Experience 9

One of my favorite parts of student teaching is observing my CT to see how a more experienced teacher navigates the elementary classroom. My CT is very effective at helping the students to internalize music. She uses the term “audiation” often throughout each class, and almost always instructs the students to sing or chant music in their minds before they perform music verbally or physically. She also reminds the students often to take a deep breath before they sing. Her emphasis on breath and audiation help the students think about the music they hear and the music they perform. It also helps them compare the music they produce with a model so they can produce music with more accuracy.

My CT is also good at focusing the students on a specific goal and getting the students to reflect on their own actions. If the students do not perform the way she expects she says “I am noticing that [insert observed behavior or result]. Let’s do it again and see if we can [insert desired behavior or result].” She finds that praising an individual student such as “I like how Sarah is [fill in the observed behavior]” can bring undesired attention so she rarely used this approach. Instead, she prefers to say “I am noticing that some students are [insert desired action] but some students are [insert undesired action]. Let’s do it again and see if we can all [insert desired action].” If an individual student needs to be redirected she’ll often ask them a question like “Was that a responsible choice?” or “Was that a safe choice?” In most instances the students will say “no” and correct the behavior. If the student argues with her she does not concede, but rather maintains that she observed the action and it is not appropriate.

In my short amount of time in the classroom I have tried to replicate some of these approaches myself so I can develop my own method of effective teaching. Since the schools have closed due to the pandemic I have not been able to try these ideas in a traditional format, but I have been able to try them out by creating virtual content. I have also taken time to watch the virtual content of others such as the “Sing to Kids” YouTube channel by Jennifer Bailey to continue to observe experienced teachers and collect resources and ideas for my future teaching.

 

Repertoire

Most of the choirs sang at MPA, so in general the choirs had an a capella, foreign language, and slow piece (to showcase breath support) to follow MPA rules. The exception is the 6th grade choir who did not have an a capella piece because they did not attend MPA.

6th Grade

“Bring Me Little Water Sylvie” (arr by Michael Scott) is rhythmically challenging because the students are required to clap on the off beats for several measures. It also helps the students develop part independence because there are several instances where one part sings the melody while the other sings a descant. “Manx Lullaby” (arr by Lori-Anne Dolloff) is in unison which requires the students to listen to one another to match rhythmically and melodically. The slow tempo also requires students to focus on breath support to sustain each four bar phrase. “Thula Klizeo” (arr by Leanne Macdonnell) has accents on certain syllables, causing the students to focus on diction to bring out each accent. This piece also has body percussion throughout, so the students had to learn to keep their focus on the conductor to remember each motion and perform each motion with precision.

Intermediate Treble Choir

“Ma Bella Bimba” (arr by Donald Moore) emphasizes dynamics because the piece is very repetitive but the dynamic level is different each time the melody returns. Diction is also very important because of the Italian text and repetitive consonants such as “b.” “Obwisana” (arr by Victor Johnson) teaches intonation because the two parts often sing in thirds and the piece is a capella. Students have to sing with forward focus and listen to one another to stay in tune without support from the piano. “O Lux Beatissima” (Mark Burrows) has many ending consonants which requires the students to look at the conductor, count, and listen to one another to make sure each cutoff is precise. The piece also teaches breath support because energy and abdominal support is required to sustain some long phrases.

Gentleman’s Choir

The main focus of “The Drunken Sailor” (arr by Emily Crocker) is diction because several of the notes are fast so the student must articulate in order for the text to be understood. “Canto de Pilon” (arr by Christian Grases) is a capella so forward focus, breath support,  and listening are vital to keep the intonation without support from the piano. “Set Me As a Seal Upon Your Heart” (arr by Laura Farnell) emphasizes phrasing because there is a crescendo to a target word and diminuendo from the peak within each phrase. Singers must also be conscientious of their breath to maintain a legato sensation in each phrase.

Advanced Treble Choir

“Alle Meine Keider” (arr by Christi Jones) is simple melodically but is challenging textually because of the German language. The main focus of the piece is diction because there are several vowels and consonants that are not common in the English language and because there are several points throughout the piece when each of the three parts sings different text at the same point in time. “For the Beauty of the Earth” (are by John Rutter) teaches breath support and registration because of the long phrases and the large skips in the melody. Singers have to be conscientious of maintaining energy throughout the phrase because they often sustain the ending syllable for one or two measures. “Jericho!” (arr by Reginal Wright) has a large change in expression because the beginning is free and relaxed while the remainder is intense and energetic. The optional descant part in the soprano line teaches vowel modification because the students are in a high register and have to modify the vowel to maintain support, ease, and intonation in the sound.

 

Experience 8

This week was full of many endings and beginnings as I finished my secondary placement and began my elementary placement. At the middle school I had the chance to conduct the sixth grade and intermediate treble choirs in concert then my CT conducted the gentlemen’s choir and advanced treble choir. At first I compared the sound of my choirs with my CT’s choirs, but I quickly caught myself because it really was not a fair comparison. Between being a new teacher, having more students on behavior intervention plans, and teaching the beginning choirs, of course my choirs were not able to reach the same caliber of music-making. Sure their dynamics were lacking, the sound was thin and airy, and there were intonation problems, but my students did their best. So regardless of the result, I was proud my students and myself because of the hours of hard work and dedication that went into preparing for the concert.

