2-18 [Chorus Festival (1)] The Chorus Festival is Classroom Management Itself! Key Points for Guidance and Selection to Help Students Grow

To all the young teachers across the country,
I imagine you are spending your days in a rush as you reach the deadline for first-term grades and the reflection period.
In the midst of that,
for the autumn chorus festival,I have compiled one of the options I would like you to know about during this time when preparations such as choosing accompanists and selecting songs begin.I hope this will be helpful to you.

#1 The Chorus Festival is a Health Checkup and a Place for Growth for the Classroom

The chorus festival isnot just a singing competition.

Just by listening to the class chorus, you can clearly see thestrength of the class.

In other words,the chorus festival is classroom management itself (various efforts and organizational building to achieve class goals).

The chorus festival can be ahealth checkup for the classand also a
place where students can grow significantly.

All educational activities exist for the achievement ofclass goals.
And class goals exist for the achievement ofgrade-level goals.
Grade-level goals exist for the achievement ofschool education goals.
Furthermore, school education goals exist to embody theFundamental Law of Educationand theSchool Education Act, and ultimately to conduct education in accordance with the spirit of the
Constitution of Japan.

In daily educational activities, not limited to the chorus festival, I would like to always keep a bird's-eye perspective of
not just going through the motions of the initiative, but 'what kind of skills should students acquire through this activity?' and 'how can I help them grow?'

.

#2 Passionately Talk to Students About the Purpose of the Chorus Festival

Now, what is important first for the chorus festival is for the homeroom teacher to
passionately talk to the students about 'what the chorus festival is for'
.Just as students easily say

'We'll do our best to take first place!' at the sports festival,they also tend to
all say in unison, 'We'll do our best to win the gold prize!' at the chorus festival.Of course, aiming for the gold prize itself is not a bad thing.

However, it is dangerous if
that becomes everything.

This is becauseif they don't win the gold prize, there is a fear that the students will become discouraged, thinking, 'Everything we've done so far was worthless.'

.Conversely, it is much more problematic if

they cut corners in practice, reach the actual performance without building unity, and happen to win the gold prize.
Because it would mean affirming the unacceptable ideas that 'you can get by in life even if you cut corners' and 'unity is not necessary in a class.'
.Therefore, at the beginning of the initiative, let's talk to them passionately as follows.

By communicating in this way, a new set of values will be born within the students.

Even if the harmony isn't perfect or they hit a wrong note,
it is enough that they practice with all their might and cooperate with each other.

Even if the result is a silver or bronze prize, if the class unity has deepened and
they have come to love their choral piece and their class, it is a huge success.

With this set of values, you can prevent students who are not good at singing from being blamed, or students from slacking off just because they are better than other classes.
You should be able to have choral practice where students find each other's strengths and
encourage one another
.

And, if possible, let's establish a slogan specifically for the chorus festival for your class alone.
Something like, "Everyone giving their all! Let's create! A 35-voice harmony!" Haha.

It would be wonderful to have time to reflect on daily practice and student behavior while consistently returning to that slogan until the day of the event.

#3 Staff Selection Determines Class Growth

Next, what is important is the selection of the cultural committee member, conductor, accompanist, and each part leader.

First, regarding the selection of the cultural committee member.

Generally, the cultural committee member is involved in the operation of the chorus festival for the entire class.
They are often entrusted with relaying information from the committee, creating rosters and reasons for song selection to submit to
the Cultural Committee (a student organization that plans and operates school events), and planning and managing daily chorus practice.

For this cultural committee member, above all, a love for choral singing, and
the deep trust of their classmates are required.

Also, even when things don't go well, the ability to grasp the situation calmly, and
leadership to call out to and inspire the students in the class are called for.

Of course, there is no such thing as a perfect student, so
support from the homeroom teacher tailored to that student's characteristics is necessary.

For example, for a student who "can project their voice well but gets too heated,"

give advice to help them view the whole situation calmly.

