Elementary School Orchestra

Despite the fact that I was not attending my regularly scheduled classes at the time of my observation, I still had the utmost hope that I would be able to "pull myself up by the bootstraps" and change my behavior patterns. This did not prove the case, as we well know, but in my hope I still made my way to my second Elementary School observation. Fifth grade orchestra had been my only non-techniques-class instrumental instruction, and so I was excited to see Chandra Lind teach and be reminded of my youthful experiences. I must say, my memories of my final elementary year are still hazy, at best, but I was thoroughly impressed with Mrs. Lind's teaching. Before class began she enlightened me on a small section of her planned teaching: she would be teaching the students a new piece that was required for the district music festival -- one which they had not played before -- and had created large rhythm cards with four beat sections taken directly from the music. I loved this! The students took to the instruction remarkably well, and while the piece was not perfect when played together, it was obvious that the students had applied what they played on the flashcards to what was in the music. Chandra pointed out specific sections that matched those cards that had been played in rehearsal, and the students were able to see directly how it related to the new piece in front of them. What resulted was students who felt confident in their ability to play something new, and who played with a newfound passion to apply their learning. I loved watching Mrs. Lind work with the students, and would love to continue having observations with her in the future. I feel she has a great amount of teaching knowledge from which I could learn.

Elementary School Band.

Jennifer Murphy has been a mentor of mine since I was assigned to her class as a Para-teacher for my General Music Methods class, and continues to be a great friend and professional contact as I venture further into my teaching career. Upon one of my many visits to Irving School to say hello and pick up my daughter, Mrs. Murphy spoke to me about her contact with Dr. Stark and the future arrangements that were being made for us to observe the beginning band and orchestra. This information excited me, as I had so enjoyed working with her students the previous semester, and wanted another opportunity to help her as much as possible. Jennifer has often entreated me to come to her classroom whenever is convenient for me, and she would utilize me in her instruction. I highly admire Mrs. Murphy as a teacher of general music, and the feeling is no different as one of beginning band. While there were some aspects of her teaching that I would change, were it my job, I feel she was very successful in running through the assigned pieces with the students, especially considering the upcoming district festival. However, there could have been more attention given to basics with the students. The saxophone players were playing with broken and chipped reeds, and the resulting squeals were unpleasant, to say the least. This could have been easily fixed by asking the students if they had cracked reeds or, even better, taking 30 seconds at the beginning of class to have students check their instruments. Overall, the students did play pretty well for being in fifth grade. I would enjoy having an opportunity to teach a beginning band, however, so that I might see, more in-depthly, the problems of instruction that arise.

BHS Jazz Band

Jazz band. Where does one begin? I have had plenty of experience performing jazz pieces, singing with jazz ensembles, and listening to famous jazz musicians and/or ensembles in my free time, but to count-off such a group is a daunting task. I found myself more nervous with this teaching episode than I had been with previous ones, excepting, perhaps, my teaching the Junior High students at CJMS. I was sure I would somehow count the ensemble in wrong and be reprimanded by Mr. Berdahl and asked to start again, only to fail miserably once more. As a precaution, I stayed as focused on his starting instructions while he was in front of the ensemble as possible. I paid close attention to his wording, the exact articulations he used, syllable emphasis, and personal mannerisms. My goal, therefore, was to learn from Mr. Berdahl's example as much as possible. It is said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, and my hope was that my imitating would provide me with the skills needed to start a jazz ensemble. Paul went first in counting off the group, and did an exceptional job. I went second, and was happier with my performance than I expected to be. The only comment from Mr. Berdahl was not to "start over", but rather that continuous conducting was not necessary once the band had been counted off. I guess I kept going out of nervous habit. Otherwise the experience was a great success, and is now one in which I feel much more confident.

