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ORID Reflection
The lesson that I am reflecting on took place on Friday 3/7/14 during a concert band rehearsal.
What?
There were a few keys to the lesson. We talked a lot about texture and balance. During this lesson we came to better understanding of the musical textures involved. When thinking about what I observed during the lesson, I realized I hadnt observed enough. My head was down so I couldnt visually assess students. I had to do everything aurally, which is also important, but you must assess visually too. The one big negative thing I observe more than anything else is that breathing is a problem. We dont play rhythms very well; I think it is because of our breathing habits. Some of the other over-arching trends I noted were poor intonation and good musical style.
So What?
I learned that I need to find a better source of classroom management. I dont want to be a jerk, but I wont always be in a situation where students will quiet themselves down. I think that if I had planned specific visuals to say to illicit the response I wanted, I could have accomplished more and increased productivity. What I tried to do was to ignore the talking and distractions, then the students tried to quiet themselves, but that didnt always work. I should have said something to get the students attention. Come to class and state the goal of the lesson in writing. In terms of my future planning, for the most part it means that I can teach to higher understanding as opposed to base knowledge. Assessment is always the tricky in band. Individual assessment is time consuming and not always practical. I try to have sections play by themselves or in small groups so that I can assess smaller groups of students. I could always use entrance/exit slips.
Now What?
Planning is always a weakness of mine. I should also come up with aesthetic examples in order to illicit proper response. I will always keep my personal demeanor on the podium. We must remember that even though we take ourselves and our art very seriously, for many of our students, this is an elective and they come for the community. There is a skill I feel that I need to further develop and it is how I lead classroom discussions. I love asking questions, and believe that it is key to assessing student understanding, but am not always sure that the students understand the question or the concept. I think that pacing is key for a good lesson. Students must play. That is what I think a good and successful lesson should be focused on. My goals are primarily about learning how to communicate with students. Find a better way to communicate my instructions. Find a better way to communicate what my expectations are. Find a better way when I do not approve of the behavior of the class. I think I need to be simpler. It is a process.
students came to the room that they would be too antsy to be productive, but through mutual patience and good work we achieve what we needed to. I am sure that the most difficult part of this process has been getting the students to communicate with me. I feel that the most effective way to educate is through questioning, and the students just plain dont respond when questions are asked of them.
So What?
I learned that if I keep a level head and continue with my lesson there is very little that can stop the learning process all together. In order for young students to follow directions, I am going to have to give the directions more than once. That is still frustrating to me, but I am just going to have to learn to live with it. I think the way to handle inappropriate playing or style is by modeling. I just dont know how that looks in a 5th grade band class. The students have a hard time digesting and having thoughts about audio data that they are given in modeling situations. I have to work that out still. I have been experimenting with using 8th note subdivision in small group lesson settings. I think this could have worked in the transition I worked on. I think that if they understood the change in tempo at the 8th note level they may comprehend it at the quarter note value. I think that there are better ways to set up students for success than I used in my warm up period on this particular day. I have begun to look at how I can better use my warm up. I have added considerations such as key signature, time signature, accidentals, and tempo change.
Now What?
I am working on building a set of skill to get me out a situation. That is what I felt like happened during this lesson. I just couldnt get my trombone section to do what I wanted them to be able to do, and I wasnt quite sure how to manage that. The best part of this lesson was how I push aside many of the behavioral factors that could have grounded a young teachers lesson. I was very fast a not at all demeaning as I moved through different issues. I am going to continue to work on the attitude that I set for the rehearsals. I havent quite learned how to take the attitude of the group and make it my own by using my words. Maybe that isnt exactly possible when you only work with students for 1 year at a time, or in my case 7 weeks. To ensure that I will continue to
have success during my lessons, I have started to write down different pedagogical tools that I can use during rehearsal if specific things go wrong in the music. I will continue to use the advice of my colleagues as I move forward. That has been my greatest source of knowledge and growth. The goals that I have set for myself have already begun to help. The first goal was to make the list of pedagogical tools. Another goal I have made for myself was to think about why we are covering specific sections of music. If I can prove that I know why, then I can begin to understand the future steps necessary to continue growth.