Making the Most of Your Music Classroom

Although at a glance the music classroom may not seem like the most important classroom in the school it's essential to your student's development.

You may have a room you already use as a music classroom, but have you ever considered a dedicated portable classroom. Most schools are struggling for space which isn't surprising as most school buildings weren't built to accommodate the quantity of students we're seeing today.

Portable Classrooms are the most obvious solution to schools struggling with space, as beneficial as having a dedicated music programme is, the most obvious drawback is going to be the noise, asking students in a music classroom to be quiet isn't going to be practical, having an additional portable classroom just for music away from the main school building means the students can make as much noise as they like without the worry of disrupting the other classes.

Space is already a problem for a lot of schools, the music classroom comes with the added worry of finding space for the instruments as well as the students, from tambourines to drum kits, they all take up a lot of room and unfortunately most pianos don't fold away into a cupboard.

All this extra equipment may also pose an extra security risk, portable classrooms can have their own security system, any windows can be fitted with security blinds and all windows can be toughened, making our portable classrooms safer than some school buildings!

So why is music so important?

It's impossible not to get your students motivated in the music classroom, the first thing they do in the morning is turn the radio on, you spend most the day trying to prise their MP3's headphones out their ears and you can't turn on the television or visit the cinema without tripping over the latest music orientated programme or film, whether they realise it or not, their lives are dominated by music!

It's not practical to have a music classroom full of students trying to sing the latest pop song but take the lyrics away and let them hear the music and they'll still be interested. There are so many reasons why you want your students to be interested in their music classroom:

The music classroom provides the perfect creative outlet, whether you've got a shy student who never opens their mouth during their other classes or you've got a disinterested student who struggles to even show up to their other classes, they might surprise you with a gift talent in music.

Basic rhythm and rhyme can cross from the music classroom to other subjects, most people learn the alphabet with the same generic tune, and you could even apply a basic rhythm to Shakespeare's work to help your students learn his plays.

Harmonious music requires discipline and concentration, getting a whole class to produce an entire tune or sing an entire song requires great team work, this teamwork can again be taken to other subjects too. The music classroom can inspire all students to get along peacefully, something that may not happen in the playground.

Every culture has its own unique music genre, different periods in history favoured different music styles, the music classroom is a great place to bring these all together, Bhangra and Punjabi music can teach students about Indian culture in a more productive fashion than reading straight from the text book