After reading some of the comments that were posted, I will attempt to cover more of the readings in my weekly updates. So without skipping a bit, I want to focus on two topics that really struck me from the readings; summer work, and outcomes.
So, the article by Roger R. Rideout was an eyeopener for me. I never really gave much thought to how much work a band/orchestra teacher has to do over their summer break. That is to say, I have never actually experienced a teacher doing any work during their much deserved summer break. However, because many band/orchestra teacher live music, whereas a math teacher may not live math, the summer tasks are fundamental to the running of the band/orchestra program.
I will definitely keep "Summer Tasks for the First-Year Band Director" handy because of its value as a reminder and motivator. While I have considered the majority of suggestions that Rideout suggests, I never really thought about how I would implement them.
The other topic of the reading that struck me was outcomes, and how we as educators are supposed to come up with them. This is a topic that I feel has been neglected for a long time in my education. I have had to write lessons with outcomes in them, but never really thought about what the outcomes mean. As a future teacher, I feel that I should take the outcomes much more seriously.
What has me thinking the most is; "Wow, I am in charge of what these students learn, and the method which they learn it." Now, while I could write a long narrative about how much this scares me to death, I would rather express a fear that is probably much more pertinent to my situation this semester.
After observing this week, I noticed how different my methods and outcomes were for the students than the teacher/program at the school were. I was very aware of all of the techniques that I do not wish to emulate and the techniques of mine which would probably not work in the situation. But, I found that I had way more problems with the outcomes and methods than I did my own teaching style.
First off, I would never use a given tempo as much as the educators I observed. This ranges from Dr. Beats to snapping or clapping. I do not think that this is okay. In fact I have been learning how to teach very differently in my method classes; where students need to be able to keep a steady pulse.
Lastly (I know there are only two), the topic which I was most concerned with was one of the outcomes that was expressed. Again, this may be my 5+ method classes talking, but not having the students watch a conductor at the beginning of their musical training is absurd to me.
What is so concerning for me is that, I would want my students to be conducted and learn/get used to having a conductor. To come full circle, I am not sure I am equipped to teach in the manner that these students have been learning and how the music program wishes the students to learn. Although I am looking forward to teaching, I am very frightened that I will break some norm of teaching that may hurt the students in some way. For my lesson plan, I plan on emulating a lot of techniques that I observed, but I will put my own flavor into them, because I would like to see some different outcomes for these students.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
MUED 352: Week 6
This week our class gave presentations on different method books for the beginning band and orchestra. And while everyone showcased the pros and cons of their chosen material, I was astounded by how much detail must go into each and every one of these method books. The amount of topics that one (method book) has to cover is really mind-blowing. I probably would not have noticed if it were not for having to sift through my method book with a fine-toothed comb.
I noticed that most method books are just extremely well defined crutches for music educators; not in a bad way though. I think that every teacher has a natural style to their teaching. It's because of this personal knack that I think method books act as crutches, again, not in a bad way. It would be too daunting for one human to teach all of their band students, and be successful at it. A method book is a tool designed to ease the stress of having to 'go it alone'.
This belief of mine takes into account the teacher retaining their specific style. Once a teacher starts to lose their personal flair, then they will fall back on the method book as a crutch; yes, in a bad way. The method book is a manner which to relay musical concepts to students, not to teach them. It is one of many different ways a teacher can help their students understand what concepts are essential to their musical development.
Although I enjoyed coming to these conclusions, I did find that the best part about MUED 352 this week was going into the schools; particularly South Euclid: Lindhurst (SEL). Being at SEL was quite an experience. Many of my prior experiences with schools have either been top notch or, to put it nicely, not so top notch. SEL has a program that has a feeling of top notch, in a not so top notch environment, which is how I prefer it.
I got to see teachers work in an environment that was not optimal, but achieve great results. I enjoyed this because it gave me a lot of hope that I can be placed in a location that is not musically fit, but have musically fit students.
After my observations I would only have one major critique, "Why so much Dr. Beat?" My word, my head is still ringing. I did not see a benefit to using the Dr. Beat that much, in fact I would like to see the students in a Dr. Beat-Free zone. I would like to see how they would start to develop as musicians if the "Dr. was not in the house."
I am super excited to start teaching at SEL because I feel that a lot of my learning can come from teaching in the schools, instead of reading books. Again, experiential learning is probably the best for beginning teachers because you have to deal with the scenarios in real time, not on paper. So I am hopeful that I get to test my skills in a real classroom! So excited!
I noticed that most method books are just extremely well defined crutches for music educators; not in a bad way though. I think that every teacher has a natural style to their teaching. It's because of this personal knack that I think method books act as crutches, again, not in a bad way. It would be too daunting for one human to teach all of their band students, and be successful at it. A method book is a tool designed to ease the stress of having to 'go it alone'.
