“The Administrator is coming…the administrator is coming….”

First, please read Paul Copenhaver’s article to find a list of all of the wonderful choirs that you will have a chance to hear in January.

In 20 years of teaching, I have had 27 building administrators. No, I didn’t run any of them off! When I first began teaching at a small rural school I taught at the elementary, jr. high and high school levels, with principals at each level. When I moved to the high school-only level, I had a principal and several assistant principals. Although not every one of these administrators came into my classroom to observe, several either formally observed or would occasionally stop by to visit my room (there may have even been a couple who barely knew where my room was…. oops, did I just say that…) For the most part I feel that I have been fortunate to have administrators that either were involved in music at some point in their life, had a basic understanding of music, know how the music classroom works or understood the idea of a team of people working together towards a common goal. I have heard stories through the years of teachers having difficulties expressing to their administration how, what and why they do what they do in the classroom. I think that this can be especially difficult for the inexperienced teacher, or for the teacher with a relatively inexperienced administrator.
A colleague at South shared an article with me from the magazine High School Today entitled “Tips for Administrators in Evaluating Music Educators”. It was a great article with some very helpful suggestions that I felt might help the music educators as much as it could help the administrator. I felt that it could give you an idea of what administration might be noticing in your classroom, and could also give you ideas on what to share with your administration about the classes that they will visit. I have added my own comments in italics.

DON’T HIDE: Come before the rehearsal starts, sit in the back, but speak with the students who come by your seat, stay to the end, be a part of the experience. I personally had a great assistant principal at Kickapoo….Mrs. Greve would come into the concert choir of over 100 students, unannounced for the “walkthrough”. I usually would not even see her until quite a while after she had entered….she usually “hid” in the soprano section (and who really wants to look over there…)
NUMBERS: Most school ensembles have more students in them than the standard classroom. Be aware that a lot of students will be moving about, preparing instruments, connecting with others, checking on information with the directors…getting mentally and physically ready to rehearse. That process takes time and creates quite a bit of sound and confusion. The capability of the students to know what they need to do to complete that preparation, the availability of the resources for them to do it most unassisted, and the director’s ability to bring that warm-up effort to a close and focus the students on the day’s task at hand are the key elements in dealing with that many students getting ready to learn. Although the numbers can easily be seen physically, I always remind the administrator of class size in the pre-evaluation meeting, when asked about anything else of which they should be aware. I believe it helps them have a mindset before they even arrive in the classroom.
RESOURCES: Evaluate how well the students know their roles; how they handle their music, their position in the rehearsal space; and how they solicit and receive help from older students or the director. Be aware that the director is also not only trying to prepare mentally and physically for the rehearsal, but also deal with attendance, late slips, announcements, equipment issues and the like. Again, we are usually dealing with many more students than the standard classroom… attendance alone can be quite an undertaking.
ATTENTION: While each music student knows his/her role in that large group, there are many sub-groups within the larger group. Relating to others in each sub-group, as well as receiving instruction and direction from other student leaders, allows the learning to be more direct and better retained by each member. Although this may seem unfocused and ineffective, it can help move the group forward when appropriately supported by the director. It is the director’s responsibility to keep it under control and to be able to bring the group back to one focus easily. I think that many administrators have an understanding that the music classroom is a slightly different animal…but they do want to see the last sentence from the preceding paragraph above put into practice… often.
ONE GOAL, MANY TASKS: A performance ensemble is made up of many individuals who all have one shared goal. Learning to collectively perform a piece of music is a long-term process, successfully accomplished through a lot of little steps made along the way. The closer an ensemble is to the end of that process – public performance – the more the rehearsal will involve all of the students focused on the same section of the music at the same time.
RELATIONSHIPS: The successful ensemble is one that relates not only to the music being performed, but to each other while rehearsing and performing together. Making the most of every teaching moment by providing acknowledgment for students’ successes, and correction and support for their failures, allows the music educator to share a deeper understanding of the music with each student. While there may be distractions in the room while the teacher is giving that individual attention to one student, the relationship being built will help that individual student to grow immeasurably as person and musician.
SEQUENCING: Ensemble rehearsals are like building a house with lumber that isn’t quite the right shape, color or size yet. Put together, it’s not quite right, so you take a board off here, adjust it, put it back and then go on to fix another one that seems out of place. Some assembly required is how it goes, with the director building upon each success, extending the amount of music that can be performed without stopping, adding more elements, slowly getting it closer and closer to performance quality. The evaluator should be aware that the ultimate goal (public performance) allows for the daily progress to vary as long as progress gets made each day.
VARIETY: For every rehearsal, the director has had to analyze where the group was the last rehearsal on each piece, where it can improve, how much rehearsal time is left until the concert, and how each student can be helped to reach the goal. How smoothly the transitions take place, how the connections between one and the other are made, and how the director retains the group’s focus and energy area all evaluative quantities.
IT’S OVER: Students who know what is expected from them, who know what resources are there, who maintain the classroom properly, and who leave with clear instructions on how to improve and what is expected of them by the next rehearsal, are students who have a quality music educator teaching them and sharing their love for music.
BUT IT’S NOT OVER: Now that you have seen the effort being made and heard a small part of the progress required to be a successful music program, please make sure that you are there for the public performance.
It is vitally important for your administrator to see the final product of what they observed in the classroom. Personally invite them to the performance…have students invite them. Success builds success. As your administration sees your performances, sees the polished final product and sees the support of your parents and community, it gives them a new mindset. As they enter your classroom the next time, they will have a better understanding of what you do on a daily basis.

Steffen Parker, a ninth-generation Vermonter, has been an instrumental music educator for 29 years, with degrees in performance, education and conducting. Parker has organized several music events in his state and region, and is in his 14th year as the Vermont All State Music Festival Director. He started a computer company, Music Festival Software Solutions, to help other states move their date processing online and provides that type of serve to several groups, including the Vermont Principals’ Association and the Vermont Superintendents’ Association.

This article is reprinted with permission from the February issue of High School Today, a publication of the National Federation of State High School Associations, the national leadership organization for high school sports, fine arts and other activity programs located in Indianapolis, Indiana.