It’s the day after instrument try-outs, and I have taken some time to look over next year’s numbers. I also read through the post that I made at this same time last year.
At that point, I had 105 students on my list and walked into school in August 2009 with 105 students on my roster. Those were not all the same kids, however. There were some that never made it on the 2nd list, as they informed me that they were not going to be in band, that they would continue with orchestra. It was nearly an “even-Steven” situation, though, as I received a few move-ins and new papers at the beginning of the school year. I ended this school year with 83 students.
When I wrote last year’s entry, I was fresh out of the 5 days of instrument try-outs and was thinking about a few things regarding instrument selection. I had a really nice list of students, and a good variety of instruments. But, I knew that there would be changes. I had concerns about the 16 5th grade beginners, because I cannot offer them a true beginning band class. They have lessons with other beginners, but because of the way that my schedule works here, they cannot attend a beginning band. Instead, I have to put them in with 2nd year students and it is hard on those kids. It is very challenging to structure the class in a way that challenges the 2nd year students, and doesn’t “lose” the beginners. Even more challenging to retain those beginners.
Of the 16 5th grade beginners, 1 of them quit band and stayed in orchestra (yay, still on an instrument), 11 stayed in band (I am pretty proud of how far they came, and most are going to continue in middle school) and 4 quit. Those 4 make me sad, because each of them were in orchestra in 3rd grade… tried a band instrument at the end of 3rd grade… did not start band, stayed in orchestra… quit orchestra at the end of 4th… started band in 5th and could not keep up with their peers. I cannot help but wish that they had been encouraged to start the band instrument in 4th, as they had expressed interest in doing so. They could have started with their peers and I think they would have had a much better chance of succeeding with 2 years of instruction.
Anyhow, back to the starting with 105 and ending with 83 (that doesn’t look good, does it?). Here are the stats:
3 moved to another school district.
3 never started lessons with me, opted to stay in orchestra (1 of which quit orchestra and was back in my room yesterday, trying out a band instrument again!).
2 never started lessons with me, no instrumental music in 08-09.
2 were in band in 4th grade, quit before 5th grade began (1 was a really good player, who I was sad to lose).
5 were in band and orchestra for several months, and eventually quit band; stayed in orchestra and are still playing.
7 quit after a few months of band, all had some struggles, no instrumental music by the end of 08-09.
2 were in orchestra in 3rd grade, band in 4th (or part of 4th), went back to orchestra for part of the year and are back in band.
All of that is probably not of interest to anyone but me, but I like to look over the lists and reflect on my instruction. I try to take a look at who quit and why… and consider their history of instrumental music. Hopefully, I can see some trends and improve my recruitment and instruction in future years.
2 Comments
June 5, 2009 at 10:29 am
Thanks for sharing this! It is encouraging to know that there are other elementary teachers out there with the same struggles that I face. I do the same as you…I always lose a few kids each year, and I try to reflect on why. It also sounds like you have to do the same balancing act that I do with students switching between band and orchestra, and figuring out how to structure the classes to both beginners and more advanced students. Have a great summer!
June 6, 2009 at 9:27 am
Hi again,
A couple words of encouragement about “quitters”:
- If a student changes instruments but stays in the music program, I wouldn’t necessarily think of them as quitting, just switching.
- Someone once encouraged me to distinguish between kids who give up mid-year and those who finish one year but decide not to continue the next year. Haven’t we all tried things we didn’t follow through with? I think of my own experience with soccer; I played two seasons in elementary school but it was painfully obvious I didn’t have a future with it. I’ve tried to put a little more effort into keeping beginners in music all year, and not getting too bent out of shape if they don’t re-enroll.
- Your numbers look very good! We’re all going to have quitters, unless students are required to stay in music for scheduling reasons or some other administrative reason. It would be interesting to get a broad survey of the figures you mentioned from other music teachers.