Here is a song about annunciation. It is nonsense lyrics meant to sound like English. See if you can guess what they are saying. If not, the second video has subtitles :-)
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
What did you say?!
A story that just has to be told is this one. At Roosevelt, the kids don't like to work very hard so it takes a lot of motivation, explanation, and force to get them to sing. The seventh graders are singing "Fame" from the musical "Fame." Their performance was okay but nothing was really interesting about it. It was flat. So me being a student teacher I was standing off to the side not saying much. I thought I had an idea for how to get them to sound more like the song intended them to. The girls at this school are often very sassy which is normally a problem but works to sing this song. So I took the lead and tried to tell the girls that they should use their attitudes to their advantage. TRIED being the important word in that phrase. What I wanted to start with was, "This song is all about sass!" And I still swear that is what I said. However, my CT and all the students claim they heard, "This song is all about sex!" Needless to say, things went south and I turned a shade of red that I did not even know existed. I was quiet for the rest of class and have since been very cautious about annunciation when I speak. This can be translated to an even broader message, know what you are going to say before you start talking. It is helpful for life and teaching. I did not have a very structured plan for what to say and I word vomited something I had no intention of saying. Do not pull a Mr. Wilson.
Here is a song about annunciation. It is nonsense lyrics meant to sound like English. See if you can guess what they are saying. If not, the second video has subtitles :-)
Here is a song about annunciation. It is nonsense lyrics meant to sound like English. See if you can guess what they are saying. If not, the second video has subtitles :-)
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Day Two...
It takes a lot to see the silver lining a day like today when my CT told me this is not even too bad of a day. It is hard to imagine that things could be different from one side of town to the other. my new placement has a culture that I can hardly fathom. My CT told me that the school has an extremely high free and reduced lunch percentage which has a large effect on the dynamic of the school. They also have a large number of African refugees as well as Hispanic students which means that the school essentially has a culture filled with diversity of language and origin. I actually love how diverse the school is but the that is not the biggest problem. The students have extremely large behavioral issues.
In the two days I have been at the school, the teacher has already decided to cut a song, sent multiple students to the office, and stood in the middle of two fighting boys today. I feel as though she never has any free time and when she does, she is constantly doing something for the rest of the school. Whether that is subbing in rooms where they cannot find someone or keeping kids in the hallways in line, she is constantly working to try and help the school in whatever way she can. I feel terrible for not being able to do more. We can only rehearse music, on average, for 20 minutes of the 50 minute class because the students break into a rebellion if they are forced to work anymore than that.
We are able to do some small amount of learning at the beginning and end of class through videos. Usually that includes watching Pentatonix and creating snap-clap games to them or, since I have been there, teaching them the way the voice works by showing obscure voice types such as countertenors and contraltos. I had never thought watching videos would be a good way to spend class time but at least it keeps these kids listening to music and thinking about singing while in choir class even if they refuse to do it themselves.
I am thoroughly frightened of what the next eight weeks will be like. I can already feel my patients being stretched to the breaking point and I am developing a wall against caring whether I come off as me. I shudder at what my attitude will end up being.
For today's songs, these are the two pieces I played for the students. See if you can tell which is male and which is female. (SPOILER!: the beginning of the second video will give it away!)
In the two days I have been at the school, the teacher has already decided to cut a song, sent multiple students to the office, and stood in the middle of two fighting boys today. I feel as though she never has any free time and when she does, she is constantly doing something for the rest of the school. Whether that is subbing in rooms where they cannot find someone or keeping kids in the hallways in line, she is constantly working to try and help the school in whatever way she can. I feel terrible for not being able to do more. We can only rehearse music, on average, for 20 minutes of the 50 minute class because the students break into a rebellion if they are forced to work anymore than that.
We are able to do some small amount of learning at the beginning and end of class through videos. Usually that includes watching Pentatonix and creating snap-clap games to them or, since I have been there, teaching them the way the voice works by showing obscure voice types such as countertenors and contraltos. I had never thought watching videos would be a good way to spend class time but at least it keeps these kids listening to music and thinking about singing while in choir class even if they refuse to do it themselves.
