an alternative to broad,
general compliments, try following the advice of Bennett and Bartholomew. They
recommend using constructive feedback that describes behaviors as an alternative to
value judgments like “good, pretty or beautiful.”64 Writing out sample statements, before
class, can help teachers develop this strategy. Sometimes it helps to imbed phrases
within a lesson plan, for reference, during class and rehearsal until using them becomes
a habit.
Here are a few examples of constructive feedback master teachers use:
• “First graders, everyone is keeping the beat with the drum.”
• “Clarinets, in measure three your 8th notes were clear and detached.”
• “Altos are singing the first phrase with animated facial energy.”
• “Now the first violins’ articulation matches the second violins at letter A.”
Phrases intended to serve as positive feedback or instructions, may come across
as mixed messages to the students. Here are some examples of those types of
expressions:
• “I like the way you are sitting in the chair.”
• “I want you to stand up.”
• “I loved that tone.”
• “I’d like you to turn to page 37.”
• “I need you to watch me.”
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All of these phrases may be perfectly appropriate at any time in a music class. Still, it
might be a good idea to think of ways to present the same information without prefacing
everything we say with “I.” Why? Should students be participating and respectful only
because we want them to? Or, could we foster intrinsic motivation by utilizing other
communication patterns?
Instead of: Try this:
“I want you to stand up.” “Stand.”
“I’d like you to turn to page 37.” “Page 37.”
“I need you to look at me.” “Eyes front,”or “Eyes.”
Some teachers prefer to use a combination of silent, visual cues, such as tapping
the sternum, to remind students to use an elevated posture. Peter Boonshaft
recommends non-verbal cues to remind students to sit tall, feet on the floor, and watch
the conductor. Instead of talking he teaches them to respond to a particular gesture, such
as patting the small of the back to sit up and away from the back of the chair.65
Instead of: Try this:
“I want you to stand up.” Motion to stand or hold up one finger as the predetermined signal.
“I’d like you to turn to page 37.” Point to page 37 on the board. “I need you to look at me.” Point to your eyes or use a
predetermined signal.
By incorporating nonverbal signals, the students and teacher reduce time wasted
during transitions, the teacher takes up less time talking and the students are engaged in
the task at hand. Also, a quiet, intense directive can be much more powerful than yelling
and a skilled teacher can speak volumes with one meaningful stare.
5. What we think about plays out in the way we teach and communicate
with people in the school and community. Communication involves multiple layers of
processing and I believe that some of the most vital conversations take place in our own
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minds. We communicate with ourselves in an endless stream of mental movies and
thoughts. According to Depak Chopra we speak 600-800 words per minute to ourselves.
Chopra teaches that our self-talk after action either reinforces success or failure because
we have 60,000 thoughts per day. But, most of us repeat those same limiting thoughts
over and over again in our minds. How many of us have walked off stage after a
performance and obsessed for hours about that missed note or wrong rhythm? If I botch
a cue during a choir performance it can bug me for days.
David Stoop advocates that our emotions are also determined by our thoughts,
and that any thoughts we have play out in our behaviors. He advocates that the events
of our lives do not actually affect our behavior. Instead, it is what we believe about those
events that influences our behavior. We send messages to others with physical gestures,
with words, inflection, and our tone of voice. These messages represent our thoughts, so
if we follow Norman Vincent Peale’s advice we can transform our reality.
Change your thoughts and change your world.
What if a person’s lens or view of the world is clouded with doubt or anger?
How do we counter a negative path and concentrate our mental energy more positively?
Wayne Dyer assures us that we will get what we think about whether we want it or not,
because every thought we have possesses an energy that either strengthens or weakens
us. Changing our thoughts may be easier said than done, but both Stoop and Dyer
advise us to monitor the mental movies that play in our minds and refocus negative
thoughts towards beneficial issues rather than destructive ones. Our behaviors in life,
and in the classroom, are learned. So, we can begin by paying attention to our thoughts.
We can decide to focus on the positive or negative aspects of our environment.
