I feel like one of the most difficult parts of being a music teacher is behavior management! First of all, you have to adjust to every teacher’s class climate, and they are all SO different! Then you have to deal with the viewpoint that “it’s just Music” or comments like “Have fun!”. Students and staff alike view Music class as a break in their day, and all we want as Music teachers, is to be taken seriously. While behavior management in the Music classroom is far from a cake walk, I’m going to show you some tried and true strategies I have used when teaching Music that actually work!
Gamify your classroom – I use a site called Classcraft to keep track of my students’ progress. It is easy to use and fun for your students. Basically, you set up each classroom teacher as a student, then you set up some positive and negative behaviors. This is a whole class reward system. I keep the site up on a tab on my smart screen and when either type of behavior is happening, I just go to the tab and add XP (experience points) or subtract HP (health points). I don’t say a word. This is super effective, as long as you are consistent.
- Level Up Rewards – Once students Level Up, they get a reward day. I DO NOT use food/candy or tiny toys as incentives. I use activities they would be doing in anyway during Music class, or I add a fun element to the day.
Reward Day Examples –
- Sit by a friend day – they switch seats just for the day
- Drumming departure – You know students ALWAYS want to play instruments on the way in or out of your classroom, right? Well for this reward, I let them! I keep my congas in a horizontal line in the back of my classroom. As they leave, the get to tap every drum once on their way out.
- Glow stick day – I have designed fun lesson plans for classical pieces where they get to use glow sticks
- Bouncy ball day – Same idea as above
- Add the fun and silly before they do! A very wise teacher once told me this, and it’s super effective. I try to be silly with all of my students, even the too-cool-for-school 5th graders. I do silly things like dance weirdly to a song we’re listening to.
I use strange voices and accents. When I’m passing out bouncy balls, which I do a lot because they LOVE them so much, I toss them the bouncy ball from the front of the room instead of just passing it out. I walk on their chairs behind them when they are in active posture (for instrument play) to make sure they are sitting properly. I add silly and fun to my lesson plan ideas. Anything you can do to be fun or silly is AMAZING for behavior management!
- Be respectful – When I hear from parents, the first thing they always thank me for is being kind and respectful to their kids. I literally never yell at my students. I treat them as partners in the learning, because without their partnership, learning can’t happen. I ask their opinions on how to manage their behavior and what to do for reward days and consequences for negative behavior (I know, right??). It actually works! I ask their opinions on the learning, and we discuss what types of music they like. It is important that they feel connected to what they are learning, and if you allow them an opinion, now they are invested.
I hope these quick tips help! If you want to find out more about anything I’ve shared today or you want other music teaching ideas, please reach out at [email protected] or DM me on social media! If you are curious about my lesson plan ideas, I am so happy to help you make your teacher life easier and yes, more fun!