Classroom Management Through Lesson Design: Considering Some Often-Overlooked Variables to Prevent Issues Before They Start

Overlooked Variables in Lesson Design

There are many, many variables involved in designing a good lesson in general music. In my experience, most preservice or new in-service teachers begin with the curriculum prescribed to them, which is a suitable place to start a lesson design, but not a suitable place to end one. It is wise to consider other variables besides content and grade level, especially with students at the elementary level, such as particular classes’ skills and tendencies, time of day and year the class is held, the classroom teacher’s style, the students’ physiological needs, and dozens more (see Figure 1). Thinking about all of these variables at once can be overwhelming (“Too much analysis can cause paralysis” as one of my mentors used to say), but looking at examples of these variables can reveal some refreshing entry points into designing a good lesson that prevents classroom management issues before they start. I would like to expand upon what I believe are two related and most overlooked variables during lesson design in this particular column, with the hope that it will inspire you to record your own thoughts about some other variables that affect behavior issues or your students in general.

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Figure 1.

Sample variables for designing lessons to prevent classroom management issues.

Time of Day of the Lesson

Researchers have discussed the effects of the time of day on instruction for at least half a century (see Folkard, Monk, Bradbury, & Rosenthall, 1977) with mixed results, and they have sparked strong opinions from many educational stakeholders. For example, if you are an in-service music educator, for clues as to what your administrators believe is the most effective time for achievement, observe what time of day they schedule standardized testing (it was always the first activity in the morning in my experience). The effects of the time of day on achievement in music education could be an entire line of research in itself, but considering them as they apply to your teaching situation can have a large impact on the activities you choose for that particular class. Fortunately, no one knows more about those effects on your particular students than you do. To start, consider these questions or adapt them to your teaching context:

Have my students been inside for recess due to weather concerns? Have they been doing standardized testing all morning? Are they coming to music directly from Physical Education class? Does their classroom teacher typically schedule a silent activity, such as an assessment or silent reading, before music class?

To illustrate this point with an example from my experience teaching kindergarten, especially when we transitioned to full-day kindergarten from half day, I noticed a need to be ready with many activities to facilitate our curricular goal “steady beat” based on the time of day. In the morning, I noticed students had an abundance of energy, so I tended to use folk dances to assess steady beat. In the afternoon, particularly at the beginning of the year, I noticed students had tired legs and that they were grateful for sitting activities right after recess, so I planned passing games in which students were sitting in a circle and passing an object to the steady beat. Eventually, I differentiated my kindergarten lesson plans into “a.m.” and “p.m.” plans, which helped prevent behavior issues by using student-preferred activities based on time of day.

Physiological Needs

Another variable to consider when designing lessons, which usually plays a role in every other variable of design, is students’ physiological needs. In a general music space, the most impactful physiological need is students’ gross motor activity level, which usually amounts to the difference between sitting and standing. As the same mentor I mentioned before said to me when I first made the transition into elementary general music teaching from strings teaching, “If they’re getting restless, stand them up. If they’re getting tired, sit them down. Simple.” I think of that advice every time I teach, regardless of lesson content or my students’ age. I find many behavior issues stem from students either sitting or standing too long, and generally speaking, I find the younger student are, the more they understand lesson content through their muscles. So, while there are certain days where I crave what I sometimes think is the “control” of students sitting and focusing on an activity for long periods of time, I have come to learn that this is usually a recipe for the opposite outcome.

There are several ways to gauge whether you are finding a good sitting and standing balance so that you can address the issue in the design phase of your next lesson. The most efficient way to identify these potential issues is to video record a class session and to watch it while employing one of two strategies. For the first strategy, perhaps in the privacy of your own home or office, consider standing and sitting yourself, just as the students do in the recording. Make a note if you are getting anxious while sitting down or tired while standing up. Then, take those notes and adjust activities accordingly for the next lesson. I still employ this strategy to see if I am slipping into too much lecturing, and sometimes I think, “If I’m getting anxious from sitting this long, imagine how my students feel?” The amount of time differs based on the age of the student, but the honest attempt at student empathy should be the same. An alternative strategy to standing and sitting yourself is to watch the recording while focusing on a “bellwether” student, who is a student who you know is typical or representative of that particular class based on your experience. If that student is showing signs of fatigue while standing or anxiousness while sitting, make notes and adjust accordingly in the design phase of the next lesson. Making these specific choices in your design is one effective strategy to neutralize a student who always needs something to do and creates issues for the class when restless.

Concluding Thoughts

I hope you find the idea of preventing classroom management issues through working with hidden variables in lesson design as fascinating as I do, and I hope that examining the “time of day” and “physiological needs” variables in particular were helpful. I encourage you to explore other variables (some mentioned in this column and some you find on your own), record your progress, and share your strategies with colleagues. I will continue to publish information about classroom management issues in this column, but it is worth stating again that you are the one who knows the most about your particular students’ needs, and a grateful profession will thank you for any contributions you make public through conference sessions, online posts, or publications. Still, if you want more generalized information about students’ tendencies, or you would like some more ideas about the particular variables discussed here, there are some great resources in general education about what students tend to need at different ages. For example, in Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4–14, a Resource for Parents and Teachers, Wood (1997) neatly categorizes developmental issues, physical and social needs, and much more by age, in what amounts to a user-friendly version of a typical undergraduate course in child development. However, the most valuable resources may be closer to your classroom. Checking in with classroom teachers, parents, and administrators you trust about students’ needs and tendencies before designing a lesson can provide a wealth of information with which to form your own judgments, all while creating the side effect of a forming a community dedicated to helping your students.