Elementary Observation

Dear Me,


Hi. Observing at Irving Elementary was a great experience. The school was way different from what I was expecting. Not that I was expecting it to be terrible, but it is a little foreboding looking in my opinion from the outside. Anyway, everyone was so nice and extremely helpful to me. There was artwork everywhere and it was clear that the students were proud of what they were learning.


I was led up to the one of the 5th grade classrooms where band would start shortly. The orchestra met in the band room so the band needed to meet in a classroom. They pushed the desks out of the way and made room for their stands and chairs.


From my seat in the back, it occurred to me just how far back percussionists are. No wonder there are problems with their attention span and following directions. It is hard as a director to give your attention to all the sections in the beginning band that need it I would suppose. There's so much to cover and a limited time to do so. 


At the end she came up to talk with us again and answer any questions we had. Turns out she's primarily a choral person. This is her 3 year directing band. I thought she was doing a great job seeing how it wasn't her primary area and all. She is SO extremely patient and passionate about her job. I get so annoyed with beginning bands as it just is hard to listen to and they have a hard time listening too.


She told me that I looked worried and that I can call her with questions any time. Maybe it was that it was so early in the morning and I couldn't control my facial expressions as well. It's good to know though that I have so many people that I can get in contact with to learn and ask questions.


Sincerely,
ME

Secondary Observation

Dear Future Me,


This is a blog about the observation in Chief Joseph after you taught the rehearsal for the clarinet section. Jeph led the rehearsal this time and you observed and had to say all their names at the end. Here are some things you observed:

• It is helpful to the success of the learning process to have be thinking ahead and move swiftly. "Start at measure 5, this time for accuracy. One, two, ready, AND!"
• Each time you stop them, have something for them to listen for next time instead of saying "ok, let's try that again." Jeph had them listen for pitch accuracy and he demonstrated rhythm a couple of times too.
• They were all chatty Junior High girls except one boy. Reminding them of the prize at the end helps them to stay focused. We had chocolate that day, but it could also be a long term goal. Saying something like, "Remember that we have Music Festival coming up. How are you going to be prepared to sing in front of the adjudicators if we are wasting time talking?"

Overall this was a great experience and it left me wanting to help them more as a section. I had these above ideas in mind but when I taught, it didn't come out how I planned :) If I could do it again, I would've kept them more engaged by asking a few individual questions to keep them on task and remind them of the ending prize.


Sincerely,
Me

9&10 Observations

Dear Future Me,
Hello! Here are some more observations!

9)Secondary
I observed Mr. Certalics class twice actually. It was a great experience. I'm not an orchestra person and it was great to see what goes on.

10)Jazz Band
Holy Cow, if I ever have a Jazz Band I will contact everyone I know of in the area to come demonstrate and give me pointers. Mr Burdahl conducts it so well. It was so cool that they had a warm up where they all played an improvised solo. I got to count them off! "A-one, A-two, A-one-two-three-four!"

Hey you!

Hey you!
It is time to complete the observations you observed and compile them into these next blogs. So far you've written blogs about 3)CJI podium, 4)CJI names, 5)Supp. Materials, 6)CJI secondary, 7)BHS primary, 8)TE warmups. Here goes 1)Concert and 2)Pep Band:

1)Concert
The concert was marvelous. I have never seen such a Middle/High School Concert. The flow was fairly swift and they were all dressed the same (White shirts, black pants. For HS blue shirts, black pants.)

The blend of the ensemble caught me off guard as I heard that they had exceptional blend. I thought of how they might have achieved this. I have come to the conclusion that warm ups are part of the magic. Why not have them play just a couple of sections at a time so everyone else can hear them together. Also the ensemble could sustain a chord while you adjust them (wave the flutes to be louder, trumpets to be softer....) this would give them a visual of the balance being pursued.

2)Pep Band
There is not too much I can say about the Pep Band. I thought it was a lot like my pep band back home. They were fairly organized it seemed and played fun songs :)

Your friend,
Shannalee

Blog 7: Advocacy Letter

Dear Future Me,

Today might be one of those days when you think to yourself, "Self, why is no body on board with me with the knowledge of why a music program is so important?" or "Hey, why are the parents so hesitant to see why they should encourage their children to join band, orchestra, or choir?" Well, you needn't worry any longer my dear friend. All you need to do is call upon the wisdom of your past self who is writing this during finals week to pull up a comprehensive and witty letter to these said individuals. So. Without further ado...