John Maxwell, is a prolific writer on leadership. Maxwell tells us that our
behaviors and achievements coincide with our thoughts and self-image. In other words,
we become what we think about. If we think we are untalented, not as smart as other
people, too fat, too short, too tall, too dark, too pale, etc., we will continue to manifest
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situations that reinforce our beliefs. Instead of dwelling on all that we do not have or
what is wrong, we might focus on what and how we want to change our circumstances
or ourselves.
Happiness is when what you think, what you say,
and what you do are in harmony.
Ghandi’s quote reminds us that we will be out of harmony if we think one thing,
but say and do another. We conduct ourselves according to the way we perceive
ourselves. In other words, our actions disclose our inner thoughts. Through our
persistent thoughts we can unconsciously chastise others, and ourselves, for
inconsequential things. For example, a first year teacher who believes he is lousy with
managing student’s behavior creates more situations for that truth to show up in his
classrooms. Novice teachers who spend time obsessing that their peer teachers dislike
them will probably be uncomfortable when they around the other teachers, creating
even more tension. Seasoned teachers who decide that they have nothing left to learn or
contribute may lose their curiosity and enthusiasm to reach students in new ways.
Marianne Williams and Anthony Robbins both teach that it is easy for thoughts to
deteriorate or function on autopilot. So, reframing our thinking patterns is just like
training a muscle. We can think of reframing thought processes as exercising and
building new communication muscles. Good teachers know that any new skill or habit
takes a certain amount of practice and time to become ingrained. We educators know
that repetition is necessary when we introduce students to a new concept, and we
provide multiple opportunities for them to gain and demonstrate understanding. Yet we
are usually less patient with ourselves when we are developing a new mental habit.
What are some specific solutions to build on our strengths? By looking first at
negative thoughts, we can then see the reversal to productive thinking patterns. Here are
a few examples of some teachers’ limiting mental thoughts:
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• “I can’t control those sixth graders.”
• “I always end up yelling when I’m frustrated.”
• “My management skills are terrible.”
• “I’ll never learn to play the piano.”
• “My principal hates me.”
Now those same thoughts can be reframed in a more productive manner. Consequently,
they open up possibilities for solutions and steady progress to a new way of operating in
the classroom:
• “I constantly create new strategies to keep the sixth graders on task and
engaged.”
• “When I get frustrated I pause and remember to speak in a calm, respectful
voice.”
• “I am improving my management strategies with every class.”
• “I continue to develop and fine-tune my keyboard skills.”
• “All of my colleagues and students like and respect me.”
These are only a small sampling of how to reframe restrictive thoughts that
might take place in a teacher’s mind. Reframing thoughts help focus on new ways of
improving or building skills both in the classroom and beyond.
6. Our verbal habits can inhibit our ability to teach effectively.
Effective educators pay attention to their habitual vocabulary because a teacher’s
verbiage can become peppered with unnecessary words. Silence is sometimes
uncomfortable for teachers, so words such as “uhm,” fill the space. If we listen to
ourselves carefully we may identify idiosyncrasies that creep into our speaking patterns
such as: “OK,” “you guys,” “uhm,” “yeah,” “alright,” and “like.”
First year teachers occasionally ask me to spend time with them and give them feedback
and guidance. One such teacher said “OK” more than fifty times in the first 10-minutes of an
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elementary music lesson. I saw several students so busy tabulating how many times she uttered
“OK” that they had a difficult time focusing on her lesson. We recorded a couple of her classes
and when we watched the recording together she still missed hearing how often she filled the
silence with “OK.” After reviewing the recording a second time she began to notice. She
strategized ways to give instructions without using any filler words by writing down a list of
useful phrases during class. This teacher also worked on inviting more silence into her classes.
