As a public school orchestra teacher I never have the luxury of working with individual students. My classes are really big and so even our after school sectionals can be pretty large. Furthermore, at a Title 1 School kids do not have private teachers, and many times kids do not have space in their living conditions to take instruments home for practice, so we have to maximize our time together during class. One of the things I have learned since taking this position is that what doesn't get done at school does not get done, period!
Before continuing, let me define a Title 1 School like the one I work at: 97.1% of our families are economically disadvantaged, 74.7% are English Language Learners, 13.8% are in Special Ed, we have more boys than girls, we have a chronic absenteeism problem (that is slowly getting better but still kids miss school a bunch), very few of our families own a home but rent apartments instead, which causes a high rate of movement within the district or even to other school districts, we have a large number of "at risk" students, and we are failing the official state assessment for academic readiness. We have no PTA, and I do not get any parent volunteers for any concert or after school events. And, it is under these conditions that we teach music and no wonder we cannot compete with other orchestra programs that have less extreme situations to cope with.
The schedule is also tricky, I don't have separate upper and lower strings classes like other public school programs do, so I teach all instruments together. We have double periods (90 minutes long) which is pretty tiring for most 6th graders and even for some of the 7th graders. I have to be very explicit with classroom expectations or else we would trip over open cases, there would be people eating in the middle of class and overall chaos would quickly settle in. Therefore, I hold on to the Orchestra Handbook and read it aloud again and again when students break the rules, I try to have copies of the classroom expectations taped to the music stands and on walls, I have wipes ready to clean dirty hands at all times, and even though I cannot fight all battles, I hold on to the important ones like a lion. I try to let the beginners move even if for brief moments, and I walk around the classroom myself replacing instruments on shoulders or adjusting right hands to make round bow holds so that kinesthetic learners "feel" the correct placement of instrument and bow.
Regardless, here are some things that are working well in my orchestra classes:
Bow exercises: there exercises are very important for developing a good bow hold, which then translates into good tone, good articulation and good musicality! They are fun, dynamic and they engage the body in a way that's very natural and creative. We do them at the beginning of class, as part of the warm up, without exception.
Movement: standing up to play is excellent for violins and violas to ensure good posture and that instruments stay up on the shoulder, and it is also very important for beginning Bass players who need to balance the bass against their body in an upright position. Cellos experience movement swinging/swaying from side to side on the beat. I also allow students who are answering questions or who are demonstrating something to stand up. Even though that is not much movement, it is better than sitting down for all the 90 minutes.
Keep them busy: this is a powerful classroom management tip for any classroom, but in a Title 1 school with severe behavior problems it is extremely important. Idling time only invites people getting up from their chairs, tripping over cellos, use of bad language, phones coming out of backpacks, bows breaking, etc.
Open String exercises: these Russian exercises for bow distribution, bow speed and bow control in general are very important in my classroom. We always try new rhythms and bowings on open strings which seems to help students memorize rhythmic patterns. While we do open strings we do not have to worry about the left hand, so we can focus all attention solely on the way the bow's hairs travel through the string. It is while doing this exercise that I introduce the idea of "tilting" the bow. In my experience, once the students understand what "tilting" is (basically we set the bow on the string with hairs slightly facing the bridge) they get a bigger tone and definitely articulation becomes more clear.
Dice/Number cards: when doing drills of any sort (left hand patterns, a couple of measures from a difficult passage, a string crossing exercise, etc) we decide on the number of repetitions by rolling dice or pulling a card from a deck of number cards. Middle schoolers love to find out how many times they'll have to repeat something! Perhaps they get 1 😉
Singing: we SING the music we are learning, and we chant rhythms all together too using our voices. This is something they can practice at home without the instrument so I have learned to take advantage of this kind of practice.
Videos: I make videos of the difficult spots so students can watch them from home and learn concepts even if just mentally. The next time they come to class they remember the tricky spots and the specific techniques to overcome them even if they did not get to do it physically on their instrument.
Orchestra helpers: There are many things I need help with at school, so there are lots of classroom duties to share among us. Some kids are good helping with attendance, others with technology, others with concert programs, or with passing music, collecting tuners or cello straps, setting up the orchestra, etc. Also, I send strong players to work with students who might be lost or struggling, so they can help the struggling student with a passage or technical concept. They love to teach others. It makes them feel important and needed. This helps students take ownership of their playing and it is a bonding experience for everyone.
Listening: we listen to the pieces we are learning during class towards the middle of the 90 minute period. In that way they get a break from playing and also I make sure the listening gets done (I cannot trust that they will do it at home; some work in the evenings, some do not have internet, some of them are refugees and so don't speak English and consequently may not understand the assignment, etc.) This is an important aspect of ear training. It helps with intonation, phrasing, overall musicianship and it also gives them context, and I mean "context" in every sense of the word. The vast majority of them have never been to a western orchestra concert so they are completely new to the way an orchestra sets up on stage, they don't know the instruments that are part of the orchestra, etc. Listening gives them too an aural concept of the music we are playing (harmonic context, rhythmic context, they also get to hear the different timbers of an orchestra, etc.) When we listen to videos together I can pause and point at things I want the kids to notice or make reference to details that would get lost if they watched these videos on their own. For all these reasons I take the listening portion of class pretty seriously. I really think it helps a lot.
Exit tickets: I'm beginning to do these at the end of every class before we pack up. That means you cannot put your instrument away and get ready to leave unless you demonstrate mastery of something. Normally we are all mastering the same thing at the same time, but many times I have kids who are behind (at a Title 1 school we accept kids year round, mostly refugees who come in at different times throughout the year, so sometimes I have a kid mastering the D Major scale when others are mastering something way more advanced) These tickets really motivate them to focus, they really like to be the first ones to pack up and get ready to leave before the bell rings. This used to make me a little sad but now I accept it as the reality of my school.
Teaching at a Title 1 school is a very humbling experience but it is also an excellent opportunity to let go of fluff and work on what's really important. Respect, kindness and accountability are pretty high on my list. Please email me if you are a Title 1 school orchestra teacher, we can exchange ideas and share what's working in our classes to stay afloat all the storms 🙏
© 2022 Cecilia Calvelo
