Crescendo Music Education: March 2009

Monday, March 23, 2009

Behaviour Managment Ideas

Here are some ideas collected from a music teachers workshop at Sandgate State School.

By no means an extensive list, but more than enough to give you some fresh ideas.

Complete list can be found at www.crescendo.com.au

Behaviour Management Ideas

Nonverbals – positive ones eg smiles, thumbs up, wink
Be brief – don’t give the behaviour any more time
Be positive and energetic
Move around so that the students at the back become the front row etc.
Change activities frequently
Establish a set of class rules together and refer to them frequently (a rule referral can be as simple as “I like how you are using walking feet in our classroom”)
Encourage on task student behaviour using a variety of positive non verbal and verbal prompts such as using parallel acknowledgement (eg. Amy is off task – but John – who is seated beside her is on task. Say “John, I really like the way you are sitting up straight and tall and listening” Amy will almost certainly sit up straight and tall then – make sure that you reward her with a positive – either verbal or non verbal). This helps you to reaffirm your expectations in a positive manner.
To get the attention of the whole class “1,2,3 copy me” – 1^st time, hands on head, 2^nd hands on shoulders, 3^rd, hands in laps. By the 3^rd time the whole class will have stopped what they are doing and will be watching
Checklist at the start of the class. Ask students and check off checklist

Are you sitting on the floor?
Have you got your hands in your lap?
Are your eyes on the teacher?
Are you listening?
Are your mouths closed? (The students shouldn’t answer the last question as their mouths should be closed )

Smile – be encouraging and supportive
Have high expectations of respect, manners and participation
Play games to diffuse situations
Have a behaviour sheet with questions such as

What rule did you break?
What problem did this cause to your teacher and classmates?

Teach from different positions- including being on the floor amongst the students
Invade student body space (a nice non verbal that keeps the lesson moving)
Have extremely clear expectations
Be what you want the student to be
Try to find something to like in each child
Write lesson expectations on board with the word free time included – and have music rotations for free time.
Make a point of noticing the quiet ones – especially with littlies
When getting upset, make sure you are getting upset at the behaviour – not the student
“up the front for the month”
As a teacher make mistakes and point them out. Students need to know that you stuff things up too.
Use a microphone for the students – the love it!!
Reward positive, ignore negatives

Check out our website at www.crescendo.com.au for the complete list and more exciting and fun things to do in the classroom.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Fun Stuff

Funny Answers from Students on Music Exams

The principal singer of nineteenth-century opera was called pre-Madonna.

It is easy to teach anyone to play the maracas. Just grip the neck and shake him in rhythm.

Gregorian chant has no music, just singers singing the same lines.

Sherbert composed the Unfinished Symphony.

All female parts were sung by castrati. We don't know exactly what they sounded like because there are no known descendants.

Music sung by two people at the same time is called a duel; if they sing without music it is called Acapulco.

A virtuoso is a musician with real high morals.

Contralto is a low sort of music that only ladies sing.

A harp is a nude piano.

The main trouble with a Frenech Horn is that it is too tangled up.

An interval in music is the distance from one piano to the next.

The correct way to find the key to a piece of music is to use a pitchfork.

Agitato is a state of mind when one's finger slips in the middle of playing a piece.

Refrain means don't do it. A refrain in music is the part you'd better not try to sing.

I know what a sextet is but I'd rather not say.

Most authorities agree that music of antiquity was written long ago.

My favourite composer was Opus. Agnus Dei was a woman composer famous for her church music.

Henry Purcell was a well-known composer few people have ever heard of.

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in the attic.

Check out more fun stuff at www.crescendo.com.au.

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Monday, March 9, 2009

HAND MADE Felt Finger Puppets

NEW STOCK JUST ARRIVED

New stock of these adorable Hand Made finger puppets has just arrived. There is a set to go with almost every nursery rhyme. They will make an excellent addition to any classroom or just entertain your little one. They are lovingly hand made locally in Brisbane so not only do you get a great education tool but you are also supporting local business. Check out the complete range at www.crescendo.com.au. Go to Resourse Shop and Felt Puppets.