Classroom Management For Ensembles- Bauer

Ryan Zimmerman
Music 23241
September 29, 2011

Classroom Managment for Ensembles

               Throughout this article William Bauer talks about all of the important aspects to effectively managing a music ensemble in the classroom setting.  In this first section of his article he explains some of the minor differences between managing a normal class and managing an ensemble class.  Some of the differences that he points out are the physical setup of the room itself, the students being active participants, students are encouraged to make sounds (music), and there are a variety of ages, academic standings and musical abilities and a much larger class size.  Bauer also points out that we need to be proactive educators because that way we are more organized and more prepared for the short term and more likely for the long term. Bauer also in this article gives us a large list of techniques for dealing with common discipline problems. One famous example from this list is the infamous "Death Stare".

           I begin to look through this list and I notice some techniques that I really recognize. All of the directors I have use the "waiting for silence" technique. I have yet to see it not work. There has been a few select occasions where it takes longer but I have been fortunate to have been in ensembles where there has always been a set amount of student to teacher respect, so these instances are few. Another thing that I have learned through observation is to be "firm, fair, and consistent" at any age level. I have really watched this build consistent student and even staff relationships and it becomes obvious when a director steps away from this mindset. From my view I really find this disappointing because there is not way to treat everyone equal if you dont have this mindset.

  It really is very imperative to be aware that there is a variety of students of skill, age, and academic standing, so it is important to know what lessons should have more emphasis or what lessons you could teach less of to avoid student boredom or frustration. Also, I agree that a teacher should be very aware of their personal qualities when in the presence of students , how they look, talk, and act, it should all be very professional. I have seen situations where a student breaks a rule but a consequence doesn't follow and it doesn't teacher the student a lesson or correct their behavior. Being an educator, we have many responsibilities to keep the class and ensembles we are responsible for running smoothly and this article shows some ways to do that effectively.

Bauer, William I. (2001). Classroom management for ensembles. Music Educators Journal, 27-32