Filler words are fine some of the time; we probably all use them to some extent. If it
interferes with our students’ learning, then it becomes a problem. Fortunately, this new teacher
possessed an intense desire to improve her teaching and help her students learn. Educators who
want to consistently evolve for optimum learning for their students can periodically videotape a
class or rehearsal. Self-assessment can be a tremendous tool for addressing weaknesses and
taking teaching skills up to the next level. Those same communication skills will set the stage for
more positive interactions with administrators, parents, staff members in the school and people
in the community
7. Too much talking squelches interest and momentum. Teachers spend
quite a bit of time talking in classrooms and ensemble settings. Some explanations are
necessary. Still, many of us might accomplish more if we spent less time lecturing and
more time letting our students make music.
You ain’t learnin’ nothin’ when you’re doin’ all the talkin’. Lyndon B. Johnson
President Johnson knew what he was talking about. Recall your most enjoyable classes
when you were in school. Chances are that everyone in your class was engaged in
learning the majority of the time. As soon as one of my high school band directors
stopped our playing with a cut off we immediately zoned out because all of us knew it
would be at least five minutes before we would play again. I do not remember what he
said to us, but I do remember that I wanted to play my clarinet more in band.
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What percentage of teacher talk fills your classes during the school day? Granted,
we do need to explain things once in awhile. If we are talking, then who is actively
learning – the students or us? More importantly, we can give our students a chance to
dialogue about musical concepts, too. When we set up situations for them to teach each
other, we foster motivation to work together as a team. What's more, the less we lecture,
the more the students engage in music making. Instead of always telling them what to
do, we can devise ways for students to discover the material for themselves. So how do
we accomplish this? Consider these questions:
• Would students be more successful if certain items were listed on the
board?
• Could we say the same thing in five words or less?
• How about giving instructions only one time?
• Instead of a lengthy explanation about time signatures what activities
would help students figure it out for themselves?
• Instead of a five-minute diatribe on 16th notes, what activity would ignite
seventh grade band students’ curiosity and motivate them to pay
attention to the subdivision when they play together?
• How do we set up experiences that allow students discover key music
concepts on their own?
The best teachers I know use self-analysis, and problem solving activities. For example,
have the students play or sing an excerpt or phrase, then, have them identify the items
within that phrase that need refining. Try out their suggestions with the class. Ask the
students if those ideas helped improve the performance or task. Let the students decide
if their recommendations worked or not.
Use higher order questions to guide students’ thinking. For example, composer
and educator Mary Goetze asks for input when she works with honor choirs.
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• “Tell me something intelligent about the music.”
• “Describe the difference between the first line and the second line.”
• “Who has the most important part in measure #43?”
• “Why is that the most prominent part?”
When I model Mary’s strategies with my youth choir the singers seem to demonstrate a
deeper understanding of the musical elements and historical background than when I
simply tell them certain details.
In Patty Bourne’s Inside the Music Classroom, she outlines specific and pragmatic
ideas for establishing a learning environment where students can problem solve and
create in a music class. Even though her book is geared toward a general music class it is
jam packed with practical strategies that work for teaching at any level of instruction.
For example, when students are asked to speak to their peers and talk about a music
example on the board you might hear, “I noticed that there are three sounds on one
beat,”; “I noticed that the melody has skips,” or “I noticed that there is a sfortzando on
the first beat.”
Does this approach take valuable class time? Yes. Is it worth it? I think so. My own
rehearsals are more efficient if I simply give my students music details or tell them what to do in
a phrase. They may even be able to repeat the information back to me, but I’m less convinced
that they learn skills and concepts, or that they will transfer that information to other music and
situations. Just because my rehearsal is efficient does not mean it is effective. Do I practice
problem-solving tactics in class every day? Each year I get better at including these strategies in
my teaching, both in the classroom and ensemble rehearsals. It is my goal and how I am
determined to teach even though I still fall short at times. I juggle performance pressures in my
ensembles, too, and I admit that I struggle with wanting to focus exclusively on perfecting the
concert literature those last two weeks before a performance. I need to remind myself on those
days that the process is as important as the final product.
