I'm eager to hear some suggestions, too.  I've been teaching forever (English) and done music on the side; now I'm switching sides!  I've been battling the same thing.  I tried just teaching reading music, and they didn't seem to get it, so I bought rhythm instruments and glockenspiels to make it more hands on.  Now I hear:  "This isn't band! Why are we doing this!"  I am also battling the pop culture while trying to teach any other genre.  Management issues are the same.  I'm just not as fun (or lax?) as their old teacher.  I'm just finishing a group activity where there was one rhythm instrument, one glock, and others singing, and the kids didn't even try to perform their 4 measures accurately.   I suppose the buzz words are "epic fail!"  I keep telling myself to keep up the fight because they complain about whatever I do, no matter whatut  my, and I keep hoping that once the memory of the old fantastic fun teacher is gone, that my problems will be over, but.....  I really do think their memories are a bit rose colored, though, because the old teacher did try to teach most of what I do.  Eagerly awaiting suggestions!

Hello Becky -

 

I feel your pain. I was in the same situation last year with a 5-8 choir that argued with me until the cows came home. Granted, you have the unique challenge of being an instrumentalist with littel choral experience. What is the age of your students? The first place you should start is with finding age-appropriate choral repertoire instead of pop songs. Some pop songs are okay, but only once and awhile.

 

I wouldn't stress too much with getting them to read music right now. Right now I think it's most important for them to start singing (even if it is initially by rote or just holding the music and following the words) and to keep singing so that they can begin to see some measure of success. No choral student that I've even met wants to do music theory - they want to sing! Since it's already half way through the school year, maybe pick one song that they all love, and two that they don't know that lean more towards the choral realm. Make that one song they love a reward for working and making progress with the other two. Again - just get them singing. They will be more receptive to other activities once they get into the routine of singing daily.

 

As for classroom management, I'd say that you are in the same boat as every other 1st year teacher...it takes time. The first year is brutal, and can break some of the best teachers. I suggest, since you don't have much choral experience, that you look into local workshops or conferences that target choral teaching. I don't know if you live in New England, but the NAfME Eastern Division Conference is April 4-7 in Hartford, CT, and would have a wealth of workshops and materials and stuff to help you with this. I think you'll find that once you have more confidence in this area, classroom management, group morale, and everything in general will improve.

 

I hope some of this has helped - hang in there, and try to have some fun. We as music teachers have the great privelege of teaching students the beauty of music and performance. When it gets hard, remember why you loved this so much in the first place. :-)

 

Good luck and I'd be happy to talk further if you would like more input or advice. My email is below. Adios!

 

Shannon Leighton

MS Music/Chorus

Abby Kelley Foster Charter School

Worcester, MA

sleighton(a)akfcs.org

 

 

Wow I am going through the same thing. I work in the Bronx. I have a HIGH SCHOOL CHORUS and only a few can read music, but oh they "know everything".  The school threw me in a class with 9-12 graders which it should never be, it should be auditioned and one mature choir one not. Anyway, I am a singer so I am not the best reader.  I give them pop songs and then make them do other songs such as easy jazz pieces. They fight me to know end. Every once in a while I give them solo friday and they like me for that, they can sing it accapella or karaoke. It is so funny you say that but you do have to trick them into it! Do not beat yourself up over it, keep trying to teach them theory. Put them in groups and give them chart paper to make up their own "song" it can be just rhythms, have them compose warm ups on their own, have them figure out ways to change a song they know OH what should we add here ? drums an extra harmony? Believe me my kids really know ...nothing.. ahha no I kid, they have potential but know nothing else. What grades are they in and where do you teach?

Hi Becky - 

 

Any chance you are referring to middle schol students here?  Just a guess based on your "argumentative" comment.  While it is important for choral students to know their note names (EGBDF etc), it is equaly important for them to learn solfege and how to sight read notes and rhythms.  There is a wealth of sight reading material available including student books, single price reproducible PDF sets, and free materials teacher create for the betterment of our students.  Just search for "Sight reading" on choralnet and you will get many suggestions.  What I have found ( I teach grades 6,7,8) is that you have to sight read from the ground up - starting with basic rhythms, counting and clapping... Once kids can show they know basic note values, then throw some solfege at them.  I teach Do-Re first, then Do-Re-Mi, etc.... until they have learned a full scale.  I work in STEPS ONLY with my beginners.. once they master that you can add skips of D-M-S,  etc.  Here's the most important things about sight reading that I have found works best with argumentative kids:  You have to sight read EVERY DAY.  Yep.  EVER DAY. Make it part of your routine and give them structure.  Having structure and flow in your rehearsal will also help with your classroom management as a new teacher.  

 

I hear what you are saying about not wanting to sing pop music all the time and I agree.  You shouldn't. It's good here and there for middle school, but they need basic, standard repertoire to really hone their choral skills.  Unfortunately, if you lack piano skills you have only a few options to you:

 

1.  Practice your piano playing - this is the nest choice anc will serve you most in your career.  Being able to play piano effectively wil helpy you establish the rehearsal pace you want.  Quicker pace is best for younger kids are their attention spans tend to wane.

2.  Hire an accompanist - don't have any money for that?  Refer to option #1.

3.  Use a digital piano and record parts or use rehearsal track recordings - I can't even imagine doing this for 30 years so again, refer to option #1.

 

So in short, my suggestions are for you to practice playing piano every day and find a great sight reading program.  You can send me an email if you want some suggestions as to what I've used that has worked well for me.  Hope this help!

