Reply To: Beginning band pull out advice

[nafmeadmin]

I agree with Rob and started using a “rotating” schedule this year for my pull out 5th grade lessons and the classroom teachers love it! I also find that the students are more responsible in making sure that they know when their lesson is so they show up on time. I have never been in a situation (as a student or teacher) where there were not pull out lessons, in fact I had pull out lessons from 5-12 grade when I grew up. I have like instrument groups for 30 minutes and than once a week we have a group rehearsal before or after school for 50 minutes. At one of my schools I had two 20 minute lessons a week which was wonderful because you were able to reinforce and address issues before they became habits.

Sammy – you had a lot of questions, but in general it makes the whole experience better. You don’t have to try teach individual instrument skills in a large group rehearsal than and you can concentrate on ensemble skills. I have taught in three different districts and each one of them did things slightly differently, but pull out lessons are truly the way to go.