Classroom Discipline Ideas for Music Teachers

Even though music class is traditionally an optional class, discipline is still required.

The atmosphere in a music classroom is unique in the educational environment. It is often an elective and should be a fun part of your student's day. Your music class should be a positive environment that fosters creativity and excitement. Even when students want to be in your class, it is still necessary to establish discipline in order to foster a learning environment that is fair to all of your students.

Rules

Your classroom rules should be clear, upfront and positive. Include your expectations for how your students should treat each other, you and their musical equipment. Positive rules demonstrate how a student should act, instead of how they should not act. For instance, set the rule "treat your instruments with respect" instead of "do not abuse or mistreat your instruments." Include rules detailing the proper treatment of your student's musical equipment. This equipment is expensive and likely the property of the school. Positive rules set a positive environment in your classroom. Often rules require updates and your classroom rules may take years and several groups of students to perfect.

Contracts

Behavioral contracts are often utilized to address a specific problem in your community or in your classroom. If you expect to encounter a specific discipline problem, such as student abuse of another student, racial or cultural conflicts, provide a simple contract for your students with clear objectives for them to follow. Provide the punishment for the infraction on their contract and make sure that they read it before they sign it, according to Teacher Vision. While these contracts are not legally binding, they do ensure that your students understand that you expect a certain level of control out of all of them throughout the class. This can also be effective if you notice regular abuse of your classroom or instruments. The extra-curricular nature of music class makes it ideal for behavioral contracts. You can punish students by removing them from class or restricting their access to instruments, should they violate their contract.

Classroom Management

Your presence in the classroom is essential for subtle management of your students. You can handle minor discipline issues by talking to your students or simply standing next to them for a few moments. Walk around your class regularly to promote an overall positive behavioral environment. Pointing out a student who is acting up is often an effective method of calming them and refocusing them to the task, according to Teacher Vision. More serious infractions can be handled by calling for specific students to see you after class and then explaining the nature of their infraction and clarifying your expectations. The music classroom often requires much more movement than other classrooms due to its larger size and multiple rooms for practicing and storing instruments. It is more challenging to cover the increased space and may require you to move more frequently.

Leads

Peer pressure serves as a powerful force to inspire students to misbehave but it can also work well to convince a student to follow the rules. Set up student leads. Bands often use this method by selecting a "first chair" for each instrument who is responsible for helping others with their instrument but also by ensuring that the others follow the rules. This technique works well in other music classrooms. While the lead may not have any real power over their fellow students, they have a position of respect and can use it to help other students understand the expectations of the class and serve as a positive role model.

References

• Teacher Vision: Discipline Strategies in the Music Classroom
• Teacher Vision: Behavior Management Resources