The Curse Of The Easy A
Author: Chad Criswell

Many current music educators grew up in a time when being in an
ensemble was solely about playing the music for the next
concert. I personally cannot recall ever doing a worksheet or
any real music theory work while in high school. It seemed that
all I had to do to get an "A" was come to my lessons, play at
the concerts, and otherwise stay out of trouble. Outside
practice was expected but not enforced. I did not realize until
many years later that this method of teaching had set me up for
years of mediocrity and frustration.

The primary effect of giving a student an A for doing very
little work produces much the same effect that we see in
society where people become dependent on entitlement programs.
Being given something for nothing slowly undermines a person's
motivation and softens their personal initiative. In the music
classroom this translates into producing a stagnant musician
that has no driving force to improve his or her musical
abilities. For many years I suffered with wondering why the
members of my ensemble wasn't improving the way I felt they
should. Finally I concluded that it was my fault for not
pushing them hard enough. I had fallen back into my mentor's
footsteps and had been cranking out the easy A's to my students
regardless of what they truly deserved.

The grading rule of thumb that is used in other classes should
also be used in the music classroom. This rule of thumb states
that an A is to be reserved for excellent work while a C is
given for work that is simply average. If you were to take this
rule and apply it to your students, would they get the same
grade that you gave them on their last report card? How did
they come to earn the A that they received? Was it simply for
showing up to class or was there real, verifiable learning
going on?

The day that I realized my mistake and started requiring more
work from my students the ensemble seemed to blossom almost
overnight. I began requiring two hours of home practice each
week, weekly theory worksheets, and mandatory private lessons
or group sectionals. By the next concert I was already seeing a
difference. By the end of the third quarter the new scale
memorization requirements I threw in had turned my jazz and pep
bands into the best groups that I had ever conducted. The
attitudes of my students also changed. They realized that they
were improving and that their hard work was indeed paying off.
This in turn made them more interested in performing and made
them want to practice even more.

Perhaps most important of all, requiring more of my students
also required more of myself as a teacher. I started reading
educational journals again, determined to improve myself as a
conductor and as a teacher. I started writing about my
experiences to help other people improve and learn from my
mistakes. These simple things breathed new life into a career
that was on the verge of being consumed by apathy. I love
teaching again, and it is all because I finally broke free from
the bonds of being a mediocre band director. If you care for
your students and want them to come to love and appreciate
music as much as you do, never again give away an easy A.


About The Author: Chad Criswell is an accomplished Iowa music
educator. He hosts a web site dedicated specifically to music
education topics of interest to students, parents, and teachers
located at http://www.musicedmagic.com. He is also the music
appreciation editor for the information site
http://Suite101.com located at
http://musicappreciation.suite101.com.