Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 167: Beyond the Notes: How Music Education Builds Life Skills

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Ep 167: Beyond the Notes: How Music Education Builds Life Skills · New Teacher Talk

My name is Becky Weiler,
and I teach 5th and 6th grade band and general music at
Central Intermediate School in Ottawa, Illinois.
My name is Martin Czernicki,
and I teach 7th and 8th grade band at Shepherd Middle
School in Ottawa, Illinois.
Today,
we are going to talk about the ways music education and
experience in music benefits students.
The cognitive and academic benefits of music are well
-documented.
Several studies have explored how music helps
neuroplasticity in the brain and increases language
acquisition and motor skills.
However,
music students gain countless other skills from their time
in the music classroom outside of these cognitive benefits.
We are going to outline some of these benefits here and
highlight the ways that we help students develop these
skills in our classrooms.
Much of our experience is specifically band related,
but we hope many other teachers see these reflected in
their classrooms as well.
And I'm gonna go ahead and start.
The first one that I think is really important that music
reinforces really elegantly and excellently is perseverance
and instilling a sense of resilience in students.
My experience as a beginning band teacher has really helped
me to see this specifically because my students start with
no skill on their instrument.
I teach them from the very beginning how to open their
case.
I teach them the basics of music notation and how to make
sounds and tone production on their instrument.
And so often I am helping students understand that by
making mistakes,
it is a sign that they are taking chances and learning and
developing on their instrument.
And I also have learned to take every opportunity possible
to celebrate their success,
no matter how small it may seem and to remind them of their
growth.
We as teachers often have a greater context for students'
development and progress than they do because we hear them
all the time.
They're often really focused on what they're doing in
rehearsals and ensemble.
So ways that I like to show that they have made this
progress is I make recordings and I play recordings for
them regularly.
We go back and play music that used to be really difficult
for them,
but now is easy because they've progressed so much on their
instruments.
And it's really gratifying to see how that helps them to
instill that sense of perseverance and grit when they're
working on their instrument.
And I'm going to jump in and talk about the collaboration
and teamwork that I see from the band students on a daily
basis.
I know that the students work together all the time to
solve problems.
A lot of times before I can even get there, for example,
if I'm turning to say the alto saxes,
and I'm about to correct them from C to C sharp,
and one of the older students that has maybe a bit more
experiences, already waving me away saying don't worry,
we got it.
And that kind of collaboration just builds a really cool
environment,
a really cool learning environment for the students that I
see in, you know, a few other places.
The other thing too is it helps me as a teacher learn to
collaborate with the other teachers in the school.
I know,
especially if you're listening and you're not a music
teacher,
you might know that your school has a band program that has
pullout lessons.
We really appreciate you working with us.
And it's a lot of give and take, you know,
I have a lesson schedule all the time.
And just today I had a teacher message me.
It's a special circumstance.
We usually Fridays or the day to make up, you know,
missing work from lessons and we don't have school this
Friday.
And that's, you know, somewhere that I can concede,
you know, a lesson or so, you know,
it's okay if you miss this lesson,
so you can make up this test.
And then working back and forth with the music educator in
your building really helps to make a great collaborative
work environment.
And then another skill that I think is really well-learned
by students in music class, and as we said,
kind of banned in particular from our experience,
is organization and time management.
As Martin was saying, often our students are leaving class.
Sometimes they're the only kid leaving class at that time
to come to a pull-out lesson.
And so we often help them develop strategies and techniques
for remembering when to come to their lesson.
I have my students set alarms on their iPads.
I know sometimes I will make notes that they keep on their
desk.
Sometimes if a student really struggles with remembering
when to come to lessons,
I assign them a buddy who has that same lesson time,
so they are kind of holding each other accountable to make
sure that they are keeping track of their commitments and
they know when and where they're supposed to be.
One of the things I think that's unique about music is
that, especially for band,
and if you have other instrumental programs like an
orchestra, students as young as, in our case,
fifth graders,
are responsible for very expensive pieces of equipment.
And so we really prioritize teaching students how to care
for their instrument,
keeping track of where their instrument is,
if it's where it's supposed to be at school, at home.
And I think that that is something that not every student
necessarily learns as readily in other parts of their day-to
-day life.
And also,
another important part of learning about organization and
time management is for students to be independent.
Martin kind of talked about this a little bit as well under
teamwork collaboration,
but students relying on each other as a resource,
so then it's less work for us to do as teachers.
I know both of us really prioritize teaching students how
to use the room, like finding supplies in the classroom,
classic educational strategy, three before me.
I try to have students ask three classmates before me,
as long as it's not an emergency or really urgent
situation.
And that also gives their other classmates a sense of pride
too,
that they have helped someone and have given that resource
to a classmate.
Something else that students really get out of working, um,
in a,
in a music classroom in our case band specifically is a
higher level of focus with a really keen attention for
detail.
I always like this saying when people talk about band is
that 90%, you know, might be an A in every other class,
but anything less than a hundred percent in band is not an
A.
I've heard a lot of bands that do this demonstration at
their concerts where they tell all the students that
they're allowed to play nine correct notes and one wrong
note for every 10 notes.
And then they, uh,
demonstrate that for the audience about how that might not
be an ideal and program, right?
So the students really have to focus on every note,
every rhythm to make the concert really come together.
That level of attention and focus doesn't just apply to
music when they realize that when they apply that level of
focus and that level of attention to detail in anything in
their life,
their math class or hobbies or sports that will carry with
them their whole life, right?
