Behavior Plans

This is a behavior plan I developed for a student in Concert Band class at Bishop McNamara during my student teaching internship. This student was a bright young saxophone player who struggled to stay focused in class, but was able to perform very well when he stayed engaged. I identified trouble spots and replacement behaviors, and through careful application of the steps involved in this plan am happy to report that this student excelled in the semester's culminating performance.

In order to meet the needs of every individual student in a music classroom, it is important to center the experience and prioritize the representation of every student in your classroom. In a world where some students belong to historically-marginalized populations, this can mean taking affirmative steps towards justice in our classrooms. In music classes, an easy way I have done this is through the prioritization of diverse, modern repertoire rather than often-homogenous, standardized canonical literature. Below is a resource I acquired after attending the National Conference for Music Education in 2022 in National Harbor, MD. It provides a framework for ensuring that students will feel represented by the repertoire studied in class, as subliminal messages such as "I could be a composer" or "this class feels like it's for me" are crucial in underpinning a positive classroom culture that works for every student across their unique differences.

Read more about my advocacy work in the world of representation in repertoire here!