Manage the Mayhem of End-of-Year

If you're a middle school choir teacher reading this blog near - or in - May, you're likely caffeinated, sleep-deprived, overstimulated, worn out, and grasping any thread of sanity you can find, as we careen toward the end of the year. For many of us, that means we are preparing performances and awards at the same time our students are checking out and acting up. For some of us, we've finished the performances, and we have to figure out what in the world to do with the kids in the weeks before we're finished.

It's a lot!

I have a love/hate relationship with our performance calendar. We do our final performance with just two days left of school. The good news is that we have something to work toward. The bad news is that the kids are often just "done" with school and effort is sometimes waning. So, it's time to bring out all the tools in our teacher toolbox and see what works.

Here are some of my end of year go-to's that fit into a rehearsal when working toward performances:

(My school is not a 1:1 school, so these are all things that can be done without student computers.)

1. Keep your lessons jam-packed and quick-paced. Yes, this is normal for me with my class sizes, but it's even MORE important to be intentional in our planning as we move toward the EOY.

2. Add new warm ups. I'm loving the Fruit Canon by @MusicTeachMama. Get it for free HERE. I put my favorites HERE. And, if you need some accompaniment for your warm ups, you can find it HERE.

3. Keep your teaching time "spicy" (as my kids say) with unexpected additions. Try Simon Says, saying the alphabet in order w/o anyone saying the same letter at the same time, counting 1-? without anyone saying anything at the same time, do a scavenger hunt for items in your music and offer prizes to the quickest finders. Add jumping jacks, walk in circles while you sing your warm ups, trade row 1 and row 4 places, have everyone turn their chairs backward for a portion of your lesson. Get creative and think outside the box. The behaviors often increase when everything is as expected.

4. Reward goals-made with some fun "Just Dance" videos. There are a ton of great ones out there!

5. Reward "Secret Singer of the Day". Choose one student - don't tell anyone who it is. If they're using great rehearsal strategies throughout class, they get the daily prize. If not, don't tell anyone who it was, and try again in the next class.

6. Class vs. Teacher. Come up with a fun challenge that supports your performance goal. Who has the song memorized first? Who can sing verse 2? Who can dance ms. 8-16?

7. Review what they've learned this year. My students love a "jeopardy"-style game. This one covers dynamics, note values, solfege and more. Or, try a "bingo"-style game. I've used these two in class, and had great results. Treble Clef Notes or Dynamics Bingo. I also really like this Rhythm Bingo set. Try TRASHKIT BALL. Use it to review ANYTHING. You can do it with teams and go in order. OR you can have the entire class write the answer, you call on a random student, they answer (point if it's right) and get to shoot for another point. Keep score: students vs. you, OR have two student groups battling it out against each other. Try this quick print PDF to review theory from this year.

8. Student Show Off Day. Think "talent show", but in class! Let kids know a couple weeks ahead of time. Having them sign up and choose their "act" ahead of time will save you a lot of stress. This gives you time to check songs' appropriateness etc. And, it limits those last minute additions that are super off the wall, lol.

9. Karaoke Day. Students sign up ahead of time w/ songs; this will save you time and stress.

10. Write their own show choir show, create new lyrics to well-known songs and perform them with a karaoke track, challenge singers to sing in a 6-12 part canon in groups, study current musicians, write essays about choir and it's impact on themselves. Find more writing prompts HERE. (This link is for the bundle, but they're also all available individually.)

You've got this! As we count down the days, I hope you're able to pause and count the blessings, too. They're sometimes overshadowed by the loud, crazy, and obnoxious, but they're there. What we do does matter to these students, and they matter to us. (Even when they're talking about Italian brain rot, skibbidy toilet, and their chat, lol.)

Until next time! - Teresa