December is the best time to turn around your flailing choral program.
Does it seem too late to turn around your program?
In this blog, I’m going to give you a plan to turn around your program RIGHT NOW.
Observe your choir
By now, you likely see lots of things you don’t like in your rehearsal. There are lots of disruptions and distractions occurring that are RUINING the flow of your rehearsal.
Make a list of all the disruptions and distractions that are impacting your choir as you drudge your way to the concert. Your priority is to make the concert successful, so now is not the time to deal with many of these issues. Instead, write down each and every issue as it arises.
You will act on this later!
Set Expectations for the Concert
If your students are singing music from memory, now is a great time to request eye contact, focus on body alignment, and demand a level of focus. When eliminating chairs and sheet music up against an imminent concert, a more heightened sense of focus is easy to attain.
By expecting a higher level of focus leading up to a concert, you will automatically see less disruptions and distractions, and in turn, better focus.
View the Concert through the Lens of the Audience
Instead of prioritizing little details, focus on the big picture of what the audience will be experiencing. This includes things such as:
- how students enter/exit the risers
- that they start and finish songs together
- how students act in between songs
- sloppy sections in the music are modified (eliminate harmonies, songs are shortened if needed)
Spend the December break preparing
You may deeply regret not having a clear classroom management plan to start the year. I recommend December being the month that you prepare for a new classroom management plan, ready to be implemented on the day you return from the winter break.
This plan includes:
- assigned seating
- effective guidelines that address most disruptions
- an effective way to redirect poor behavior
- procedures to eliminate most unintentional distractions
Implement an effective classroom management plan on the day you return.
The implementation of the new plan should occur on the day you return from the break. It could be helpful to inform the students before the break that when they return, there will be new seats.
It’s important to note that students should enter the classroom when they return, knowing exactly where their new seat is.
You should also have a plan for how you introduce the new classroom management plan. This should include:
- Why you are creating the new plan
- How the students should benefit from the plan
- How you are going to teach the new plan
- How you are going to positively reinforce the plan
- How you are going to redirect behavior that doesn’t align with the management plan
Does this seem overwhelming?
This may seem like a lot. Well, if your program lacks momentum and/or moving in the wrong direction, something must be done.
I can’t tell you how many struggling choral directors I speak to with serious health issues as a result of the stress from the job. The stress is avoidable, once you get classroom management under control and have your program moving in the right direction.
Do you wish you had someone to help you?
If you want an accountability partner, someone who can show you step-by-step in real time how to turn around your program, you are in luck.
The Choral Clarity Mentorship Program is exactly that. If you join our program, you can get started immediately. That means, from the moment you join, you will be moving in the right direction. You will feel the burden lifted, start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and not bring the stress home with you.
The thing is, if you want to be part of my mentorship program, you have to watch my free training session first.
Why, you ask?
Because I want you to understand the framework for how to turn around your program. I want you to realize there really is a way. I want you to give you hope first.
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