Friday, October 25, 2013

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.

Friday, October 18, 2013

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.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

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.

Friday, October 4, 2013

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.