Week 11: Timing

This week brought another challenge as I taught the high concert B-flat to the students in class.  It was a bit of a challenge, not because the students couldn't understand the concept or complete it successfully, but because it can be difficult to teach instrumentally-specific things when there are six different kinds of instruments in the room.  I was pleased that the brass students were able to understand the differences in partials and knew that they would have to buzz even faster than they originally thought, and did so.  I just think I might not have had enough time to make sure that students were grasping the concept and then teach them two new songs.  However, that is the nature of things in middle school band.  I also know now that it won't do me any good to try and talk over students when they're "noodling" on their instruments.  I think I was just afraid of losing time by waiting for them to stop playing, but I think it'll be beneficial in the long run if I quiet down and let them know, even non-verbally, that it's time to work.

My case study is continuing to progress very well on her instrument.  She's still struggling with playing between the upper and lower registers on the flute, especially within a piece.  Also, she might need a little bit of work with counting rhythms, especially with clapping.  I did some of that with her this week, and emphasized the importance of knowing how a song goes rhythmically, and not just what pitches are being played.  Fortunately, I think that she had prepared herself very well for her playing quiz this week, and I can't wait to find out how she did the next time that I see her!

Week 10: Off to the Races

This week, I had my most jam-packed lesson ever!  I taught three book exercises in less than 20 minutes, which was a challenge in itself.  However, I also taught concert A-flat in both the lower and higher octaves, which was a serious challenge for all of the different instruments that I have in the class.  It involved changing embouchures, using register and octave keys, and listening very carefully to each other.  Not only did we have to get through the songs, but we also had to cover the new notes, accidentals, and repeat signs as concepts. It was a serious lesson in pacing!  However, I think it was a great experience and that, relatively, it went pretty well.  It did feel somewhat like a Blitzkrieg style lesson, but the students remained focused for just about all of it and were very receptive to what I had to teach.  I feel so lucky to have such talented and respectful musicians in my class, and I feel much better about my ability to pace a lesson after having success with a day like this past week!

Week 9: Classroom Management

This week, I decided to try something really different with my students, and it really payed off.  Some of my students were learning how to play their lower Concert F, and while others were not, they were very patient and allowed me to work with the woodwinds and brass players that were learning the new note.  First, I had them get the note in their ear, so we all sang it together, which worked really well.  Then, I had the brass players buzz the note into their mouthpieces before playing so that they could have an idea of how much speed of air and pressure they should use.  It really worked, and the students were able to grasp the new note and work through the piece in a constructive way. I hadn't really thought about it before, but what I actually did was a means of classroom management.  I tried a different approach and had the students do something other than the norm, and it caused them to pay more attention and focus in on the activity.  I've seen Mr. Knasas do the same kind of thing in having the students do breathing exercises instead of just playing the entire time.  I think that there's a lot of value in switching up the usual procedure, both for the students' benefit and for the teacher to find new methods of instruction. I'm definitely going to try and keep this creativity constant in the rest of my lessons. 

Week 8: New Ideas

Every week that I teach in front of the NSMS band teaches me something new about my own method. I learn about my strengths, weaknesses, and new concepts that I hadn't even considered. There are so many ways to fix a particular problem that I know I can't ever not solve one. It's just a matter of thinking about these solutions.  For instance, to help the students internalize their music, I would have them sing the starting note before playing. I thought this might help the brass players who are playing the wrong partial. However, afterwards, Mr. Knasas gave me an even better idea: buzzing the right note into the mouthpiece. This not only helps from a musical standpoint, but from a brass standpoint as well.
Something else that I feel that I need to grasp is my means of pacing.  There are obviously some issues that each section of the band has to deal with. However, I have ten, fifteen minutes at the most to work with them. As much as I would like, I can't solve everyone's problems in that amount of time, especially while trying to keep the attention of the other sections. The best that I can do at this point is articulate an idea to the section and give them an idea of how to practice it.  I can also work on having the whole band participate and comprehend that section's music by bringing it up on Smart Music.  I have been using the program more in my lessons, but I know that there is even more that I can do with it.  My main challenge at this point is accepting that I can't fix every problem in ten minutes, and I should work on improving the band's sound as a whole with small pockets of time devoted to individual sections. 

Week 7: Breaking Things Down

This week, I thought that my lesson was much more successful than they have been in the past weeks. However, once I adapt to pacing, I also need to adapt to thinking on my feet. I spent a lot of time in my lesson focusing just on what I had chosen to look at in my lesson plan (i.e. tempo) and didn't really pay attention to what the class needed. I think I need to pay more attention to issues as they come up, instead of constantly focusing on my procedure. My lesson would probably have been more successful if I had noticed how the class was struggling with certain parts of the music. I could have even maybe used Smart Music more and looped trouble spots at a slower tempo. I feel like I'm somewhat stuck between having a successful lesson and completing my procedure, and slowing things down to the point where I might not get everything done, but the class will be better for it. Obviously, I know which way is the more beneficial one. I need to be willing to step outside the box in the limited time that I have and really pay attention to what the students need.

