January, February, and March are tough months to get through. We just finished all the fun December holidays and spring festivals, tours, and year-end events are still so far away. How do you get your students to stay strong and keep progressing? Here are some fun ways to encourage your students to keep practicing through the slump.
100 Days of Practice Challenge
I came up with this idea in December of 2020 when we were all dealing with frequent school closures and the general discouragement of COVID. I needed something to work towards, and I wanted to share it with my students. Inspired by Hilary Hahn’s 100 day practice challenge, we modified it to make it a little more accessible for the average student.
The challenge is to practice 100 days between Dec. 15 and Apr. 30. Any 100 days will do; they don’t have to be consecutive. To count a day of practice, you have to do some musical activity for at least 5 minutes. “Musical activities” should mostly be playing your instrument, but could also include listening to recordings of your songs, composing, practicing rhythms or music theory on an app, or something else that would help you progress as a musician.
This challenge is completely optional! I never require it or attach it to any grade. The first year I only had a handful of students join in, but every year we’ve had more and more.
I give the students a countdown calendar where they can check off the days they’ve practiced. I’ve even created a color-by-number picture to help them keep track of their days and stay motivated, but any way they decide to track their progress is fine. Personally, I prefer to use a habit-tracking app called Strides.
The students who complete the challenge get a personalized trophy and some sort of recognition. I usually call them up at our final concert or the awards banquet at the end of the year. This year we’re planning to host a special lunch for everyone who completes the 100 days. I’m always surprised at how much my students love getting a trophy and some recognition.
To introduce the challenge, I show them Angela Duckworth’s TED talk about grit and we have a discussion about how to become grittier and stick to your commitments, even when it’s hard. I ask the students about what they’ve done to stick to things long term, and what helps them keep going when they feel unmotivated.
Four and a half months is a long time to remember to do something, so it helps a lot if you can give students frequent reminders to keep them on track. You might even want to consider having a leaderboard or something similar in your classroom where students can update their progress.
I’ve completed the challenge myself for the last three years, and it’s been great. I treat it as an opportunity to learn new skills as a musician. One year I spent time learning to improv and play some jazz tunes. Another year I signed up for composition lessons and wrote a piece for my orchestra to perform. Last year I prepared a concerto and performed it with a local community orchestra. If you treat is as a project with a specific goal that you’re working towards, it’s a lot more fun and rewarding.
Monthly Practice Challenges
For some kids, 100 days of practice is not going to happen. They either don’t have the time or they just don’t have the discipline to go that long. This year I worked with my orchestra council students to come up with monthly practice challenges from December to April. Every month the challenge is different, and any student who completes the challenge will get a custom-made sticker designed by my orchestra council students. Complete all the challenges and collect all the stickers!
We tried to tailor the monthly challenges to what we were already doing in class. For example, in February, we do our school and region Solo and Ensemble festivals, so completing the challenge that month will give the students more performing experience. March is when we’re preparing for our large ensemble festival, so completing so many days of practice will help us be more prepared as a group.
Here’s what we’re planning to do this year:
- December: Winter Break BINGO (Get BINGO in two different directions)
- January: Play your instrument in 10 different places and take a picture of each one.
- February: Learn a piece and perform it at least twice.
- March: Practice for 20 days and post about it on social media or share with an accountability partner.
- April: Learn songs from three different genres or styles.
Accountability Groups
Accountability partners or groups are a great way to help yourself stick to a habit or goal. During the first quarter of the year, we have a practice assignment where the students have to find an accountability partner or group and report back to them on their practice goals for the week.
I allow them to pick any accountability partner they are comfortable with, including a family member, but the most success I’ve seen with this is when the students are accountable to each other. I had a group of boys a few years ago who would text each other every day to make sure they all practiced. If anyone in the group didn’t practice, they owed everyone else pizza that week.
Small groups work better than large groups. You might want to assign students to groups of 3-4 and have them come up with a group goal with rewards or punishments for completing the goal. Be careful to not let punishments get out of hand – although it could be an interesting experiment for students to set their own rewards and punishments and see what motivates them more.
There are lots of ways to keep practice from getting stale. Be creative! Encourage your students to keep going, even when it gets hard. What are your favorite ways to encourage students to practice? Share in the comments!