Music Teacher Tips - #6 - Pacing

Music Teacher Tip #6 - #Pacing:

Do you find yourself running out of time at the end of class or trying to give important end-of-class instructions as the bell rings? 🥴

PACING... it’s so important and yet, we often conduct class without so much as glancing at a clock. Here are some tips to help you stay and track and make sure you teach what you need to teach.

⏰ At the very least, be sure a clock is visible to you, not the kids.

⏰ Write pacing times into your plans.

⏰ If your plans are all up here 💆🏼‍♀️, at least write a list of goals and put times that you want to accomplish them by. For example, “Be able to accurately sing pitches and rhythms of “If You Heard My Voice” - mm. 15-23 by 10:25.”

⏰ If you know you have issues with pacing, enlist your students to help. Share the goals, then tell them you’d appreciate it if when it’s 5 minutes until that time, that they would hold up a 5 🖐🏾. They’re not allowed to interrupt you - just show you the hand. When they do this, just thank them or give them a smile and a nod. Nothing keeps me honest more than telling someone else what I’m going to do.

⏰ I don’t know about you, but I always wanted more time and I love to teach, so I had a habit of running out of time. I eventually bought a magnetized cook timer that would beep 3 times when I had 5 minutes left. The fact that I started it at 45 minutes and then let it count DOWN meant I could always see how much time I really had left. That cured me! It was also fun to see the kids sit up a little straighter when the 5-minute warning timer went off. They knew I was about to summarize the lesson and make sure we learned what we said we would learn (Closure).

This final step of closure is important. Practice pacing and use these tips and you’ll be a happier, calmer, better teacher. 👍

Happy pacing! ⏰💕