That's going to be super important for just, you know,
being a functioning human later on today actually was a
rehearsal kind of like this.
We really had to like whittle away at just a few measures
and we spent probably close to 25 minutes on it and that
can be pretty boring,
but being able to understand boredom and fight through it
and still work really hard and achieve a great end goal is
a really great skill that everybody should have.
And that's something that they will get out of a band
classroom.
The last skill and I think it's one that Martin and I would
both consider to be one of the most important things that
we try to foster in our program here that we really see
students benefit from is how to be a part of a community
and also how to help develop that community.
I know that students will feel this in other places but we
really feel lucky that we are able to use band and music as
a way to help students really feel a part of something at
school that I know for both of us like we've been musicians
for I'm I don't know 20 plus years 25 plus years.
I know I was
I wasn't prepared to answer those questions.
So the fact that we are helping students at the very early
part of their musical career be a part of this awesome
community, I know we both feel really strongly about that.
So ways that we do that, first of all,
we acknowledge that we are really lucky that we both teach
in the same district.
Like we are a district that has two band directors employed
and so we often collaborate to make sure that students are
getting the chance to build that community.
So one of the ways we do that,
I invite older students often to mentor or assist our
younger students.
We're lucky in the way that we have our rehearsal schedule
set up that middle schoolers can come and play with my
students in rehearsal.
I often invite like my sixth grade band students to come
and play with my fifth grade band students and explain to
them that they don't really have to do much except just be
a part of rehearsal and model what it's like to be a good
band student and how to sit with good posture and all those
things.
So we feel lucky that we're able to do that.
Something I've done in the past, I allow students to vote.
I'm gonna be doing this actually for our next concert cycle
is to allow students to vote on music choices or the order
of the concert program.
If I don't feel super strongly about what order our pieces
are gonna go in, I'll let the students decide.
And when we do our recruitment,
we also involve pretty much every grade level of current
band student.
We involve them in the process.
So my fifth graders and sixth graders,
they make a video for the incoming fourth graders to give
them info about band.
And Martin does a lot with his kids too if you wanna talk
about it.
Oh yeah.
Sure.
This past year was actually the first year we did it and it
was a big hit I think we'll be doing it every year that I
had my seventh and eighth graders kind of do like an
introduction to the seventh and eighth grade band video and
they decided to uh make it a brain rot edition so it was
all it was all like brain rot slang and it was it was a
blast for the kids and we saw you know a huge uptick in
retention.
I'm sure it was not only because of the brain rot video but
it helped them kind of see what band is going to be like
moving forward in their band career.
And something that we both do too to feel part of the
community,
not just with our students in rehearsal and at school,
is we try to attend events that they are in that are not
musical or not tied necessarily to our school band
concerts.
So like we will go if they're in a play or a musical with a
organization outside of school, we try to go,
I try to go to at least one home sporting event.
And the students are just so glad to see us there.
And I know it means a lot to them and to families too.
And it shows them that we care about them outside of just
them being musicians,
which is really important for that community aspect.
Mm-hmm,
and then really the last point we have here is there will
be a number of traditions both planned and unplanned I know
like a like Becky has a lot of like teacher developed
traditions
We play happy birthday,
like if it's a student's birthday or half birthday,
if they have a summer birthday,
I make a point for everybody to play happy birthday for
them, if they want, I give them the choice,
I don't force it upon anybody,
because I know some students aren't comfortable with the
attention.
I have a tradition where every student on their very first
concert with me plays an arrangement of some Queen songs,
which they and their parents love,
and then their last concert with me in sixth grade,
we always perform Star Wars.
So for my fifth and sixth grade level,
I have developed more of the traditions,
but as they get older and they go to Shepherd,
where they have Martin,
they often take the responsibility of developing their
traditions themselves, which is really fun.
Yeah,
I did not have a hand in really either of the traditions
I'm going to mention,
but I know that the Shepherd Band really likes,
we have this like baby doll that started,
it's actually not even the same doll that it started with,
but we have this baby doll that's seen better days.
It's not kept in the best shape and that's kind of part of
the fun, the tradition.
Kind of like a mascot for the band room.
It moves places, it like sits on different shelves,
the kids always have a fun time trying to see where it is
that day.
We even use it sometimes to like highlight role models,
like if someone's been a really good role model in the
band,
the baby might be sitting on their chair the next day.
And then I know our percussionists have this collection of
rubber ducks that I do not, you know, finance,
I do not fund them,
they get it themselves from one method or another.
And each percussionist that has gone through the Shepherd
Band for, must have been the last three or four years now,
they each get a personalized little rubber duck with their
names on the bottom of it.
And those traditions, yes, they're specific to the banner,
but the environment and the community that these kids are
building within each other is going to take them throughout
the whole school day and it's going to make them excited to
be at school.
Their love for learning is going to expand not just in the
banner, but throughout the whole school day.
They're going to be excited for all their classes.
And we, in researching for this too,
I was reminded that like schools with music programs often
have a significantly better attendance rate and graduation
rate, if that applies as well.
So not only does music help students develop skills like
these, but it's also just a really fun,
joyful place for them to be as part of their school day.
Music is an essential part of a student's experience in
school.
Not only does it benefit students academically,
but helps them develop perseverance, organizational skills,
focus,
and gives them a community to help build and be a part of.
We hope you are able to use some of these ideas with your
students.
Thanks for listening to today's New Teacher Talk episode.
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