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!
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!
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