This belief of mine takes into account the teacher retaining their specific style. Once a teacher starts to lose their personal flair, then they will fall back on the method book as a crutch; yes, in a bad way. The method book is a manner which to relay musical concepts to students, not to teach them. It is one of many different ways a teacher can help their students understand what concepts are essential to their musical development.
Although I enjoyed coming to these conclusions, I did find that the best part about MUED 352 this week was going into the schools; particularly South Euclid: Lindhurst (SEL). Being at SEL was quite an experience. Many of my prior experiences with schools have either been top notch or, to put it nicely, not so top notch. SEL has a program that has a feeling of top notch, in a not so top notch environment, which is how I prefer it.
I got to see teachers work in an environment that was not optimal, but achieve great results. I enjoyed this because it gave me a lot of hope that I can be placed in a location that is not musically fit, but have musically fit students.
After my observations I would only have one major critique, "Why so much Dr. Beat?" My word, my head is still ringing. I did not see a benefit to using the Dr. Beat that much, in fact I would like to see the students in a Dr. Beat-Free zone. I would like to see how they would start to develop as musicians if the "Dr. was not in the house."
I am super excited to start teaching at SEL because I feel that a lot of my learning can come from teaching in the schools, instead of reading books. Again, experiential learning is probably the best for beginning teachers because you have to deal with the scenarios in real time, not on paper. So I am hopeful that I get to test my skills in a real classroom! So excited!
Friday, February 11, 2011
MUED 352: Week 5
This week we focused on teaching elementary instrumental music. To be honest, all of the discussion have melded together in my head, and they are very hard to separate. But there are some very interesting points that keep bubbling up through the swamp of thoughts in my head.
I keep feeling very discouraged whenever we talk about actually teaching. The first thing that I feel discouraged about is the success rate of educators. Not in the concept that I cannot relay material to children, but more the fact that I will not have an easy time handling all of the duties of an educator. There is just way too much for me to even process at this point, and it becomes very daunting.
I feel as though I will burn out very quickly because of all the work that I am expected to accomplish. Part of my brain is confident that I will be able to manage the work load, another part tells me that there is no way. The biggest part of my thoughts is taken up by, what may be a fallacy, the fact that this music education thing really isn't as hard as it is being made out to be.
This single thought permeates throughout all of my daunting tasks, because I want to think that this profession is something that I wish to accomplish, and therefor will have success in. Whether this is selfish or whimsical, or wrong, I want to make a point to say that I never thought this profession was easy. I think that, sometimes, some facets of the profession, as I have heard in class, have been blown out of proportion. Another point that I want to make is that regardless of the work, I will be fully dedicated to my future job.
Another (separate) thought that I continue to have is once that deals with support. From the way I have experienced it in this class, I will get little to no support when I am in the school system. My program will be on the eternal back-burner of the board of education. Again, I have a problem taking this grain of information as a truth; and the grain of salt I take it with is quite large. I have a hard time truly believing that I will receive no to little support in music education. From I have seen, even if my department/community does not give support my fellow band directors and music lovers will come to my aid.
A topic that I would like to discuss in class is a healthy band program beyond the 'compartmentalized' ones we have been talking about. By compartmentalized I mean not specific to a specific level of schooling; middle, high, or elementary. Obviously the programs at each of the levels have a strong relationship and need to be developed and mapped out. A good example would be the Shaker Schools. The band program over in Shaker Heights is quite advanced, almost running on autopilot in some cases.
However, I know that this program has been built for many years and continues to be developed. I know that it is the relationship that this program has with all three schools that make it such a powerhouse in the band world. The Shaker Band Program, in my opinion, is set up for success because the educators who are a part of it coexist in such a way that there is a perfect balance and harmony that will benefit the bands down the road.
So, I would like to talk about networking and gaining the level of professionalism and dedication that the Shaker Bands have. Something that will help us as students understand how to develop a program that is both musically rich and meaningful.
I keep feeling very discouraged whenever we talk about actually teaching. The first thing that I feel discouraged about is the success rate of educators. Not in the concept that I cannot relay material to children, but more the fact that I will not have an easy time handling all of the duties of an educator. There is just way too much for me to even process at this point, and it becomes very daunting.
I feel as though I will burn out very quickly because of all the work that I am expected to accomplish. Part of my brain is confident that I will be able to manage the work load, another part tells me that there is no way. The biggest part of my thoughts is taken up by, what may be a fallacy, the fact that this music education thing really isn't as hard as it is being made out to be.
This single thought permeates throughout all of my daunting tasks, because I want to think that this profession is something that I wish to accomplish, and therefor will have success in. Whether this is selfish or whimsical, or wrong, I want to make a point to say that I never thought this profession was easy. I think that, sometimes, some facets of the profession, as I have heard in class, have been blown out of proportion. Another point that I want to make is that regardless of the work, I will be fully dedicated to my future job.