I am thoroughly frightened of what the next eight weeks will be like. I can already feel my patients being stretched to the breaking point and I am developing a wall against caring whether I come off as me. I shudder at what my attitude will end up being.
For today's songs, these are the two pieces I played for the students. See if you can tell which is male and which is female. (SPOILER!: the beginning of the second video will give it away!)
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Go in Peace
In looking back at my first placement, I have learned a lot not just about teaching but myself as well. I have found that student teaching is so different from being at Coe and I had not prepared myself for that. The idea of not getting to see my friends or fiancee throughout the day, not having specific assignments and knowing that everyday I will be doing some assignment, be it teaching or planning really threw me off. I tried to plan my day as I did for being a student but that was the wrong way to think about this. I need to rethink how to prepare and think about student teaching. In the next placement, I will dedicate more time to preparing myself for the challenges of teaching and bettering myself as a teacher. That will help me think less about myself while I am in the classroom and allow me to address the needs of the students. That is the ultimate lesson that I have heard before but did not heed enough. Teaching is easier when it is student focused because you have a good purpose behind your work. I am working on growing up and accepting these things as my life because that is the case. I hope that it will get easier and I will strive for excellence but I have to stop comparing it to what college life is like and accept that college life is over for me.
I have also learned a great deal about teaching. One of the most clear things I learned was that teachers are humans. They give of a persona that they always know what they are doing in order to be the fearless leader of the class but they make mistakes just like me. There were days that they were not as prepared as they would have liked or that the did not achieve their goals. I also learned new skills for handling classroom management. I learned that preparation is one of the most key points in have a productive classroom. If you are not prepared then your students will not be able to feed off you because you will not be confident enough to teach them. I saw first hand the way placement of the teacher in the room makes a huge difference in how their students behave.
I also learned a lot about things I can do that will specifically help teach music. The fact that Xavier was a One to One school, meaning every student and teacher had an iPad, allowed my CT to show me how to App-Mash as he called it. This is where you can take three or four apps and use them to get you from point A to point B with less trouble. He showed me how to me a song a pdf, make it editable, create practice tracks that could be played over music as well as other things. He also helped me to negotiate my lack of piano skills by having students sing with a recording. I believe, although I have never seen it done, I could find a way to scrub the vocals from recording to create an accurate accompaniment track for the students to practice with.
I am looking forward to the future. I have not yet figured out how to get myself into the mindset that I am a teacher but I am getting there and I know that in my next placement that I will have a chance to reestablish myself as a teacher and leader of the class not just an observer. Although I am scared for the differences and the changes that will come, I relish the chance to better myself and prove that I have what it takes to teach.
In the rush of student teaching, it can be hard to remember the small things. Hopefully this helps you keep them in mind.
I have also learned a great deal about teaching. One of the most clear things I learned was that teachers are humans. They give of a persona that they always know what they are doing in order to be the fearless leader of the class but they make mistakes just like me. There were days that they were not as prepared as they would have liked or that the did not achieve their goals. I also learned new skills for handling classroom management. I learned that preparation is one of the most key points in have a productive classroom. If you are not prepared then your students will not be able to feed off you because you will not be confident enough to teach them. I saw first hand the way placement of the teacher in the room makes a huge difference in how their students behave.
I also learned a lot about things I can do that will specifically help teach music. The fact that Xavier was a One to One school, meaning every student and teacher had an iPad, allowed my CT to show me how to App-Mash as he called it. This is where you can take three or four apps and use them to get you from point A to point B with less trouble. He showed me how to me a song a pdf, make it editable, create practice tracks that could be played over music as well as other things. He also helped me to negotiate my lack of piano skills by having students sing with a recording. I believe, although I have never seen it done, I could find a way to scrub the vocals from recording to create an accurate accompaniment track for the students to practice with.
I am looking forward to the future. I have not yet figured out how to get myself into the mindset that I am a teacher but I am getting there and I know that in my next placement that I will have a chance to reestablish myself as a teacher and leader of the class not just an observer. Although I am scared for the differences and the changes that will come, I relish the chance to better myself and prove that I have what it takes to teach.
In the rush of student teaching, it can be hard to remember the small things. Hopefully this helps you keep them in mind.
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