Copley Middle School Digital Piano Lab

Copley-Fairlawn City Schools have always tried to live up to our community’s expectation of having an exceptional music program. We have a tradition of excellence that begins in our middle school. Our instrumental music program enjoys such a high level of participation in grades five through eight that it presented us with a unique opportunity. We could schedule small groups of “non-music” students into “music blocks” where they could be exposed to authentic music education.

In the past, these students were assigned to a traditional General Music class for a semester. This is introduced the students to the basic elements of music theory by using a text and the regular classroom setting. It was not very exciting for the students and it did not allow us to fully utilize the talents and abilities of our staff. We also experienced difficulty keeping the students on task.

To remedy these problems, we proposed to create a hands-on program of music instruction that would fully engage “non-music” students and allow our staff to really teach music and have fun. Students would rotate through scheduled blocks of instruction on guitar, music tech in the computer lab, and keyboarding in a keyboard lab. When we approached our teachers they were positive and willing to make it happen. They offered suggestions and met with our Lentine’s representative to help select equipment, furniture, software, and text resources. In spite of our short time frame, we started meeting in mid-August, our lack of fully operational lab facilities when school began, and a curricular review and purchasing process that continued through October, our teachers made it a success.

The following suggestions might be helpful for other administrators:

* Include your staff in the process and hear their ideas. You will make the final decision but be sure it is something your staff can live with. Play to their strengths and you might even get better results.
* Start the process at least three months before you plan on beginning instruction. This will allow enough time to wire classrooms, review and purchase materials, and iron out electronic glitches.
* Purchase headsets for the keyboard lab and the computer lab. The teachers that have nearby classrooms will appreciate it.
* Have a specialist set up all of the equipment. We had to have a special mixer programmed because of the way we set up one of our rooms.
* Keep class sizes small and pay attention to the makeup of the classes you assign. This will increase the quality ofinstruction, minimize disruptive behavior, and allow students to practice at their own speed.
* Schedule a classroom concert at the end of each rotation and invite parents and other staff members.
* Our concerts have become so popular that our D.A.R.E. office regularly stops in and jams with the students.
* Be prepared to take it to the next level. Many students want to go beyond the classroom lessons and continue to play.
* Have extra guitars available to sign out overnight or on the weekend. We offer both level I and level II keyboarding classes after school. This gives the opportunity to some of our band and choir students that do not have the time in their schedules.
* If you have the luxury, designate one room to house the keyboard lab and another for the guitar lab.
* This will give you more scheduling flexibility and security. You must have a room where you can limit access.
* Finally, tell people what your staff and students are doing. You are teaching students a skill that they will be able to use for the rest of their lives and helping them to discover talents they might not have found otherwise. In our district we are proud of the fact that we are developing lifelong learners.

Bob Whittager is the Assistant Principal at Copley Middle School in Copley, OH.