How has COVID-19 affected the Music Classroom?

For my final project for Choral Methods, I decided to investigate how the pandemic has affected the music classroom, in particular the choral classroom. How do you make music with your students without singing? How has the classroom changed? What can you, as an educator, do to make sure you are doing the best you can by your students in the middle of a pandemic? 

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I interviewed five teachers from three different states and asked them all the same questions: 

Basic Questions:

-What school do you teach at?

-How long have you been teaching?

-About how many classes do you teach?

-Where did you get your degrees? 

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Essential Questions: (to get an idea of what the classroom looks like)

-What did a normal day in your classroom look like pre-covid? (Student Teacher/First Year: What did you expect a normal day in teaching to look like, pre-covid?)

-What does a normal day in your classroom look like now?

-What restrictions are in place for the school you are teaching at, specifically revolving around singing?

-Is your classroom all online, hybrid, or all in person? Has that changed?

Teaching Related Questions

-How has the content you are teaching changed?

-Has there been any positives to teaching in an online format?

-What has been the most difficult part about teaching music in these times?

-How has the pandemic shifted your approach to teaching in the music classroom?

-How do/did you keep your kids engaged in a virtual setting?

Philosophical Questions:

- Do you think there was anything you could’ve been taught in undergrad that may have prepared you more for the pandemic?

-Post pandemic, do you think the music classroom will go back to how it was? Will this pandemic shift how the classroom changes forever?

-What has been the biggest takeaway from this year, teaching-wise?

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Eternal thanks to the teachers interviewed for their participation in this project. I could not have done it without them. 

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