Question:
Any ideas?
Guys I have a problem.
Saturday mornings I teach group lessons of saxophone players at a Catholic high school in northeast Philly. There are five groups, anywhere from 2 to 5 kids, half hour apiece, 8:30 to 11, sometimes 11:30 I take the flute kid who wants to learn sax. 9:30 to 10:30 is the band, during which the beginner students have their lessons.
I have tried every approach possible with these kids, and I feel like I'm getting nowhere. I feel like there's little I can do in a half hour with 3 or 4 kids on average. I grouped them after the first day pretty well by playing ability and personality, moreso by ability, but sometimes the personalities just conflict. In the 8:30 there is one kid who can't keep himself quiet, no matter how I go about it, but for the most part I don't have many other problems with authority. The kid respects me but he has a nasty case of ADHD.
I try to structure the lessons based on warming up, reviewing basics, trying to get a nice full sound... then I'll have them play some harmony and try to tune up with their ears, like assign notes and play the chord. The kids can hear when it's out and they try to adjust it in, which is a good sign. Then we look over the band music and I try to get them playing it musically, I offer them ideas to get more life out of it, and they seem to like that. Then maybe we'll play some scales, read some fun stuff out of their essential elements books, and call it a day. I'm lucky if I get through half that in the half hour allotted, which I guess can be good sometimes because at least I can make ONE thing stick a little bit.
Other things I've tried are to let loose for a lesson and play some games, like the memory game where each student adds a new pitch to a series of notes and then we'll make a song out of it. They liked that but it proved really difficult for some kids. Sometimes we'll play jazz and try to take some solos while I walk a bassline. They tend to like this too but again, some kids have a lot of trouble.
Whenever I get a student one-on-one, we can get so much done it's amazing! But the group lessons just provide so many challenges that I feel like I'm not equipped to deal with.
Is there anything to be done? Or is this just the nature of group lessons on saturday mornings? I feel like now the best approach is to have fun with them, work on the basics for sure but mostly focus on making it fun for them... the only thing that seemed to REALLY stick was when I Asked them all to try and learn the theme song to their favorite cartoon. A couple of kids came in the next week with the Simpsons down pat, and we played Family Guy and some other stuff.
All the kids play alto, and I bring my alto and play with them. They're aged 5th to 8th grade, so about 10 to 13. Usually they're in good spirits but sometimes I feel like they walk out of the lessons confused and overwhelmed, and sometimes I get nothing done and can't win them over. They do respect me, and they like me, which is good, but I wish they liked me a little less and practiced a little more!! The other teachers that are there with me teaching the other instruments complain of the same general problems... any advice and experience would be appreciated.

