5 Back-to-School Tips for Music Teachers to Make the First Week Easier
The first week of school is exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming. You’re learning hundreds of student names, teaching expectations, and trying to set the tone for the entire year—all at once!
However, you can do a few things during your work days to help the first week go more smoothly. Here are five simple tips that can help make your first week of music class much easier.
1. Plan detailed Procedures
Before you worry about teaching a lot of musical content, spend time teaching classroom procedures. This means you need know exactly:
- How you want students to enter the room
- Where students should sit
- What to do when they need help
- How to line up at the end of class
Have a plan about how to teach these expectations to students in an engaging way.
2. Have Assigned Seats Ready
Assigned seating can make a huge difference during the first week.
Students know exactly where to go, transitions happen faster, and learning names becomes much easier. Even if you change seating later in the year, having a plan from day one helps establish order right away.
3. Choose Activities with High Success Rates
The first week should help students feel successful.
Simple singing games, movement activities, call-and-response songs, and rhythm echoes are great choices. Students build confidence while you observe behavior, participation, and musical skills.
I like to fill my first few lessons of the year with the students favorite, most successful songs and activities from the prior year. This is great for review of both musical concepts and behavioral expectations.
4. Keep Emergency Fillers Handy
Some classes move through activities faster than expected. Keep a few flexible activities ready:
- Rhythm Flashcards (You can grab some here along with a fun game for later!)
- Name Games
- Freeze Dance to get some wiggles out
- Song Cards to calm things down (Grab 6 sets of song cards here for only $6!)
Having a few extra ideas in your back pocket can make those last five minutes much less stressful.
5. Be SURE you have an emergency sub plan on file before Day 1!
You never know when you might fall sick or have an emergency that keeps you out of school. It is critical to have a ‘anytime’ sub plan on hand for a non-music sub.
We want to help you out with this! We’re giving away a FREE no-prep, no-tech lesson plan for grades 3-5 right now to keep on hand. 5 simple worksheets/activities about Genres of Music will be enjoyable for the students and easy for the sub. Grab the sub plan FREE here!
