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For both kids and teachers, coming back to school after any extended break can stir up a variety of emotions. For many kids (and teachers!), returning to the routines of school after being away can be especially jarring. It’s important to keep this in mind as we return so that we can set ourselves and our young musicians up for success.
Knowing that the return from an extended break can be tough for many of our students, I encourage you to resist jumping right back into “business as usual.” Instead, consider doing a midyear reset.
Because of the timing, returning from winter break in January makes this an ideal time to do what I refer to as a “midyear reset” before delving into the second half of the year.
Here are a few questions to consider as you reset in your music program:
- Are our procedures and routines still serving me and my young musicians in the manner they were meant to? What may need to change?
- Who is being successful, and who is not? Why?
Let’s talk a bit about both of those!
Are our procedures and routines still serving me and my young musicians in the manner they were meant to?
If you’re not already, I highly recommend that after any kind of break that you revisit your music classroom’s procedures and routines. At the beginning of the year, you most likely either created classroom procedures & routines and then taught and practiced them with your students, or you co-developed them with your students (check out this blog post “Music Class Norms That Encourage Community” for more on that).
Either way, this is a great time of the year to re-visit those procedures and routines to consider what may still be working, and what may need to change.
If you originally created the classroom procedures & routines without student input, this is the perfect time to revisit alongside your young musicians! Ask them if the procedures and routines are working for them (and why), which ones they would like to change (and why), and how they would like them to change.
Remember, culturally responsive music programs strive to foster student ownership of the learning environment. This ownership leads to better engagement, and ultimately better, and deeper learning.
Considering we’ve all been away from our typical routines anyway, during the midyear reset it’s a convenient time to ensure that our young musicians have a say in the learning environment’s routines and procedures to make sure that your classroom’s foundation is solid before jumping back into rehearsals and lessons as you head into the second half of the year.
Who is being successful, and who is not?
Culturally responsive pedagogical practices are the most impactful lever we can pull as we strive for equity in our music education spaces.
A vital component of ensuring equity in our music education classrooms, is critically examining who is being successful in your music rehearsals and lessons, as well as who is not being successful.
For the young musicians who are being successful, identify what is contributing to their success: are those students quick to catch on to new material? Do they represent a particular demographic? Are they already interested in the music you are presenting to them? This list could go on, but the important information to glean is what characteristics and common habits do you see emerge amongst the students who are already doing well in your music space.
Additionally, identify which young musicians have not yet consistently been successful, and identify what obstacles and barriers may be in their way. Notice that I said “identify what obstacles and barriers may be in their way” NOT “identify what’s wrong with those students.”
It’s on us as music teachers to ensure our curriculum, instruction, and learning environment is designed so that ALL students can be successful in our music programs. This means that we all need to adopt the mindset that it’s our curriculum and pedagogy that usually needs fixing, not our students. We need to be intentional about removing obstacles and barriers that may exist so that all students have a pathway to success in our music programs.
Music educators work hard & strive to create great programs and spread the joy of music making to kids, so it can be really hard to admit that along the way we have inadvertently put obstacles and barriers in the way for some of our students. But this kind of critical examination is what separates great music programs that can easily attract, engage, and retain students from all the others.
Being honest about which students are struggling, and what YOU may need to do (or stop doing) in order for them to be able to see success in your music program is hard work for sure, but work well worth it.
And remember, culturally responsive music programs strive to foster student ownership of the learning environment. Your students know themselves well, so once you’ve identified some of the obstacles and barriers, as well as some ways to remove them, take those ideas to your students and see what they think!
Your young musicians will probably have additional ideas for how to make the music learning environment and curriculum more accessible to them, so make sure you ask them. Plus, involving them in the process of improving the learning environment leads to stronger student ownership and engagement.
How are you easing back into your music program after the long break?
I would love to hear your thoughts on how you’re easing back into your music program after the long break! Share in the comments below!
Also, let me know what you think of this post! If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for my email newsletter where I send blog posts and other resources and tips each week to help support you ensure all of your young musicians thrive by centering equitable and culturally responsive practices in your music program!
Until next time,
Ashley
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