I have discovered that students often struggle to figure out where to focus their energy and time. I have come to the conclusion that it is often as a result of them not being able to hear when they are improving, or if they can tell they are progressing they lack the language to express it easily.

I use the words "Practice, Rehearsal, and Performance" to help students categorize where they are as individuals and where we are as an ensemble.

Practice (red) = I am learning my part

Rehearsal (yellow)= We are learning eachother's parts and improving together

Performance (green) = We are ready to share our music with an audience

There are also some short videos to assign to students or show in class that I find helpful

I have a real love/hate relationship with practice rooms. It's nice to have somewhere for kids to go work on something individually - but they don't tend to use the time well.

If students wish to use the practice room during class time I have clear expectations and a way to hold them accountable for their time.

Step 1: Student asks to use practice room and tells me exactly what they are going to work on and how long they think it will take. (I am going to fix measures 14 and 15, I think it will take 5 minutes)

Step 2: Student plays the passage for the class - no feedback is given

Step 3: Students take a timer and go into the practice room to work...I ALSO set a timer for me

Step 4: Student returns and plays passage for the class, feedback can be given at this time.

........ we go on with our lives.

There aretimes when we need the whole ensemble, and when that happens I tell the kids to write down what they needed to fix in their music moments so they can address it later.

Accountability is an important part of building resistance. Each week students are assigned a short practice challenge. We assign it on google classroom and use Flip Grid for students to record and share their performances.

We build opportunities for students to practice different strategies for practice into the assignments.

Students are expected to complete these challenges on their own time. If they play percussion or Tuba, they get the last 10 minutes of the final class of the week to record their challenge in a practice room. Because kids are busy, they are allowed one free pass each reporting period, otherwise they are expected to complete all the challenges.

Most are recorded as formative in PowerSchool. This allows parents to see if their student is completing challenges or not. Occasionally I will use them for a formative assessment.

To check for progress, and as an incentive. Each week I give a prize to one student who completed the challenge. This is based on completion, not how well they completed it. We will watch the video as a class and provide feedback

Example of a Practice Challenge

Introduction to Concert B flat Scale

PLEASE READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE SUBMITTING

This month we will master our Concert B flat scale.  You already know the first 6 notes, so 2 more...and we are golden,🔥

This week I want to see that you know the fingerings for the 2 new notes

Step 1: Watch the tutorial video for your instrument  

Step 2: Start your video by telling me the note name, and showing me the fingerings.

Step 3:  Play the 2 new notes....it is often easier to play them as a part of the scale, so record yourself playing the whole scale going up only.

 Students then submit their video directly to google classroom

How Students Respond

Originally I used flipgrid for our WPCs, but since it no longer exists I have moved to Google Classroom. Back in the day, I left the comments on...and was pleasantly surprised.