No Excuses
Redefining the Path to Success in
Lower Income
School Choral Programs
FMEA Conference 2015
Jami-Leigh Bartschi
Alex Glover
Michael McKee
Put your cards
on the table:
What are YOUR excuses?
• Students can’t pay
fees
• Fundraisers fail
• No support at home
• Student behavior
• Audience behavior
at concerts
• Student
transportation
• Discipline
• Respect
• Personal baggage
• Academic issues
• Genres of music
they’ve been
exposed to
• Not raised in a
culture of classical
music
throw all those
excuses out,
and NEVER use them again.
ever.
Excuses are irrelevant
• You’re a better teacher than that.
• Your students are better students
than that.
• ALL STUDENTS ARE CAPABLE OF
SUCCESS REGARDLESS OF THEIR
BACKGROUND. YOU CAN’T BUY
GOOD SINGING, AND YOU CAN’T BUY
GOOD KIDS.
Topics for discussion
• Financial issues
• Discipline & Respect
• Culture of music in the home
environment
• Areas of success
$ Money $
We never have any,
and it’s hard to raise it.
$ Money $
• Fees/donations/dues are difficult for
lower income students to pay.
• Questions to ask yourself:
• How much money do you have on Day 1?
• What do you want to do throughout the
year?
• What fundraising can you do to raise that
money?
• How much responsibility should fall to the
kids?
$ Money $
• Have great incentives for the students.
• Make sure you’re not selling to the
same people over and over again.
• Don’t forget to advertise the product--THE SINGING!!
Transportation
“But i don’t have a ride!”
transportation
• Not only do most students, even in high
school, not drive, but some of their
parents don’t even drive.
• Many parents are single parents with
multiple jobs and other children to
watch.
• Required district performances
• Bus limitations
• HOWEVER…NOT HAVING A RIDE IS
NEVER AN EXCUSED ABSENCE. EVER.
transportation
• Give students their
rehearsal/performance calendar and
handbook with expectations MONTHS in
advance so they can plan.
• Have them find a buddy in the choir that
lives near them.
• You sometimes need to provide buses.
• TRAIN YOUR STUDENTS AND PARENTS
TO MAKE TRANSPORTATION TO
REHEARSALS AND PERFORMANCES A
PRIORITY.
Support from home
you don’t have it.
And neither do
your students.
Support from home
• Neither students nor parents were
raised in a culture of classical music.
• Many students will be first generation
high school graduates.
• Society tells them that math, science,
and reading are more important for
them in finding a job. So who are we?
Why do we matter?
Support from home
• YOU’RE NOT JUST TEACHING YOUR
STUDENTS. YOU’RE TEACHING THEIR
PARENTS.
• Program concerts that are both
academically valid and appealing to
parents.
• Communicate with parents relentlessly.
• POSITIVE ATTITUDES ARE INFECTIOUS.
START AN EPIDEMIC OF POSITIVE
ATTITUDES ABOUT MUSIC EDUCATION.
Discipline
ugh…
discipline
• “Ahhhh!! How could they act this
way?!”
BECAUSE EVERY ADULT IN THEIR
UNIVERSE ASSUMES THAT THEY WILL
AMOUNT TO NOTHING. YOU HAVE TO BE
DIFFERENT.
discipline
• Establish high expectations from
Day 1.
• Communicate with guidance
counselors about not making your
class a “dumping ground.”
• Make contact with parents, and even
invite them to attend class with their
“little angel.”
• Buddy system with a close colleague.
• Document!!!
Respect
it’s there.
You just have to know
where to look.
respect
• Our students live in worlds where it is
necessary for them to defend
themselves.
• When animals, including humans, feel
the need to defend themselves, they
become aggressive.
RESPECT MUST BE
MUTUAL.
respect
• Extend courtesies and signs of
respect
• ALWAYS use their name.
• “I would never talk over you. I respect you
too much.”
• Know their interests and know them as
individuals.
• Attend their extracurricular events.
• Treat them like adults.
• Hold high expectations.
Personal baggage
it’s heavy.
Help them carry it.
Personal baggage
• If you teach in a lower income school,
you probably have students who are:
•
•
•
•
Hungry
Abused
Abandoned
Children of drug dealers, prisoners,
gang members
Use your imagination, and it’s
probably a lot worse than that.
Personal baggage
• Their circumstances cannot define or
excuse them…but you also can’t
forget them.
• You are sometimes the adult most
invested in their lives.
• Don’t waste an opportunity to connect
with kids.
• Open door policies
• Know the boundaries—yours, theirs,
and the school or district’s
CONCERTS
• How do we get the commitment?
• Make arrangements for them to stay after
school until the concert.
• Provide transportation to off campus
performances
• Collaborate with colleagues and do joint
concerts.
• MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF THEM!
THEY’RE THE STARS!!!!!
CONCERTS
• They won’t go on their own. SO TAKE
THEM.
• Get group deals
• Make arrangements to take them to dress
rehearsals
• Take them to other schools’ concerts
THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY DON’T
KNOW,
AND THEY CAN NEITHER LIKE
NOR DISLIKE WHAT THEY’VE
NEVER HEARD
TRAVELING
• Many of our students have never:
• Been on an airplane
• Left Florida
• Left their hometown
• Consider trips and tours
•
•
•
•
Where do you go?
When do you go?
What do you do?
How do you do it?
Genres of music to which
they’ve Been exposed
• Their knowledge of musical genres is
limited. So even the playing field.
• Teach them to analyze music
objectively…regardless of genre.
• Constantly remind them that good singing
is good singing no matter what.
• Use pop music to teach some concepts.
Genres of music to which
they’ve Been exposed
• It doesn’t take long. It just takes
consistency.
• The key is analytical and objective
thinking about music.
• Keep your mind open and it will be
easier to open theirs.
Success
it multiplies. Fast.
Academic success
• Stay informed about students’
academic success in other classes
• Celebrate academic success
• Strictly enforce GPA requirements
• Support your core teachers…and they
will be more likely to support you
Classroom and concerts
• ALL success is important and should be
celebrated
• Don’t wait for quantifiable success
• Behavior
• Application of musical concepts (tone,
phrasing, dynamics, etc.)
• Sight-reading
• Music theory skills
• Representation of the school at community
events
• You will notice they start raising
their own bar
MPA and other
adjudicated events
• What is success at MPA?
• Form your own definition of success—
don’t use someone else’s
• Pick smart but challenging repertoire
• Practice sight-reading in a way that
closely resembles MPA
• Practice EVERYTHING—audience
etiquette, getting on and off stage, etc.
• Establish an environment riddled with
pride, enthusiasm, and focus, and there’s
no way your students will be
unsuccessful.
YOUR STUDENTS CAN BE EVERY BIT
AS SUCCESSFUL AS ANY OTHER
STUDENTS.
The path to get there may just
look a little different.
Questions?
Jami-Leigh Bartschi
Wekiva High School
jami-leigh.bartschi@ocps.net
Alex Glover
Edgewater High School
alexander.glover@ocps.net
Mike McKee
Lockhart Middle School
michael.mckee@ocps.net