It is so important to remember that the outcomes of a unit test not only reflect upon the teaching style, but also comment on the effectiveness of reaching students. In what ways do you believe that your lessons were engaging? 

You mention that you provided review material- I find the easiest way to review with students in our age range is in playing a form of a game. This not only provides students with the raw material, but also a fun/ inviting area for kiddos to interact and learn from and with one another. 

Don’t feel totally discouraged. I know that getting the ‘knack’ of student involvement takes time- it can be frustrating, but keep at it! If we look to the long-term goals of content-retention how can you re-teach this unit? 

In what areas do you feel most connected to the materials? I’ve found that the more excited/enthused about the material the more connection the kids may have. 

Take a look also into the learning styles in your classroom. This may not match your teaching style- I know I’ve had this problem before. 

This is a lot to digest, maybe we could meet one-on-one and go over some of the points I’ve listed. I know you’ll get into your groove in no time. It may take a little elbow grease, but know that I’m going to be here for you every step of the way.

Currently my work for our ‘Genius Hour’ professional development through MACS has me and another teacher studying introversion and extroversion in how it relates to our teaching styles. This was brought up as an interesting point for us both because we’ve had different experiences with our quiet children. I’m an extrovert, and I’ve always been comfortable with class discussions. I now know, through extensive readings and feedback from others, that this can be really uncomfortable for our introvert leaning students. 

Last year I had a fifth grade female student who had reverted into a shell when class discussions were occuring. It was during our art classes, a time she thrived in previously. It became apparent that she understood and knew the material, but was extremely uncomfortable jumping into a lively discussion or critique. By providing her time to speak with me one-on-one about the material, or by giving her a paper to write down her thoughts, I was able to gauge her learning and grasp of the content. You may consider this as an alternative for assessment in your classroom as well. 

I’m so glad that you’ve been able to see what’s happening in your classes and assess how to better get all students involved. Take a little time to brainstorm different assessment techniques- other than full class discussions. Understand that what works for you and your learning style might not be the best fit for all of your students. 

It is important to let your administration know if there are any things that you feel uncomfortable doing. Weekly newsletters too much? Show the effectiveness of monthly outreach. Accounting driving you up the wall with excel spreadsheets and not knowing if parents will pay you on time (which can lead to crunches in your personal budget/student loans/grocery money?) Ask WHY your school operates this way and reach out to other music teachers to see what area or comparable schools do in similar situations. If composition is a huge part of your curriculum- dive in and see what it is actually accomplishing. If the kids aren’t getting enough out of it, what can you change to make it effective?

Being a specialist with a wholly TCC (Teacher Created Curriculum) one thing that is nice is flexibility. If one thing isn’t working, find out why and CHANGE it. A teacher with no down time to recharge is one who will suffer from burnout, fatigue, and loss of job satisfaction. 

On the other hand, some things are apart of this life. It’s important to work while you are at work and provide your students with the best education that you can manage. Let’s not be Cameron Diaz in “Bad Teacher.” If this ‘stuff’ that’s making you crazy is out weighing the amazing aspects of this job after you’ve done everything you can think of to change your work-load I would suggest re-reading your educational philosophy you had to write in college. Why did you choose this? Find your purpose. And for the love of all things good in this world, take a weekend OFF every month. No school stuff to bring home, no extra plans, just veg with your family!

My biggest advice when helping a parent understand his or her child’s actions in school are to be absolutely honest with their behavior. Try writing out what you’re wanting to say in a document first- get the facts right, and have another teacher or trusted advisor help proof-read for general feeling. It’s important to make sure that if you are meeting in person to have the parent’s names memorized, and maybe sibling’s names as well- this could help when parents let you know if there are other things happening at home. Finally, remember to sandwich- positive, something to improve, positive. This can seem difficult with some of our kiddos, but you can always find a way to bring light to their life. A little extra work goes a long way when making these connections.

Our contacts home as specialists when things aren’t going so great often happen in the middle of the school quarters, more around concerts than conferences. This is often through email, as it is the main mode of communication now-a-days with busy parents. I will call home on occasion, if there is something I’m particularly worried about. Behaviors are often the bigger part of my individual contacts home over lesson content. I involve the general classroom teachers, and let my principal or school counselor know if there is something I am really concerned about. 

Over everything else, before you have to make this hard contact remind yourself why you are a teacher. If you are trying to reach every child in your school, or positively impact a certain section, work hard to remember this during the tough stuff. I’ve had parents tell me I wasn’t qualified to teach because I wasn’t yet a parent and didn’t know what true love was (eyeroll) this brought a lot of frustration and tears and not a lot of good feelings to my life as we were struggling to get pregnant at the time. Remember- in the end- their child is a child of God and deserves the best from you and from them, so fight for it. 

Let’s celebrate the small victories first here. You are seeing and improving your teaching style. Could you explain to me the reasoning behind using centers? (...) Using centers in a specialist room can be amazing and full of learning, but sometimes it can degrade into chaos if you’ve not had the time for kids to learn the objectives. 

Personally I’ve not used centers yet this year because the students are still reviewing main musical elements. I will wait until the kiddos have all been assessed to really know what their targets will be for my centers, then plan lessons where we review the games/objectives as a group, and finally have centers. This can take more time than you’re already planning. Think about possibly doubling the class time you’ve allocated for this educational experience- you won’t feel so rushed and you’ll be able to visit the stations more.

Please take a few moments to think back to the lesson they delivered. What were three things you could compliment the teacher on? What were the three things that were most concerning? Why do you think it was these parts that concern you the most? How could you encourage the teacher to continue to expand on these three areas of strength?

In my understanding, seeing that the teacher is teaching outside of our standards is a great unease. How have you addressed this with the teacher? Seeing that they brought it up to you first shows that they understand the importance of alignment. What might you do to help steer the lessons back on track? Why do you think they find this content so important to teach our children?  

In situations like these it is easy to feel hopeless. I would encourage you to reach out to the administration or other coaches in your system to seek further assistance in shadowing or observing this teacher. By seeing stagnation in teaching practices this early in the game, getting more people to step in and help could take the stress off of your relationship with the teacher. See how the other observers react and if they have the same concerns or reactions as you.

Know that your time is valuable. It is important to see areas of success in our line of work. A difficult case may be the best and brightest memory in a few years. This being said, it’s hard when we are personally in the trenches day in and out. Understanding that education is not the professional area for everyone is a credit for our students. How would you help this teacher find their way into a fulfilling new job? In what career could their strengths?

In my experience, with our specific age range, any time we can infuse a game atmosphere into the classroom we can lend a fun way for students to actively learn or review material. By making it about speed in recall, specifically when speaking to rhythm or notation recognition, children who are complacent become more engaged.

 Have you thought about differentiation in your classroom lately? How are you reaching all learning styles? It is in your best interest, and that of the students to help them reach their goals through you reaching your own. I encourage you to take a look at your lesson plans for the next week and see how applying different learning style engagement practices would help your students reach their goals within classroom time. 

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I can see how teachers around you look up to you. I appreciate your tenor with them and see you as a group leader. Do you recognize this within yourself? In what ways do you see this as a development possibility?

When working in a school which includes demographics such as ours, with a high percentage of ELL, how do you strive to connect your material to the student’s acclimation to the general population? In what ways do you reach our students who show weaknesses in English language development?  How do you stay current with issues and topics relevant to their unique stories?

I see that you’ve got a classroom management plan in place that removes students to a time out chair. Can you tell me about this style? How do you see it benefiting your students? What other ways could you use their energy to aid in classroom learning?