This week, my case study was able to stop swinging her eighth notes, which shows that she's really been paying attention in class and is practicing at home!  Now, we're moving back to breath support and not clipping notes off at the end of phrases. The music in the book is getting faster and the phrases are getting longer, which means that Julie needs to be more aware of how she's breathing and how she's using her air. We focused on this a lot in her "William Tell" test piece in the book, which all of the students will have to play for Mr. Knasas eventually. I was very impressed that, after playing, she was able to analyze her own performance and knew what needed work. I think the combination of her work ethic and critical ear will be very useful to her in the coming weeks as the music gradually becomes more challenging.

Week 6: Working on Pacing

One of the most difficult things for young teachers to master is the ability to properly pace a lesson and to not talk too much during time designated for activity. I knew that I could not possibly be immune to this, and it was a serious challenge for me this week. It was a serious struggle to try and cover both of my pieces within the ten-minute time period as well as address and practice relevant concepts with the students. Even though I set out specific times in my lesson plan, one problem was running into unexpected problems and knowing how to address them. As a teacher, one has to be able to discern which problems are worth fixing, and which are so minor that they do not need to be picked over. This practice is definitely something that I want to work on.  I want to make sure that the students are comfortable with the music before we leave it behind, but I know that I can't spend 8 minutes on one piece and two on another.

The theme of the week was eighth note practice, and this was relevant in my ensemble lesson as well as in my case study. My student, for some reason or another, was swinging her eighth notes, and even playing some as sixteenths on repeated rhythms. We broke down the rhythms, I did some modeling and she repeated after me, and we looked for patterns in the music to help her remember how it should sound when she works on it at home. I also advised that she practice with a CD at home and focus on internalizing the quarter note beat. One thing that she's really improved upon is her tone production. Whereas she was having serious trouble before playing high E-flats, F's, and G's consistently, now it's almost second nature! I'm sure she'll continue to improve as we focus on more complex rhythms in the coming weeks.

Week 5: Reflections on the Month

I have really enjoyed my first month teaching beginning band at North Smithfield Middle School. I feel that the experience, so far, has alleviated a lot of my fears about teaching band, and I have even discovered some of my own strengths in the band classroom. However, there are still aspects that I need to work on.

I think a sense of comfort and readiness will come with time as I continue to teach lessons. I think right now, my classmates and I are so focused on having our lesson so absolutely perfect because we only have one ten-minute lesson a week to teach. I think if I go outside the lines and break a few of the rules of my lesson plan when necessary, it could go a long way.  I have to remember that the students' needs come first. Even if it means not meeting my final objective, if I can have a lesson where the students feel comfortable with a new concept and are confident in their own playing, then I will have succeeded. I think that, related to the previous statement, it wouldn't hurt for me to slow down in my procedure and take a look at the big picture.  I know that it's important to keep a fast pace, but if I'm so focused on my own planned steps that I'm missing issues in the ensemble, then I'm not doing my job. I definitely want to become more skilled with finding problems as they happen, as well as moving around the room more to keep the students engaged and focused.

Overall, I'm having a great time each week with the students!  I really hope that, by the end of the semester, I will have improved my presence in the classroom and will be more aware of the "ins and outs" of rehearsing a band.

Week 4: Hindsight is 20/20

As we progress in our experience at the Middle School and become more familiar with the students, my classmates and I know that more is going to be expected of us. Every week, I have to try and find a balance between meticulously planning every detail of a ten-minute lesson and being able to improvise when necessary.  This week, I worked on a duet version of "London Bridge" with the second period class.  I wanted to try and do everything possible (model, ask questions, demonstrate concepts, etc.) in the time that I had, and for the most part, I think that I was able to do that. However, there were still a few things that I missed. To help the students understand the concept of duet and harmony, I played the piece with them with all of them on one part and just me, on my flute, on the other. In an attempt to have them hear me, I played the entire piece up an octave, but apparently, this still didn't work. I got a great suggestion from Mr. Knasas that I could have just played with one student to emphasize harmony, and it would have come out much clearer. There were a lot of other ideas that I wanted to incorporate (including using Smart Music more), but I think the time limit combined with my strict attention to structure might have thrown be off a little bit.  I think when it comes to these short lessons, it's important to remember what you want to accomplish, but know that teaching can't have a script.

Regarding my case study, she is doing much better with the new flute. We still are working on increasing her breath support (I had her work with just the head joint and gave her some exercises to do at home) and her fingering. She was especially struggling with switching from D to F, so we isolated one spot in one of her songs that involved that same switch with quarter notes, slowed it down, and practiced it over and over again. She made a big improvement in the five minutes that we worked on it, so if she keeps up good practicing habits, she should feel much more confident in her dexterity.

Week 3: Big Improvements

I was really happy with my lesson this week! What I've found is that the important thing with these students is to keep up one's energy, and to not talk too much. The students are so eager to play that they will quickly lose attention if a teacher talks for too long. That is why I did my best, despite being tired, to stay peppy and informative without going off on any tangents.