Another (separate) thought that I continue to have is once that deals with support. From the way I have experienced it in this class, I will get little to no support when I am in the school system. My program will be on the eternal back-burner of the board of education. Again, I have a problem taking this grain of information as a truth; and the grain of salt I take it with is quite large. I have a hard time truly believing that I will receive no to little support in music education. From I have seen, even if my department/community does not give support my fellow band directors and music lovers will come to my aid.
A topic that I would like to discuss in class is a healthy band program beyond the 'compartmentalized' ones we have been talking about. By compartmentalized I mean not specific to a specific level of schooling; middle, high, or elementary. Obviously the programs at each of the levels have a strong relationship and need to be developed and mapped out. A good example would be the Shaker Schools. The band program over in Shaker Heights is quite advanced, almost running on autopilot in some cases.
However, I know that this program has been built for many years and continues to be developed. I know that it is the relationship that this program has with all three schools that make it such a powerhouse in the band world. The Shaker Band Program, in my opinion, is set up for success because the educators who are a part of it coexist in such a way that there is a perfect balance and harmony that will benefit the bands down the road.
So, I would like to talk about networking and gaining the level of professionalism and dedication that the Shaker Bands have. Something that will help us as students understand how to develop a program that is both musically rich and meaningful.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
MUED 352: Week 4
This week we discussed two topics; method books and planning instruction. So, I will be covering these two topics first before I discuss the remainder of my OMEA clinics.
There are so many different method books out in circulation that it stands to reason that an educator needs to pick the right one for his students. The research that should go into picking the correct method book is something that I have personally never done. A previous teacher of mine told me that it is not the book that is important, but the information inside. This same teacher stressed the importance of finding a method book, but it is how you relay the information, engage the students, and how you view music that will inspire your students to keep playing.
For the most part I think that the previous statement is true. Most of the method books teach the same exact material (in my experience) what is more important is how you relay the information inside the book to your students. Now, having a preferred book is not a bad thing, but knowing how to utilize the book is, what I consider to be, more important than the book itself.
I think, in terms of keeping students, that a teacher needs to show how music has impacted their lives and demonstrate how to live a musical life. I know many kids are motivated by a teacher who they respect and who they want to be similar to. This means that these students are watching everything that the teacher is doing. Even students who are not interested by a teacher are always learning from what the teacher does. Thus a teacher has to show that they believe in what they are teaching.
I think that this is where picking a method book could be very handy. Choosing a book that you enjoy teaching from shows your students that you are invested in what you are doing and that they should be too. This, again, is an example of how the method book is used more as a tool rather than as a curriculum. The function of the book does not have to be its information.
Before a method book can be discussed the first lesson must be taken into account. It has been reiterated to me more than once (too many to count) about how important the first lesson is. So I am going to detail what has been on my mind since it was first brought to my attention; this will be the scariest and most daunting moment of my educational career. The weight of the world feels like it is on my shoulders.
From this one lesson I need to do many things; teach posture, embouchure, buzzing/tonguing, producing a tone, using your wind/space, and, most importantly, keeping the student motivated to go home, practice, and come back, only to reinforce and add to what I taught in my first lesson. Oh boy.
This, to me, is very frightening. How can I be expected to to all this, plus many more objectives that I did not list, all in one lesson? INSANE!!!! What is a comfort to me is that my goal is small, minuscule, and in the shallow end of the musical pool. My goal is to spark a love,or less than that, an interest in the art of music. That concept needs to stick with the student. When they are fascinated, I can be there to answer questions and to further their learning.
As my previous post stated, I was not blown away by OMEA this year. But the three clinics that I went to spoke volumes to me.
The second of my three clinics was with Dr. Tim Robblee and was on improving communication through meaningful warm-ups. While this was not the most exciting clinic, I gained some very valuable tools from it. One of these tools was about not always conducting, and instead, listening and evaluating. This concept seemed really foolish to me especially when Dr. Robblee stopped conducting and the ensemble almost stopped.
What this showed me was a problem with the pattern of conducting. The kids that he was conducting were very used to seeing a baton during warm up so when one was not there, they stopped playing. Aha! This means to me that I need to keep my students on their toes, they can be musical without the conductor. The conductor is there to be a leader and shape the music for the students so they can better navigate it.
Another concept that I took away was that a note needs to be treated like a good book; every aspect of it is important, beginning, middle and end. Even the parts in between are important. Your students can learn how to be mindful of their notes by watching a solid conductor. The conductor shows the length of the note, style, dynamic, texture, articulation, and cutoff all with the baton. If the conductor is willing to put in the time to conduct well, the students will learn how to respond appropriately, and all without using words.
