It's Contest Time, How Do We Keep Them Engaged?

Many of us are preparing contest literature right now for upcoming adjudicated events. AND, some of us are ALSO recruiting for next year's Choir rosters.

We all want our singers to be the very best they can be.

And, we all want them to come back next year.

So, how can we build musically responsible singers while maintaining a positive performance-focused classroom?

Here are some things that have helped me:

1. Chunk my literature teaching in each class: Know what I want to get done, share the goal, and celebrate it when you hit it!

2. Map out your weekly teaching plan to teach your lit. No one wants to get to contest and not be finished teaching the songs! (Check out my Performance Prep Bundle, which includes a checklist for preparing for performances.)

3. Teach them the terms on the judges' forms, give them student-friendly definitions, and share questions they can ask themselves to maintain some personal responsibility for getting those goals met. Make it a game! Get them up out of their seats! I use a game and a gallery walk to help teach these terms. It makes it a ton easier when we're focusing on a certain aspect of our music.

   I found that giving them a QUESTION to ask that connects to each of the judges' terms really helps. For instance, "Intonation" = "Am I supporting my pitch with enough air?" "Am I breathing correctly?", "Am I hitting the bullseye?"

4. Track your progress on a big poster. (in my Performance Prep for Teachers resource.) Track by classes, so each group can see where the others are. This helps create momentum.

5. Try some silly warm ups! Include some tongue twisters to open the class. Here are a few:

   Brave birds build bright blue bridges.

   Seven slippery snakes slide silently south.

   Tiny turtles tiptoe toward tall trees.

   Quick queens quietly question quirky quests.

   Friendly frogs flip flat, floating flowers.

   Clever cats carefully catch crawling crickets.

   Wild winds whistle while willows wave.

   Busy bees bounce between bright blossoms.

   Sharp sharks share shiny shells.

   Happy hikers hop over high hills.

6. Add in some games. Hit your weekly goal? Play a 4 corners game or a Bingo game for 5-10 minutes. Do a time test where the winner takes on the teacher. Anything competitive is a big win!

7. Change up your seating, your classroom arrangement, or the order of your lesson - just once or twice!

8. Add something fun to your Welcome slide every once in awhile. We added "When we say 'Good morning', stand up and cheer and applaud." First, it told me who is actually reading the slide, and who isn't, but secondly, it started the class with a quick laugh.

9. Make a bracket that classes vote on. I love doing something in March, since most of the world is watching March Madness, anyway. Choose a specific type of musician to listen to, worst national anthem ever, best national anthem ever, most like a movie soundtrack, etc.

10. Remain positive. Wth the winter doldrums (at least where I live) and the contest focus, it's easy to get super stressed out - and that definitely leaks into our classroom culture. Figure out what it takes for you to remain in a good place. For me? Enough sleep, vitamins, some chocolate in my desk drawer, and some time to laugh in class every day. 😀

Here's wishing you the very best for your contest prep and performance! Your students are so fortunate to have you in their corner!

Wishing you the best! - Teresa