The students did fairy well with the idea of phrasing. Every now and then students would play when they were supposed to be "fingering and sizzling", but that's bound to happen with sixth graders. One can't expect absolute perfection when teaching beginner instrumentalists. I also found that it's important to ask the students questions often enough throughout the lesson so that they remain engaged. I want to work on moving around the room more, as well as observing the classroom as a whole to find problems as soon as possible. Right now, the key things for me are to keep up energy and a positive attitude, while allowing the students a little bit more independence in their practice.  I know that I can't control every aspect of the lesson all of the time, and I have to learn to embrace that. Improvisation is always an important teaching skill.

As for my case study, she has made huge improvements in the last week, now that she's gotten a new flute that isn't ancient! Her tone production is 100% better, and she looks (and I think feels) more confident holding the instrument.  Some things that we still need to work on are her breath support (she's cutting half notes a little bit short) and dexterity in fingering. However, her improvement in the past week has been monumental, and I can't wait to see how she's doing next Wednesday!

Week 2: First Lesson!

I was very happy with how things went with practicum this week. I was able to teach my first lesson to the Period 2 class, which is mostly brass and percussion, with a few woodwinds. I taught exercises 15 and 16 in the Essential Elements Book, both of which focused on the introduction of half notes and half rests.  Exercise 15 was a clapping exercise, and I asked the students questions about their general knowledge of half notes, before having them repeat after me in the clapping. Exercise 16 had the same exact rhythm, but included the first five notes that the students had learned. They all caught on very quickly to the similarity and were eager to play, volunteer, and "finger and sizzle" when one section played alone.

I was nervous that my lesson did not go very well, and I was surprised to find out that it went better than expected. Although I did have a set lesson plan and a basic outline, a lot of what I did in front of the class kind of felt like improvisation.  I would play my flute with/for the students, not play, ask for individual and sectional volunteers, and then sometimes just have everyone play together. I basically just wanted to reinforce the exercise and make sure the students were sure of notes and rhythms.

For next week, I want to work on observing the whole group at once while conducting, and not playing my flute as much with the students. I also want to see if I can move around the room more, just to survey everything and to see the students as individuals and not just instrument sections. Something else to go along with this: I have to study my seating chart and start learning names!

Week One

This Wednesday, I and three of my classmates went to North Smithfield Middle School for our first observation of Mr. John Knasas' band classes.  We observed two sixth grade beginning band classes; the first was flutes and clarinets, and the second was brass, percussion, two more clarinets, and a saxophone.  All of these students are sixth graders who are beginners. I think all of them received their instruments last week, and some students who decided late are still waiting for theirs!

The exercises come from the Essential Elements 2000 band book, and the backing tracks for each assignment are played in class along with the Smart Music program, which Mr. Knasas uses on a large smart board at the front of the room.  Right now, the students have only gone through ten of the exercises, but in a week, they have already learned the first five notes!

Some classroom techniques that I observed and that I really thought were admirable were, for instance, Mr. Knasas' sense of humor with the students, and the way that he kept the pace moving throughout the lesson. He made sure that everybody in the room got some kind of individual attention at some point, and was always willing to offer advice. With this age group, especially when they have just gotten their instruments, it's important to keep them occupied the entire time. Another great technique was, when Mr. Knasas would work with one instrument group on an exercise, he would have the students that weren't playing, "finger and sizzle" (they would play the fingerings and hiss the rhythms).

Overall, I am very excited to start teaching and work my way into the classroom routine. One aspect about which I am a little nervous is to be teaching the second period, which is mostly brass and percussion.  I really enjoyed playing brass last year in my methods class, but it's been a while since I have had experience with either type of instrument. I'm hoping to be able to help the students adequately on an instrument with which I am not as familiar, and refresh my own knowledge of brass and percussion technique.   

Brand New Year!

I've officially made it through the first week of my senior year at Providence College, and it's finally starting to set in that I'm kind of on the home stretch. I always remember hearing about the senior music education majors, many of them my friends, heading out to their middle school band practicum each week. I never thought that it would ever really be my turn, but here I am!

This year, I hope to really figure out how an entire band works as a unit and how I, as a director, can observe that. I've played in band through elementary school, middle school, high school, and some of college, but I've always been very focused on my own music (in the flute section). Now, I'm a little nervous about being able to stand in front of the band and listen to every individual part while surveying the group as a whole. It seems a little daunting!

Also, one potential concern I have is working with instruments with which I am not as familiar. I am a flute player, but there is no other instrument in the band that is quite like the flute. I'll really have to draw upon my studies in my methods classes to be able to help the other woodwind players, brass players, and percussionists. I hope that I can still help a student with a problem, even if I'm not an expert in their instrument.

One aspect about which I am very excited is seeing how I teach in a middle school setting. As of right now, I am seriously considering teaching middle school as a career option, and I'm hoping that this experience will give me a clear answer about what I want to do. I'm eagerly anticipating either outcome, be it negative or positive.

Lastly, I am very excited to be back in a band room again! My college musical experience has really steered me along the choral route, and I miss participating in band. I'm really looking forward to teaching new students and falling in love with band music all over again.