The third and final session that I attended was given by three CWRU alum, Brad Hruska, Ryan Huch, and Dan Crain. This session meant the most to me because I have worked directly with all of these teachers and we have watched each other grow and become who we are. I highly respect the trio that was in front of me and I relished in the moment because I was being taught by them.
The session that Dan, Brad, and Ryan gave was on implementing the national standards with a band/instrumental program. And without going into all of the info which was given (a lot) I can say that this session made me think about what I would do if I were teaching in a high school right now. Needless to say, I would be scared out of my mind, but I would at least have some ideas.
This session made me happy because I found that I really understood what was being said to me. I think that this session gave me a lot of confidence to try new techniques and explore my teaching skills. I really think that Dan, Brad, and Ryan all have the potential, and in my eyes, are great educators and will heavily impact the lives of the students that come through their programs.
There are so many different method books out in circulation that it stands to reason that an educator needs to pick the right one for his students. The research that should go into picking the correct method book is something that I have personally never done. A previous teacher of mine told me that it is not the book that is important, but the information inside. This same teacher stressed the importance of finding a method book, but it is how you relay the information, engage the students, and how you view music that will inspire your students to keep playing.
For the most part I think that the previous statement is true. Most of the method books teach the same exact material (in my experience) what is more important is how you relay the information inside the book to your students. Now, having a preferred book is not a bad thing, but knowing how to utilize the book is, what I consider to be, more important than the book itself.
I think, in terms of keeping students, that a teacher needs to show how music has impacted their lives and demonstrate how to live a musical life. I know many kids are motivated by a teacher who they respect and who they want to be similar to. This means that these students are watching everything that the teacher is doing. Even students who are not interested by a teacher are always learning from what the teacher does. Thus a teacher has to show that they believe in what they are teaching.
I think that this is where picking a method book could be very handy. Choosing a book that you enjoy teaching from shows your students that you are invested in what you are doing and that they should be too. This, again, is an example of how the method book is used more as a tool rather than as a curriculum. The function of the book does not have to be its information.
Before a method book can be discussed the first lesson must be taken into account. It has been reiterated to me more than once (too many to count) about how important the first lesson is. So I am going to detail what has been on my mind since it was first brought to my attention; this will be the scariest and most daunting moment of my educational career. The weight of the world feels like it is on my shoulders.
From this one lesson I need to do many things; teach posture, embouchure, buzzing/tonguing, producing a tone, using your wind/space, and, most importantly, keeping the student motivated to go home, practice, and come back, only to reinforce and add to what I taught in my first lesson. Oh boy.
This, to me, is very frightening. How can I be expected to to all this, plus many more objectives that I did not list, all in one lesson? INSANE!!!! What is a comfort to me is that my goal is small, minuscule, and in the shallow end of the musical pool. My goal is to spark a love,or less than that, an interest in the art of music. That concept needs to stick with the student. When they are fascinated, I can be there to answer questions and to further their learning.
As my previous post stated, I was not blown away by OMEA this year. But the three clinics that I went to spoke volumes to me.
The second of my three clinics was with Dr. Tim Robblee and was on improving communication through meaningful warm-ups. While this was not the most exciting clinic, I gained some very valuable tools from it. One of these tools was about not always conducting, and instead, listening and evaluating. This concept seemed really foolish to me especially when Dr. Robblee stopped conducting and the ensemble almost stopped.
What this showed me was a problem with the pattern of conducting. The kids that he was conducting were very used to seeing a baton during warm up so when one was not there, they stopped playing. Aha! This means to me that I need to keep my students on their toes, they can be musical without the conductor. The conductor is there to be a leader and shape the music for the students so they can better navigate it.
Another concept that I took away was that a note needs to be treated like a good book; every aspect of it is important, beginning, middle and end. Even the parts in between are important. Your students can learn how to be mindful of their notes by watching a solid conductor. The conductor shows the length of the note, style, dynamic, texture, articulation, and cutoff all with the baton. If the conductor is willing to put in the time to conduct well, the students will learn how to respond appropriately, and all without using words.
The third and final session that I attended was given by three CWRU alum, Brad Hruska, Ryan Huch, and Dan Crain. This session meant the most to me because I have worked directly with all of these teachers and we have watched each other grow and become who we are. I highly respect the trio that was in front of me and I relished in the moment because I was being taught by them.
The session that Dan, Brad, and Ryan gave was on implementing the national standards with a band/instrumental program. And without going into all of the info which was given (a lot) I can say that this session made me think about what I would do if I were teaching in a high school right now. Needless to say, I would be scared out of my mind, but I would at least have some ideas.
This session made me happy because I found that I really understood what was being said to me. I think that this session gave me a lot of confidence to try new techniques and explore my teaching skills. I really think that Dan, Brad, and Ryan all have the potential, and in my eyes, are great educators and will heavily impact the lives of the students that come through their programs.
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