Regarding the classroom structure of Mr. Berdahl's Jazz Band, I can say that I was most struck by the warmups, as I'm sure my fellow observers have also noted. The fact that the warmup was a predetermined piece in which each student could showcase his/her learned improvisation skills was one of the best warmup ideas I had ever seen. Not only did it allow each student to learn general jazz structure, but it provided each student with a chance to showcase their learning in a comfortable environment, and for each student to learn from their peers. This is a practice that, should I ever teach a Jazz Band, I would like to incorporate into my ensemble.

BHS Secondary Observation

I fully accept the fact that punctuality is not my strong-suit, and thus was the case upon my observing Kelly Berdahl's band at Bozeman High. While I had every intention, as I always do, of arriving at the observation early enough to speak with Mr. Berdahl, I found myself rushing to find parking and enter his classroom as the bell starting class began to ring. Upon introducing my fellow observers and myself, Mr. Berdahl described myself as a graduate student doing research on the effects of high school students who eat donuts and drink red-bull for breakfast. This introduction provided a hearty laugh from the students, as well as additional comments from those students whose breakfasts, in fact, had consisted of sugary foods and various energy-boosting beverages. This set a atmosphere of the classroom to one of ease, and, unfortunately, non-focus. The students were very often off-task and disrupting class. Mr. Berdahl would wind his way through the chairs and instrumental sections in an apparent attempt to curb the focus, but where one section would stay on task, another would be disruptive. In fact, being as this class took place immediately after Spring Break, the first 1/3 of the class was spent sharing vacation stories, both from the students and from the instructor. While I do feel that keeping student/teacher interactions as relaxed and open as much as possible, these interactions on this particular day took up far too much class time. I'm curious how much time Mr. Berdahl had allotted for this practice, and also how much would be the "norm". Generally, the rehearsal was somewhat successful, but I feel it could have been even more so through more disciplined structure on the part of the instructor. That being said, I commend Mr. Berdahl on his ability to still accomplish general class improvement among such easily distractible students. It shows great skill on his part, and is a quality to be emulated and refined upon.

BHS Conducting Warmups

All my time observing my father play bluegrass, in addition to my single year learning to play the violin in 5th grade, did little to help prepare me leading warmups for the Bozeman High School Orchestra. I was determined the enter the class in a timely fashion after my less than punctual arrival at my previous observation. My teaching designation -- folk songs -- was to be completed last in the arrangement of my fellow students. I sat quietly in the back, observing the teachers before me, and making every attempt possible to calm my nerves and secure my resolve to teach with the utmost confidence. When my turn finally arose, I had psyched myself up enough to at least pretend to be confident. It has been my experience with teaching that if you appear confident, even if you are not, then your students will respect and pay attention to you more. This was the philosophy I took on when moving to the front of the classroom. I spoke with a clear voice, and used my formulated plan for leading this particular warmup: designate student soloists in descending order on three separate pieces, from 4 to 2. When I was done I felt invigorated, and was deeply excited by the experience. I felt confident. Despite my apprehension prior to starting a lesson or otherwise preparing to teach, once I stand in front of the classroom I feel the most confident I have ever felt in the entirety of my life. This is how I know I am meant to be a teacher. I feel most like myself -- like who I want to be -- when I am teaching, and, to be completely self-promoting, I'm good at it. The small teaching episodes I have had so far, in addition to the lessons I have taught for Arts without Boundaries and my church's Sunday School have proven very successful, and have boosted my confidence in my teaching skills. It makes me look forward immensely to the day I graduate and find a job teaching music.

BHS Primary Observation

My observation day for Mr. Certalic's early morning orchestra did not begin on a good foothold. Having failed to anticipate the snow that accumulated overnight, I found myself rushing to get ready and make it to the classroom on time. On my way out of my onto 19th from Garfield, I had a small fender-bender with the car in front of me. The accident was completely my fault, and although there was no damage to her car (and only a small dent on my already beat-up, old Subaru), I still felt extremely bad for what had happened. The other driver was extremely courteous, stating that the roads were terrible, and wishing me safe driving the rest of my way.

