As applied in my Internship:

In order to encourage students to want to develop deep understanding of the content presented to them, you have to be able to connect it all back to their own lives in meaningful ways. Students could care less about developing singing techniques for a romantic style and learning about Beethoven's choral music. You have to use knowledge of the piece, such as when in Beethoven's life was this piece composed, and what Beethoven was dealing with during this time. Presenting this to the students and relating it to what high school students might be dealing with during these crucial years of their lives can often encourage students to participate more and care more for their education. On my last day of my internship I brought my 3 binders that I used throughout high school and college. I showed them how worn and torn they were and told them the stories of the binders and how they have overtime helped me achieve my goals in life. This was to encourage students to take choir and school as a whole more seriously and to care about their education (or whatever they were passionate about). This sharing of personal challenges, goals achieved, and hard work is a great strategy to use for encouraging students to keep working hard in the music classroom.