Submitted by Kristi Keast, Mount Vernon, Iowa
Idea posted March 22, 2004
I use a traveling keyboard and only have it for six weeks, so my kids want to be good. I also string all the keyboard power cords to a master switch, which is by my foot. If a student chooses the wrong time to play - ZAP - my foot hits the switch. "Three strikes, they're off the keyboard" is my motto for each class. This usually only has to happen to one class - the whole school finds out, and subsequent classes behave much better. Be prepared to follow through and make their alternate lesson a drag. Build up your client base! Eventually you will have all your students with you in a couple more years. If the older classes ask, tell them why they don't do keyboards.
We also have headsets so the exploratory time is much quieter. Older classes can practice on headsets as I wander the room helping.