I made it to the Orchestra classroom ten minutes late, and although I was not the latest MSU student that day (Austin received that honor), attention was still brought to my tardiness once the class had started. Mr. Certalic introduced us all, and used the rest of the period to show us the different warmups we could choose to teach the ensemble in two weeks' time. To say that I was intimidated was an understatement. When Sallie asked if we had to play the violin when introducing the warmups next time, I knew I was not the only non-string playing individual there who felt daunted by Mr. Certalic's ability to lead his ensemble through warmups and showcase his amazing talent at the strings. We discussed which areas we would tackle the next time we were to enter his classroom, and I immediately jumped on the final section: folk songs. I had grown up in a household that regular played bluegrass and other fiddle tunes, and although I, myself, did not play the violin past 5th grade, I knew that I would feel the most comfortable with this designation. I ended my observation nervously anticipating the next teaching episode, thinking for the next two weeks (when I wasn't sick on my couch with the flu watching Doctor Who) of how I might introduce my portion of the warmups to the students, and generally forming a game-plan for my next teaching episode.

CJMS Secondary Observation

I began my observation of the CJMS orchestra having already heard some of the classroom descriptions spoken of in class. As Becky and I entered the classroom we made small talk with Mrs. Van Zee, joking jovially about not bringing her coffee. I took in my surroundings: inspirational signs and rules on the walls, designated spots of folders and instruments, and chairs/stands ready to be arranged and used the incoming students. Mrs. Van Zee moved to set up the rooms behind the two internal doors so that they could be used by the students for playing tests that day. I do not remember the pieces used that day, but I certainly remember the playing test structure, as I was most struck by it. After assembling the students and reminding them of the structure for playing tests, Mrs. Van Zee instructed the principles to go in to the two rooms to take their playing tests. From that point students were allowed to enter as they felt comfortable into the designated areas to take their playing tests. While I do like this setup, in general, for playing tests, I can see the problems that may arise. It can be difficult to ensure that all students take the test, as teacher attentions can be divided among the remaining students. Furthermore, given that the recording device is at the student disposal, there can be no telling how many times a student plays through a piece, recording over their previous entry, to improve their score. Finally, if a student does not follow the prescribed procedures and forgets to state their name, then it could be very difficult to tell who performed during that particular selection, and thus grading may be difficult. I like the thought of keeping the classroom running during playing tests, but I would love to figure out how to keep the tests supervised to ensure student honesty and that all procures are accurately followed.

5th Grade Band Concert Observation

On the 26th of April the Bozeman Elementary Schools assembled their 5th graders and put on a concert to display their learned playing abilities from the previous year. On that same day, I became thoroughly enthralled with the teaching abilities of our local music teachers.

The 5th grade orchestra started the concert and performed three pieces under the direction of three separate conductors. All conductors showed remarkable prowess in leading the students, but I was particular struck by the final two, one of whom included Chandra Lind. What I found most remarkable about Lind and the final conductor was their ability to not only lead the students through their learned pieces, but also how they helped the students to continue playing and find the right spot once lost. In particular, there was one boy in the back of the ensemble who completely lost his way. The conductors each took turns helping the boy, pointing to measures, and lightly touching his back, keeping him encouraged to continue. This act of affection and care in teaching was the most profound for me of the evening.

Once the orchestra had concluded their performance, predetermined volunteers, including myself, made their way to help transfer the stands from the orchestra to the band. I saw one of my former voice students in the back preparing to play her trumpet, and was encouraged by her smile and her excitement to show what she had learned that year. The band also played three pieces, and showed remarkable intonation and counting abilities for the grade and skill level.

The experience, in general, made me wish to observe the general music teachers of the valley even more so that I might glean some knowledge from their classrooms. Each teacher, as far as I could tell, achieved remarkable results in teaching their students the basics of the instrument, as well as the foundations for successful instrument playing. It made me look forward, even more, to the day when I will be teaching in the public school system.