Dear School Community (i.e. Parents, Teachers, and Administrators);

It has come to my attention that there is some confusion as to what the goals and benefits of being in a musical ensemble are. That is why I have written this letter. Within it you will find my goals as the teacher in all my ensembles. Though they are different, the outcome and benefits are the same.

Music has been, and always will be an important subject to teach students. This is because of its important role in our society and what music means to us on an individual basis.

The ancient Greeks knew this and made sure that music was taught along with the other subjects.  Teaching music appreciation in our public schools creates a more balanced and well-rounded student. Playing in an ensemble and learning to implement personal practice time teaches students the value of teamwork and making their individual voice a part of the group.

After seeing the effects of a well-rounded education that includes music, and understanding how participation in music classes helps to develop student’s brains intellectually, it has become apparent to me that music education is vital to every students’ learning.

As the conductor, I need to schedule and plan where we will perform and when. I make it a priority to schedule as much playing time around the community as I can. This could mean your student will be representing the school in community service and volunteer work while playing for the Christmas stroll or playing in a small ensemble at the nursing home. In my opinion, this is the best way to learn. As Gandhi put it, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

I believe that students of all ages benefit from Music Education. When students are involved in a musical ensemble, they learn teamwork, individual practice, and accountability. As a music teacher, I will create a classroom environment that is conducive these goals, and will help foster creativity and safety of the students.

As educators, it is our duty to inspire and make this essential subject available to everyone. I would like parents, teachers, students, and administration of the school district that I work in to be proud of the musical students they have in their schools. I hope they will also enjoy and appreciate the music that will be created through many hours of practice together as a team.

Warm regards,

Shannalee Finlayson

Blog 6: Tone

Dear Future Me,

1) Once Upon a Time (the TV Show) is awesome.
2) Junior recitals are fun.
3) Since you missed April Fools day, you'll have to observe it tomorrow (being the 2nd of April, 2012).

Now for the REAL list of 3 for this blog. It's all about tone. Why is it important to a group of musicians? Here are 3 key reasons:

1) Woodwinds and brass. They must blend together. As one. This is an ensemble after all, and freedictionary.com defines ensemble as: "A unit or group of complementary parts that contribute to a single effect." If we as woodwinds don't join as one with the brass, what would we have? Madness, that's correct.
2) If you are having a conversation with your friend and mean for it to be a pleasant one, you would confuse them very much if you were speaking with a harsh tone, would you not? Yelling with furrowed eyebrows, "HEY, YOU'RE RECITAL PEICES WERE EXTREMELY INTERESTING!!!!" would most likely sound very insincere. One the same note, you would not want Silent Night to have the same tone as Back in Black.....and so forth.
3) Pointing out the tone qualities of a group really helps them to listen to each other more and develop their ears. The more we as musicians  can do this, the more virtuosic we become.

Love,
a past you, Shannalee

Observations with Kelly Berdahl

Dear me,

The first thing that I noticed about Mr. Berdahl is that he had a plan for the group and also had goals in mind. He demonstrated this a number of different ways:

1. The warm ups were a learning experience and could be used to help them out with the pieces they were working on.
2.  He told them to pass in one piece because it was "too easy" for them. This made them feel really good about their work as an ensemble I bet. Maybe that would be just a good idea to do anyway! Just pass out a piece every once in a while that is a little too easy for them. It'll boost their confidence! I bet that's what he was thinking...clever!
3. He had huge elaborate shields as hall passes. He wanted the group to all be there for rehearsal so he devised this plan so they would only want to leave if it was an emergency. Haha I think it worked pretty well and was just awesome overall! I tried to make that relate to the topic that I started with.  : ]

Besides these goals, there were some other things that I observed while watching his class twice. (After this post I will write about my experience with leading warm ups.)

1. Once he asked them who could help play at the basketball game that weekend. No one volunteered and they were chatting amongst themselves. That made him...come unglued. He told them that they should be proud of these girls who had made it this far and that they should be able to take just two hours out of their weekend to represent their school in this way. It was quite alarming and this kind of tone from Kelly Berdahl probably helped them to remember what their goals were.  I think having a talk like this every once in a while would benefit the group and help put them on track again (although I don't think I'll be able to get quite that sort of volume...). Like Dr. Stark said, he wasn't upset with them, but more at the decision they were making.  
2. He gave great compliments and made them work for them. I really want to work on making my compliments more meaningful and say them a little less often so they want to work for it. Quality over quantity! 
3. He was very expressive with his conducting which I think makes them want to watch him.

Lot's to think about :) 

Your friend,

Shannalee