Answer:
Razzy, Boy I feel your frustration. I had classes of 25 to 50 students in the 11-12 age group put in classes of like instruments in the 6th grade and full bands brass + woodwind but no percussion in the 7th. I taught 7 periods of band a day in 45 minute classes each with no prep period. I did this for 28 years and I am still alive to talk about it. Let me share some ideas and techniques that worked for me. Let me emphasise that this is not necessarily the best way or the only way to do a rehearsal, but it is the way I got the best results.
Let me start by saying you mentioned some very creative ideas that I wish I had known about or thought of when I was doing this gig.
My classes would hit the ground running. No unnecessary teacher talk at the beginning. We had a warmup routine memorized, that started on time even if a few weren't ready. The routine consisted of long tones, first unison then intervals. Later the long tones were combined with cresendos and diminuendos as they got more control. If you have a clock with a second hand in the room, you can hold long tones with the clock ---play from the 12 to the 4 rest, play from the 6 to the 10 etc. They like to have contests to see who can hold the note the longest. Don't let on this is good for them and they will think it is just a fun game.
The warm up then went on to tonguing. One of my favorites with amplified metronome or drum machine was I'd hold up 1 finger = quarter notes (staccato), 2 fingers = eighth notes, 3 fingers = triplets, 4 fingers = sixteenth notes, and no fingers (fist) sextuplets. You can vary tempos and split the group in two halves and use 2 hands so they can hear relationships between rhythm patterns. They don't need to know or be able to read eighth notes, triplets, sixteenths, or sextuplets they just play that many notes "per beat". When those note values come up in the book you just say "Oh those are counted and played like when I hold up 3 fingers and bam! They have the concept. (Be careful with this if you are not very coordinated like me because when doing both hands changing fast sometime the quarter note can come out the wrong finger to hold up. (Not that I ever did that).:)
The warm up then went on to scales that they had memorized when they got to that page in the book. (By the way, I hope you are going through the book page by page and not jumping around). Bruce Pearson put a lot of thought and study into the sequence of learning and comprehension. I was never smart enough to create my own sequence that would be an improvement on his. When several scales were under the fingers, the scales and tonguing drills would be combined. (Not the finger one though. That one works the best on one tone). All of the above would probably take 5 to 10 minutes.
Just an aside here. Many teacher prep classes teach that a "good" warmup should contain new material every day to keep the students on their toes. This may be true for high school or advance players, but I found that routine with only minor changes as you go along works the very best with this age group. Too much "teacher talk" at first and you have lost them right from the start. It took me a long time to quit making this mistake "because I had so much to teach them and so little time".
Then I would make announcements, (giving them a chance to rest their embouchures) teach a new concept or idea, etc. you know the "teacher talk" kind of stuff. Maybe 5 minutes max.
Then we would do our page in the book. I usually took only one page a week. If the learned the notes, rhythms, exercises, music symbols quickly on the page, the repetition would be the vehicle to teach tone production, better tuning, technical facility by taking faster tempos, etc. It also gives the slower kids a chance to master the material before going on. I really liked to use the CD accompaniment to both book 1 and 2. Some teachers see this as a crutch or a shortcut. I do not. Here's why: When you crank your CD volume up and the kids play along even the whole notes sound like music to them. They sound good! The louder the CD the better they sound.:) But they are also hearing a bassline and harmony and learning to play better in tune. They are playing with a drumset (metronome) and learning to play even and steady, and most important, it is more fun. If the students get their own CD's to practice at home it is even better. You can test individual students having them play along with the accompaniment while the others pretend to blow and just finger their part. The CD is also good to put the class on "autopilot" if you need to take a student aside for extra help or to correct a wrong behaviour. This would take 10 to 15 minutes.
Like the dessert, I always tried to do something fun right before the end of the class. As you get into the book there are always songs they like the most. After they have learned many songs, you can let them play "requests" at the end. They usually love that. Sometimes the student making the request will have/get to play it as a solo first before the class. The old Barnum and Bailey thing "if they can leave wanting more...." You have got them right where you want them. If they walk out whistling or humming the last song---you have hit a home run.
What to do with your ADHD kid? I don't know what to tell you. That is tough. Try not to let his behavior or conduct affect the way the rest of the class is handled. Some situations are very difficult both for you and the kids. Try to stay positive, maybe get some parental help, I don't know.
This is just a rough idea of a typical class or rehearsal. Take what you like and leave the rest. If you come up with some neat variations on any of these ideas I would love to hear back so I can share them with my friends who are still in the "trenches".
A few of my philosophies to end with. "If you cant give the kids at least as much trouble as they give you, you have no business being a band teacher.":)
Give praise honestly and sparingly enough so when you tell Johnny, "that was really good" it really means something. Some teachers say every line of every song sounds good every day to the kids. Theyr'e not dumb. They know when they are being lied to.
If you must be critical of the class do it with a bit of humor. "That sounded like more like a dog fight than a song, lets tongue the notes together." Or if they are not playing with enough air, "Come on kids, my wife snores louder than that". Or my favorite non verbal critique---make a face and hold your nose after the song. Then while still holding the nose say in a funny voice "Lets try that again." Individual criticism of course is best done in private.
Good luck. I enjoyed sharing my experience with you.
John Talcott
akajbtsax

