A Year-End Checklist for Music Teachers

•  Reward administration and school staff with a BIG MUSICAL THANK-YOU presented by your students!  Invite them to the band or choir room (or MPR) for a mini concert with refreshments!

• Reward parents and friends who have supported your program with a BIG MUSICAL THANK-YOU at the end of the year concert.

• “Sign up for next year” Give your students some solid reasons they should!  (Music trip, friendship, a place to belong, concerts, you will miss them, AND FUN!)

• Clean and repair!  Do yourself a favor (or the colleague who follows you) & clean your classroom and repair your equipment! 

• Inventory your supplies and equipment.  You’ll be glad you did when you start back again.  Toss what cannot be repaired and organize what can be kept.

• Make time for some end-of-the-year merriment in the classroom!  After the final concert when the classroom days are winding down, have a fun day with Name That Tune, or Karaoke, Musical Charades, Music Trivia, or Drop the Needle.  Or show some musical movies to discuss – Mr. Holland’s Opus, Music of the Heart, The Sound of Music, School of Rock, Amadeus, the list goes on and on.

• Offer a chance for students to solo or ensemble in front of the class.  You might be surprised to see who steps up to give it a go.  

• Register your ensemble for next year’s events!  Don’t forget to register for your first choice festival date!  (forummusicfestivals.com/) Get it on your school calendar NOW!

• Reflect on what worked and didn’t work this year!  It’s been a year of starts and stops.  Most music teachers are rebuilding their programs after a two-year unwanted hiatus of remote learning.  But you did it!  You’re finishing up and your students hung in there with you.  Now’s the time to review, then make plans for next year while everything is fresh in your memory. When you are ready to plan, we are ready to help. forummusicfestivals.com/

Give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back!  You made it through another school year.  Time to recharge and take care of yourself so you’ll be ready to start again with another roomful of fresh faces!