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8. Respectful communication is the most effective. In addition to
communication that involves person-to-person contact, today’s educators watch visual
media, talk or text on phones, and constantly send and receive an onslaught of electronic
messages. So, it helps to be conscious of the difference between personal and professional
electronic correspondence. Anyone who works in a public institution is guided by
parameters that establish how much personal business is appropriate on state funded
equipment (computers, Internet service, phones, social media, etc.). Privacy policies also
limit the distribution of confidential information sent in electronic formats.
Our electronic correspondence is best if it remains professional in content and
free of negative information about our colleagues or students. Once I heard Peter
Boonshaft caution band directors in his clinics to say, do and write everything as if it
will be on television. This is great advice for all of us, and also a likely reality, since cell
phones and recording devices are in our students’ possession during class. Anything we
say or do may be only one click away from a video on the Internet!
Without the benefit of facial responses and voice inflections, messages sent in an
electronic format can be easily misinterpreted. One of my colleagues advised me: It is
best to address controversial issues or reprimands privately, but if a delicate message is
necessary, read it out loud before sending it off. Hearing the words helps get a better
sense of how the message may come across to the person receiving it. Finally, ask the
question, “How would I feel if someone else said this to me?” Hearing the message from
the other person’s perspective guides us to be respectful when discussing uncomfortable
issues. The bottom line: Remember that we are talking to another human being and our
words will impact the person either positively or negatively.
How Does this Help Teachers?
Communication plays a significant role in the process of creating connections
and building relationships in the classroom and with people in the surrounding
community. In fact, some leadership books project that as much as eighty percent of the
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time we are awake is spent communicating with someone else in one form or another.
Robert Bolton suggests that communication is the very lifeblood of every relationship
we have. Just observe your students and colleagues throughout the day. How many of
them have a cell phone glued to their ear (or thumbs) while walking around?
Our relationships are nurtured when open, clear, sensitive communication takes
place. Bolton suggests that the main reason that eighty percent of people fail at their
jobs, is because they do not relate well to other people. Teachers who struggle in the
classroom often have difficulties relating to the students and to the other people in the
school and the local community. I know that I would rather write a reference letter for a
student teacher who is a people person and still developing conducting and teaching
strategies. I find it much more challenging to write a supportive, accurate letter for a
student teacher who can run an efficient rehearsal or elementary class, yet does not
connect with the students. The first person will likely grow as a musician and educator
while the second one may continue to struggle in developing successful people skills.
Bolton also advocates that we cannot be human alone and we need each other.
Human beings yearn to communicate with each other and we want to connect. Just
watch people inside an airplane when it lands. Immediately almost everyone on board
turns on their cell phone. In fact, Anthony Robbins tells a story about how this intense
desire we have to communicate was so compelling during the Vietnam War that
prisoners of war created their own code and communicated with each other by tapping
rocks or pipes a specific number of times to spell out different letters of the alphabet.
Even though they were isolated in solitary confinement, they were able to secretly talk
with each other.
Master Educators Provide Students with Tools to Achieve
How do we apply this knowledge to help the learners in our classes? Since
communicating is so important to people, it makes sense that creating effective
communication in the school and in the community should be a high priority for all of
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us. We have only scratched the surface of the complexities in the communication
processes as they relate to teaching students, interacting with other staff members and
teachers in the school, and talking with people in the local community. Communication
involves multifaceted messages that we send verbally, non-verbally and in written or
electronic forms.
Master teachers monitor their internal dialogue because they realize that we all
will become, and model, what we think about all day. What is more, our students tend
to model us, so our internal dialogue also has potentially impacts our students as well.
Teachers who practice healthy thought processes consistently build new ways to
strengthen their interactions with the students in their classrooms and ensembles. By
doing so, effective educators enhance their students’ abilities to learn because they
present new materials and concepts in a way that is accessible to the students. Also, their
feedback and verbal reinforcement strategies provide information that informs students
how they can improve. By modeling respectful communication strategies for talking
with the people in the school system and the community, teachers can perpetuate a
more harmonious classroom and work environment.
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