Answer:
Thanks John. I particularly like the last bit, and I do try to employ those bits of humor to get everybody a little more motivated to sound better and to make music. I'm at the point with the kids that we can have a good time and joke around, and make some headway with the band music, but my problems lie in getting them to practice their scales outside of the classes and to learn the music and exercises we go over in the book... and sometimes to get them EXCITED about it. I've tried every which way to communicate to them the excitement and power of music, and it's hit or miss whether they pick it up or not.
I jump around the book a little bit because they have played through much of it already. Might be time for some new books? The woman I took over for went right through the book and the kids told me that they liked her but that they always wanted to go further with the material and to go faster, and learn new things. So what I do is revisit some of the songs a little bit, only to find that they cannot really play them well, and they get frustrated when I try to get them to play it together, telling me "We've already done this let's move on!" I say "you've already done it 20%, let's get the other 85! Always give 105%!" etc. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
I like your ideas and I'll try to use them when I get in there tomorrow, especially the rhythm and the tonguing, I don't do enough of that. I think maybe my biggest problem is a little too much time talking and demonstrating and not enough time getting THEM to do what I'm showing them... plus I'm a little erratic in terms of the lesson plan, but I at least start every class with longtones and a major scale played slowly, to get everything going. They all pay attention for that, but maybe I should expand it a little as you've laid out.
Thanks for the tips. I suppose there really is only so much you can hope for with kids who aren't inclined to practice week to week and have a million other commitments. There's one girl that says "thank you!" so genuinely at the end of the lesson every week and that is the highlight of my Saturday mornings!
Were your classes every day or did each group meet once a week? The week to week situation poses challenges of remembering exactly where each student is in each class and what I need to continue with. After the warmups, scales, and reading of the music, I've tried to make each lesson have a "theme". Last week it was sightreading and I think I finally made some headway, the kids seem a little more interested in learning to sightread fluently since I laid it out like it was a grand skill that they should all know!

Answer:
Ddt

Answer:
You are welcome.
It sounds like you have inherited the results of someone else's teaching accumen. Those situations are tough until those kids move on and you have a group that you have started from the beginning. Been there, done that.
My classes met every day at the same time which was ideal for a skill learning type of class. With that much classroom time, I tried to structure the class so that all students made good progress even if they were too lazy to practice at home. If they did, then that was icing on the cake. If you are only meeting once or twice a week, home practice would be a must. I didn't like to use practice cards---too much work and too many dishonest parents (with good intentions). Instead each student had to pass off a short assignment at the end of each week. It was easy to tell which ones practiced and which ones didn't. Most of my students earned A's because I nagged, cajoled, threatened, or bribed them until they passed off the exercise even if it took 4 or 5 tries. After a while the kids wised up and knew they'd better prepare the first time because they knew they would have to do it eventually. That's what worked for me. The first thing my successor did was to print up practice cards---so every teacher is different. Could you maybe tie practicing in with some kind of contest each week? Just a thought.

Answer:
Just my 2 cents
Razzy, I haven't been in your situation so what I say isn't tryed in the classroom. What I would do in your situation is to write something topical and use that as the basis for what you want to teach. So, if tune x is whats "hip" this week I'd figure out 8 bars of it and then insert whatever you wanted to teach. Play the basic melody so you "get them" . Then with the attention add a tounging change to the melody ? Make sense? I would tie into whatever they find facinating the things you want to teach. As far as scales/exercises go I'd create a compitition of sorts . Who can play 3 scales at XX met mark? Make it like who can do the most pushups at football camp. Just the approach I'd take. K

Answer:
Hi Razzy,
I'm not sure where you're teaching, but in general there's usually a certain degree of non-practice among younger students, especially when they're just starting out, after a year or two (which, of course, is when they need the most practice!). I'm on my way to being a teacher, and in the couple of practice teaching stints I've done, I've found the main thing to get them to do better is to expect more of them. They can do amazing things, just make it clear that you expect those amazing things all of the time.
To help with your time constraints (half an hour is DEFINITELY not enough time to do much), you could combine as much as possible; even if they're playing something simply from the book, make them play it with beautiful tone, intonation, together, etc all the time; if they don't do it right, do it again. They'll hate you for your insistence, but they'll appreciate it and love you for it. Besides, a teacher isn't there to be liked, they're there to teach! The liking is just a by-product of good teaching.
One good exercise is to play a note (or chord) as a single quarter note, and rest for three beats. So, take a Bb chord, play it on the first quarter note of a 4/4 bar, then rest three beats, and keep repeating it; during the rests, you can tell them "start together" "end together" "beautiful tone" "intonation", etc etc. Don't let them get sloppy with it either, which they'll try; tell them you'll keep doing it until they do it right. It gets good results, though you have to remind them about the beautiful sound they had during it when they move to something else.
Finally, I'd suggest mixing up the groups; but the better players with some of the less advanced players, so they have something to aspire to, and the more advanced ones can get some experience with leadership.
As for the ADHD student, is s/he severly disruptive? I had a couple of students with ADHD, one of whom talked a lot, but also worked hard. If s/he isn't too disruptive, and just likes to talk a lot, then just enjoy they're work, and deal with the talking. If it's more serious, you might suggest to they're parents the student talk private lessons, rather than group lessons.
I hope any of that will help!
Martin