Classroom Management

I prefer the term classroom management to discipline because if one is an effective classroom manager, discipline problems will rarely occur. Of course, they will happen, but part of effective classroom management is knowing how to anticipate and deal with potential problems before they get out of hand.

The keys to effective classroom management

• Gain students' respect through demonstration of musicianship
• Have an established classroom routine
• Use effective pacing
• Energy curve-especially ending on high energy so students will come back the next day with a positive attitude
• Delivery - proportion of teacher talk small (15% or less)
• Use of strategies for keeping all of students on task all the time
• Know the students names
• Make eye contact-look at them and what they are doing
• Monitoring (get your head out of the score)
• Don't do something that you could get fired for