Taking Trips

No, no...not the drug induced trips. You sly one, you. I mean field trips.

I think that taking field trips, especially in a music classroom, is a MUST. Learning about the different types of music and the different ensembles that perform that music is one thing, but if you have the means and the opportunity to explore those things in real life, then why not go??

I remember at a young age going to see many plays, concerts, and performances that ultimately made me want to be a musician. Giving your students the opportunity to see live performances is a way to expose them to different life experiences. Exposing them to the aspects of a live performance offers more than just live music.

-lights
-mics
-setup
-costumes
-set design
-makeup
-venue

These are all the different elements that can go into a specific performance. This is great exposure to new, possible career choices for your students. There are little possibilities and opportunities to teach about these elements in any school classroom, so its important to show students that music not only consists of instruments and sheet music. Exposing students to these jobs and activities may spark a new interests in your classroom. From there you can start by adding these elements to your lesson plans, creating assignments, and your students can even take part in new activities in the school like makeup for the shows or proms, lighting and mic for performances, costumes for plays, and even set design and architecture for marching band shows,  and plays.