Observation

My university supervisor, Mr. Dalby, came over from the University of New Mexico today to watch me teach the beginner 6th grade band. I wasn't especially worried about him coming in since I feel like I generally do well with that class and I planned out everything I wanted to rehearse. . . I was still a little anxious when he showed up, though. Altogether, the class went well. We didn't get through as much as I hoped we would, which I actually sort of expected, but I think it's better to over-plan than under-plan. If you plan too much and don't get through all of it, you're still going through material in a logical sequence and you can pick up right where you left off. If you don't plan enough, you end up having to wing it, which sometimes turns out okay and sometimes does not. I'd rather be prepared and safe than unprepared and sorry.

Anyway, that was a slight tangent. The 6th graders were a little feisty because they'd had several days off from playing. Monday and Tuesday were conferences and they didn't have class yesterday because of the A/B day schedule. We got through less than I wanted, and although it was a slow process, we made progress.

I met with Mr. Dalby for a few minutes afterward and he had very positive things to say. He told me that the first thing he always looks for in student teachers is to see if their personality is well-suited for teaching, and he told me that even though he only watched me for about half an hour, he is very confident that teaching is the right place for me. He told me that I looked confident, commanded the classroom well, included all sections/students, and had a good balance between discipline and warmth, both of which are necessary. He also told me that I do the evil eye well, which is awesome. You know what I mean, "the look" the teacher gives you when she's waiting for you to stop talking/being obnoxious. Apparently, I have that mastered. Sweet.

He gave a few suggestions, and most were vague, but a few were specific.

1. Try to walk around more to get a better idea of what individual students are doing/need help with. He is right and I should do that. I don't really at this point because I need to be watching what they're playing, so I need my copy of the music. . . which is at the podium, in front of the class. I'm going to try to give them more to play by ear, and when I'm doing that, I can move around.
2. Set a more specific expectation about when they can and cannot talk. Nobody should be talking if I have my arms up and I'm ready to conduct. Usually I end up standing there with my arms up for a while, though, because I'm waiting for them to be quiet so I can say something or get their attention. He suggested creating a system where the second I step on the podium and fold my hands in front of me, that's their "listen up" cue. That way, when I raise my arms to start, we can start right away and the raised arms still signify immediate attention. I think he's dead on about this and that hopefully it will help with some of the noise issues.

He also suggested that I try to find ways to get them to think musically, even this early on. Although they're motivated now, they will get frustrated soon because it's a LONG time before they play anything longer than 16 measures and more complicated than a quarter note. He challenged me to try to think of ways to get them hearing music in their heads so that ideas translate immediately to an instrument. For example, if students are singing, matching pitch, learning solfege, vocalizing rhythms, speaking syllables like "tu," "ta," etc. . . . once they pick up an instrument, they can already articulate, count, and listen. He seemed very into singing and body movement as ways to help students "feel" music, which I think is a great idea. He more or less said that they need to be thinking and feeling music or else they're bored and reduced to pushing buttons. He's right, but when they have so many mechanical things to learn at this point, it's easy to get caught up just in the mechanics. So, my goal is to make 6th graders think musically.

On the topic of "feeling" music, he also mentioned that he thinks our kids are struggling a little right now because of the method books we're using. Our book starts with whole notes on the assumption that longer notes are easier to play. However, it's really hard to "feel" a whole note. When we feel music, like when you're listening to the radio and you tap your foot, you don't tap whole notes. . . you tap quarter notes. Shorter notes are easier to feel. I don't think that most beginners really "get" that there are four small beats within a whole note, so when you move on and get to half and quarter notes, they want to play everything too long and they don't realize that you change notes every beat. . . . I don't think they really get the beat. He suggested that when I have my own program, I look into books that start with shorter note values. I think that he made a great point, and I think that starting with shorter notes also fits in really well with the singing/body movement and "feeling" the music.

So, a lot of those ideas are big-picture, but it gave me a lot of ideas to think about, and I really think I'll like working with Mr. Dalby. . . so, all is good. :)