Since they have a love for pop music, how about trying this one?

 

Draw the staff and C major scale on the board, and then, by pointing to the notes (in rhythm), spell out the melody of some well-know pop song as they sing the letter names of the notes.  See if they can name the song that they've just sung.  (Sort of like a "name that tune" game.)  Then challenge them to tell you the rhythm and write out the notes of the melody.  This might at least be a teaser to get them interested in the pitches and rhythms.  (Anything you can turn into a game would be helpful.)

Thank you so much everyone!!! Luckily, we have the Missouri Music Educator's Conference this weekend, and there are a couple of great clinics there this year (including on entitled "Help! I'm an instrumentalist, not a choir director!" :D)

 

These kids are middle school (7-8). They do sing and for the most part really enjoy it... when it's something they want to do. Otherwise they just stare at me sullenly. I will definitely start sight reading with them more, and we are lucky enough to have a digital piano that can hold a lot of recordings, which the elementary teacher can do.

 

I keep telling myself that they're still getting used to me and I'm still getting used to them, and it'll settle down soon. It's just a bit frustrating at times. I know there's no magic fix, I just gotta keep plugging away at it. I've just never been in a situation where logic plays so little part!!!

I've been teaching choir, band, guitar and piano students for 30 years, in public schools, K-12.  What have we taught them if they don't leave our programs reading music?  Start with 4 measures on the board.  4 whole notes, do, do, do, do, etc.  The next day, do, re, do, re, and build on that!  Use the Curwen hand signs and insist that they use them as well.  In a few weeks, they'll be skipping intervals and doing very difficult rhythms.  They will feel like they are learning something and indeed, they are.  I also have my students all learn their intervals, both aurally and visually.  They also have to sing them, with the hand signs.  There are a lot of "games" and warm ups out there that you can use.  Don't let your altos leave your program only knowing the alto part to 20 songs.  What a disservice.  Also, would an English teacher only let her students read magazines and comic books?  Of course not.  I relate sining "only pop" to this.  You have to have some "meat" in your program.  Give a brief history of the piece, the composer, what times were like, etc.  Then slowly tackle the first great piece and they will LOVE it and remember that over most other songs you sing.  Make them clap and count and do solfege.  It will pay off in the long run as every time you hand out a new song, they are sightreading better and better!  Put a little sightreading exercise on the board EVERY day!  There are a lot of books to take these from or make them up yourself.  Pretty soon, they will be sightsinging 4 part harmony.  Hang in there.  Be strong.  Do what you know is right.

Your instincts to make it fun for them are good. I have found that teaching them solfege (movable, of course) and using the Curwen hand signals has been a real help. Having them work through a sight-reading text every day might seem like drudgery, but if you break it up with other activities that ultimately feed into the same set of musicianship skills, it helps to win them over to the experience. Students seem to love (and need) activities where they can get their bodies moving, and call and response stuff. It's pretty easy to teach them the hand signals (I had this chart printed very large and laminated, in front of the choir room: http://www.zazzle.com/solfege_syllables_and_hand_signs_major_scale_poster-228460646287986487). They get it quickly, and then you can have them sing scales in thirds, arpeggios, and "guess the melody" activities. There are lots of things that you can do with the hand signals that helps build their tonal sense.

Also, for some reason they all love to clap rhythms and do body percussion activities. Do a search on youtube for "orff body percussion" and you'll see some stuff that will be immediately useful. Some of it's in Italian but it's obvious what's going on. Peter Steenblik gave a talk at the Reno ACDA conference and he had some great ideas. One brilliant thing that he did was what he called "Rhythm with MJ." He would teach rhythm exercises on the board, and as soon as the class could clap them, instead of using a metronome he would crank up Michael Jackson songs, starting with medium tempo songs like Billy Jean and going faster (Beat It, etc.).  My students love this activity, all of the sudden choir is cool and they bring their authentic energy to the experience.

So I work on rhythms and solfege stuff separately, and then we also work out of the Nancy Telfer books. It's never their favorite part of the rehearsal, but after a couple months of working with it they do see improvement in their own skills, and they grumble less and less. One rule I instigated was that if anybody complained about the sight singing, we would do two of them instead of just one. It worked.

Don't neglect to give them assessments. Sight-reading quizzes where they have to know note names, solfege syllables, etc. A lot of students might bitch and moan if they don't think it will affect their grade, but will take it more seriously if a grading consequence is attached to their resistance.

Lastly, I wouldn't be too gung ho about getting them out of pop music, until you have built up a more healthy culture - which could take a few years. This is a subject of endless debate, but it doesn't sound like you have the luxury of taking a high-minded approach. The more buy-in you get from them over time, the more they will trust your repertoire choices. But don't be afraid to use whatever is going to get them singing. As far as the necessity to read music is concerned, most students can come to understand that in a large group everybody needs to be singing exactly the same thing and reading the same information. It's the choice of songs that will be your most important decision. Not that it all needs to be pop music, but it does all need to appeal to them. Somagwaza yes, anything in Latin - no! The beginning of the school year is always the better time, but it's critically important for students who don't read music to have early successes with the experience. You can't lecture in front of a whiteboard for a long time with charts and staves and key signatures. You need to get them singing music that is easy to visually decipher even if they don't read music, and that sort of tricks them into singing harmonies (by starting in unison and moving stepwise into harmony, etc.).