PEDAGOGY
TO TAME THE UNRULY CLASSROOM FROM THE FIRST DAY
M
GARY BARTON
any years ago, I attended a summer class at The VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. Our guest speaker one day was Jack Mercer, author of The Band Director’s Brain Bank (published by The Instrumentalist, 1970). On the subject of classroom discipline, Mr. Mercer said very simply, “I decided one day that I just wasn’t going to have discipline problems. Once I made that decision, no more problems.” Even though I had over a decade of experience at the time, this bit of wisdom transformed my teaching for the rest of my career. Some years after that, I experienced a sort of booster shot in this vein from Steve Pratt, Director of Bands at Indiana University. While rehearsing a summer high school clinic band at IU, Steve, in his trademark soothing manner, said, “Good bands don’t talk. I know nothing about your bands at home, but good bands don’t talk.” I believe the best way to maintain rehearsal or
classroom discipline, and I say discipline because we all know exactly what that word means, is to prevent it from ever getting out of control to begin with. While some of the issues to be discussed may help when dealing with an unruly classroom, getting that classroom back under control is a separate discussion. The decades-old adage that it’s easier to start hard and then lighten up later is a proven true concept. It doesn’t mean rude or harsh, it means heavily structured with high standards and clear expectations for conduct and for the classroom environment.
THE POWER OF THE FIRST DAY The most powerful day of any school year is the first day. Students, especially those new to the school, enter the building wondering what is new, what to expect. The quietest day of the year for the cafeteria is the first day. Hallways will be more orderly because the students are distracted by the task of finding their classrooms. The beginning of every class is
Gary Barton retired from the La Porte, Texas Independent School District after thirtyseven years of teaching in five states. He received the Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Louisiana-Monroe and the Master of Science in Education from Indiana University. A Past President of the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association and Past 2nd Vice-President of the National Band Association, he has written for numerous publications and has done clinics and presentations in sixteen states.
almost silent as the students anticipate what the teacher will be like and what will be the expectations. You are in total control on the first day; your only job is to maintain that control for the rest of the school year. Today you will establish the decorum Continued on next page
SPRING 2022
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