For a student who "is shy but can create detailed plans,"
have them use the blackboard to give instructions, or have them give instructions in advance during calm times like morning meetings to
create a quiet environment, and so on; let's support them with ingenuity.

In doing so, through that process,
the growth of the cultural committee student themselves is what is most important.

Next, regarding the selection of the accompanist.

As a condition, of course, they must be good at piano.
This is not for the "shallow goal" of winning a gold prize, but
to prevent them from being blamed by classmates for lacking skill, or to prevent the accompanist's own studies from being neglected due to practice
. Therefore, the homeroom teacher needs to

grasp the skill level of students who can play piano and whether they have the intention to volunteer as early as possible (preferably by April)
. In the worst case, a chorus can be formed with CD accompaniment, so

you must avoid forcing accompaniment on someone.

If there is a student who says they "want to do it," support them with all your might.
It is important to hand over the sheet music early and create an environment where they can practice little by little over a long period.

If there are two or more candidates for accompanist,
never decide by rock-paper-scissors or a majority vote.

Give them a practice period of one to two weeks and ask the music teacher to hold an audition.

Because having it decided from a professional perspective based on musical and concrete evaluation leaves no hard feelings and is easier for students to accept
.

At that time, the homeroom teacher should provide sufficient care for the students who were not selected.

By conveying this, let's firmly acknowledge the students' efforts.

Next is the selection of the conductor.

For the conductor, as with the accompanist, auditions are effective.
Since conducting technique can be trained as much as you like,
the perspective of choosing a student with a passionate heart—someone who has the respect of others and can call out to the class with confidence—is more important than musical sense
. If they lack a sense of rhythm, cover it with extra practice.

Finally, the selection of part leaders.

For part leaders, it is desirable to have students who have the
pitch and vocal ability to sing their parts steadily.

For example, in a mixed three-part chorus (or four-part chorus),
two people per part, setting up a total of six (or eight) leaders,
and making a combination of one student with vocal ability and one student with leadership skills is also a good option.

If there are two part leaders, even if one is absent, chorus practice can still take place.


Ask part leaders to set daily practice goals and submit a 'Part Leader Journal' where they write down their achievements and challenges. By strictly telling them as a homeroom teacher, 'If you can't do that, please don't volunteer in the first place,' you can get students with a sense of responsibility to volunteer.

(When they are about to abandon their duties,
you will be able to say, 'You told me you would do your best back then, didn't you?
Please try to remember that day.'

#4 A system to entrust to culture committee members and part leaders

The 'Part Leader Journal' is an
essential item for entrusting practice to students and having them become independent.
(I'd like to say it's Tonarin's idea... but it might be common in the educational world.)

After the part leader writes in the journal, have them submit it to the culture committee member. The culture committee member writes a comment (basically words of encouragement) on the part leader's entry, then submits it

to the homeroom teacher, and the homeroom teacher writes a positive comment (sometimes technical advice) and returns it to the part leader

the next morning. By doing this every day, you can avoid 'inefficient practice that just repeats singing from beginning to end


'. It becomes possible for the students to keep the PDCA cycle (a method of repeating plan, do, check, act) going on their own, based on the challenges they have found.

While encouraging the awareness and growth of culture committee members and leaders, members can also get the feeling that they are building the chorus themselves.
By the way, I used to make and use a part leader notebook like this.

If it helps, please use it in your own classes.

There is still more I would like to tell you about how to approach the chorus festival, so please look forward to the next article.
(Next time, it will probably be an article like 'Song selection is life for a chorus!')

I look forward to seeing your classes grow significantly through their efforts in the chorus festival!

Continuing to be
by your side.

Tonarin-sensei

#ClassroomManagement #YoungTeachers #ChorusFestival #ChorusCompetition #HeadTeacher #StudentGuidance #JuniorHighSchoolTeacher #TeachersBaton

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