orchestra classroom

These help my students get better, FAST!

It's the last 2 weeks of school for me! I like to make sure students are engaged and busy through the end of the year. Otherwise teaching can start to feel too much like babysitting teenagers. Here are my plans for the rest of the year! Some have asked how to play Apples to Apples orchestra edition. Here's a tutorial:

Our district has been really focusing on student learning objectives and teacher/student goals. As part of this process, we have had q...

A few days ago a received a letter from a reader: I teach 4th and 5th grade beginning strings and orchestra. I absolutely love you...

Wanna be a cool orchestra teacher? Try this idea with your beginners! I've been listening to the song 'Keep Your Head Up' and I lo...

This is my 12th year teaching orchestra, and I'm still learning and discovering more efficient ways to teach students and take care of ...

Orchestra Classroom Ideas: Organizing Inventory and a little re-decorating

It's not easy preparing for a sub in orchestra. I have tried many different activities for students to do when I am gone and some wor...

Help them WANT to practice more.

Struggling with classroom management? Whether you’re new to teaching or have several years of experience, these practical strategies will help you create an engaging and well-disciplined band or orchestra class. From room setup to leadership techniques, start improving your rehearsals today!

Simple System for Classroom Management | Mysite

There are times during rehearsals when some sections need to wait while another section receives special help and instruction. Students do need to learn proper rehearsal etiquette and know how to sit quietly with their instruments. But too many episodes of sitting/not playing can make rehearsals drag on and on. Every rehearsal will likely have moments when some students are not playing, however, there are many ways to include all students in the rehearsal process. Including all students…

I like to call Friday rehearsals 'Friday Fun Day!' I want Fridays to be a celebration of all we learned during the week, but also serve as a meaningful review and reinforcement of material. Last week one of my students said, 'It's funny you call Fridays 'Friday fun day' because every day is fun!' Learning an instrument is fun...that means the pressure is off! No need to spend hours and hours planning intricate games. I've found my favorite Friday Fun Day is a review day using Ninja Belts as…

My concert is just a week away! I feel my students are ready and will have a successful, rewarding experience. To make sure they are ready, we've been playing rehearsal games. These games are fun, but also very telling. They help me and students know which passages need extra practice. We then target our rehearsals to meet the needs of students. Here are the games we've played lately: 1. DRAW A FACE This is a very simple game with no prep work or set up time required. I drew 3-4 circles (or…

It's not easy preparing for a sub in orchestra. I have tried many different activities for students to do when I am gone and some work better than others. I always wish students could just work in small sectionals and practice but they just don't use their time wisely and some students don't cooperate when there is no teacher present. Here are some ideas for sub plans in orchestra: 1. Plan a composition activity. Let students create a short piece of music. You can create a worksheet and keep…

After seeing a fingering poster online that another orchestra teacher had created, I knew I wanted to make a set for myself. I cut strips of black paper at various widths to show the strings from thickest to thinnest (1/4", 1/2", 3/4", 1"), laminated the poster, then used Velcro to mark where each note would go. Each letter name bubble was cut out, laminated, and Velcro-ed. I also taped a plastic baggie to the back of the poster to store the unused notes. At one school, I have a strip of…

There are lots of new words for beginning band and orchestra students, so I made a music literacy word wall where students can see these words in a prominent spot in the room spelled correctly and with a picture. They are roughly grouped together by topic and then get added to the wall once we cover them in class. Here's a partial listing of the words, no pictures, sorry: Word wall words (PDF) Word wall words (Word document) It's exciting to see students scan the word wall to try and find…

I show my classes a 'video of the week' every Monday with some sort of message that I want students to internalize during the week. Someti...