How to win teachers and influence classrooms

Once the shock of your classroom loss has worn off and preparations mobile teaching are well on their way, you'll realize another road block. Oh my lanta- my colleagues HATE me now. I am in THEIR classroom during THEIR planning time. They do NOT have a quiet planning period as I am in their room, encouraging students to make noise in an organized way! The only thing worse than this is PE in their classrooms! Yes, Art on a cart is messy- but at least the room is quiet enough to think.

Not all of them will hate you. Some of them will be sweet and sympathetic and go out of their way to help because they get it. They get that music is critical to their students holistic education and you need help making it happen well. - and the ones that do hate you are just reacting negatively to their own loss.

Here are some teacher specific thoughts on how to win teachers and influence their classrooms into becoming music friendly places.

1. Be kind and diplomatic. You need these teacher's classrooms to become your music making space. That's not going to happen if the teachers are hostile towards you for taking over their very limited space and time. Be kind and gracious with them- even when they are rude or hostile to you. You are working to pave a smooth path for their classroom to become a music making space for your students. Swallow your pride and just do it.

2. Be grateful. No matter how forced into the situation you both are, thank them for the use of their space. Would they choose for you to be there? No way. BUT- you are there and the more you thank them and they say "you're welcome," the more they'll start to believe that it is their pleasure to let you teach an important subject in their room.

3. Communicate clearly. As much as possible, let people know what you need before you need it. Do you need use of their smart board? Their speaker system? Do you need to move student desks around at the beginning and end of class? Before you begin to come into their space, let them know what you need from them and what you will doing to their space. Do your best to minimize what they need to do to setup for you -- but that's another post, your setup.

4. Be a team leader. You need the culture of your school to be one of teamwork. You and your colleagues are all at school to educate students. Sure, you all have your specialty, but you share a common goal- the success of your students. Some schools have this culture. Some do not. You need to be the culture changer in your school. Without this culture, teachers on carts wither away inside! So do other teachers, but more so if you don't have your own space and others are territorial of theirs.

So- use team language. Talk about how you are all on the same team. Praise people who go out of their way to help you and thank them for being a key partner in the music education of your students.

Do what you can to insure the success of your students in other areas of their schooling. Use ESOL strategies that reinforce vocabulary for your students. When you're teaching your 5th grade students on sound, use the science vocabulary along with your music vocabulary. (Now I am not saying "teach all the other subjects through song and call it music class". Your position is so much more than that and music for music's sake is a valuable argument- BUT just as you want other teachers to see and value music education, so you much value science, reading, art and so on.)

Do everything you can to insure the success of your students as you create a culture that insures others share this common goal with you and all other subject in the building.

Yes, the cart situation sucks. No one wins. You don't win. Your colleagues don't win. Your students don't win. We ALL lose. However, your job is to take this loosing situation and educate your children. Do it with kindness. Do it with diplomacy. When in doubt- do unto others as you would have them do unto you- even if they hate your guts.