Do you have a habit you do in rehearsals that you want to break? Engage your students in the effort. Tell them you need their help in trying to break a habit. Explain to them what the habit is, that they should be on the lookout for it, and when they see or hear it, they are to say “you did it!” I know you think it will be pandemonium, but it works in so many ways. It will surely break the habit, but it captivates their attention, focuses them on our every gesture with laser intensity, and best of all it is a great life-lesson for them that even someone as accomplished as you has to work at always being better.
Peter Loel Boonshaft, Director of Education
KHS America
About the Author
Dr. Boonshaft is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. Dr. Boonshaft is currently on the faculty of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, where he is Professor of Music and Director of Bands. He has also been named Director of Education for KHS America. He was honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education.”
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