Furthermore, my treble choir didn’t give up. Even though I miscued the students, the intonation fell at the end of their a capella piece, and there were no dynamics in the concert, they continued to fix these areas and improve them before MPAs, two days later. When they stepped on stage they gave it their all, everything fell into place, and they received a superior rating for stage performance and an excellent rating in sight reading. It was very difficult to say goodbye, and I already miss these wonderful singers.

My first day at the elementary school was adventurous. Due to the way the rotation fell, I got to see all the classes with students who need extra physical, social, or behavioral support. In these classes their teacher and EAs stay in the music classroom with them. In some classes the students have the developmental age of toddlers so the music lesson was an early childhood music lesson. It was interesting to observe that their teachers often gave small gummies, candies, or crackers to reward good behavior.

In other classes the students frequently swear, argue, say that music is dumb, or throw a full-blown tantrum, kicking and screaming in the back of the room if they don’t get their way. In these classes my CT fights to keep them engaged and tries to incorporate repertoire and activities they like such as the Star Wars soundtrack and building homemade instruments. I wasn’t sure how to respond to these behaviors so I asked my CT. At times she recommended ignoring attention-seeking behavior, at other times gently refocusing or encouraging the students, and at other times it was appropriate to step back and let their teachers or EAs handle a problem.

It was definitely an interesting first day at the elementary school. I didn’t expect to be working with such a variety of students, but it has been a good experience to see how other teachers accommodate students and help everyone make music. As I transition from middle school to elementary I am excited to work with students of all ages and abilities.

Musicianship in the Classroom

Many of the middle schoolers I work with have difficulty singing in parts so I have been helping them to build this skill. I have the students echo my tonal patterns, follow solfege hand signs without me singing, then have one half of the the room follow the hand signs of my right hand and the other half of the room follow the hand signs of my left hand. When I have each half of the room follow a different hand, I use the principles of counterpoint to make sure that the parts I am making up on the spot are singable. I try to balance the similar, parallel, contrary, and oblique motion to keep each part interesting and challenging, yet within their ability to sing well.

My CT is good at identifying dissonance and consonance in music. She point these moments out to the students and describes the tension and release as “juicy” to help students enjoy and emphasize suspensions and other dissonances. She also knows the history behind each of the pieces so that when students ask questions about lyrics she can answer these questions and give the text increased meaning.

I think that in my own teaching I need to focus more on score study. I need to know how the vocal and piano parts relate, know who the composer is (including where and when they lived), and know the historical context behind each piece. This will help me be more informed and prepared as I answer the questions of my students. It will also help me to better teach, interpret, and bring the music to life.

Experience 7

Recently my CT hired clinicians to work with two of the middle school choirs. A few weeks ago a newer teacher worked with the gentlemen’s choir during an after-school clinic on a Friday afternoon, then this last weekend a teacher who is close to retirement worked with the advanced women’s choir on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. It was interesting to observe the teaching strategies of each clinician and the behavioral and musical response of each choir.

The gentlemen’s choir is full of many active and easily distracted students so their clinician used a lot of games in an attempt to keep the singers engaged. He frequently gave them little 10-second breaks to tell a neighbor their favorite kind of pizza, their middle name, or another random fact. He also let the students sit during rehearsal, but anyone with lazy posture had to stand up while everyone else got to sit down. But the students had a shot at redemption. If they answered a musical question correctly a few minutes later, they could sit back down. This clinician had a very good understanding of the male voice, and had them singing their falsetto so they could practice having a very focused, light, and clear tone to transfer into their lower voice.

Overall, he was very good at making learning fun. For example, if he wanted the students to combine two words and eliminate any breath or break in between, he would tell them that they were making up a new word (wing+my=wingmy). Or if he wanted the students to sing the more of the ending consonant “t,” he would tell them to “spill the tea.” These games were usually helpful, however there were other times and when the singers got riled up but would not calm down after doing a fun game. They were having trouble balancing fun and focus so they did not accomplish as much as they could have.

The advanced women had a very different clinic, in part because of the differing group dynamic. The advanced women’s choir is a select choir, so students with poor grades,  motivation, and behavior are not put in the choir. The student can still be talkative, but they are usually better at focusing. Their clinician still had to address behavior at times, but he had high expectations for silence when instruction was being given, which kept the students quiet and on task. The increased focus and musical ability of this choir allowed the clinician to go much more in depth and help the singers refine their musicality.

The clinician for the the girls had a very scientific approach, though he still used movement and other activities to help the students sing well. For example, he talked about how breathy choirs sound very elementary but if the students take the breathiness out, they can sound very mature. He had the students give a very airy tone and hold their hands far apart, then as they brought their hands together they had to add more focus to their sound. The visual representation helped them to physically get rid of excess air and focus their tone.

At another point, he drew a side-view of a person’s mouth and explained how placing the vowels in different areas of the mouth helps singers to be more authentic in performing in various musical styles from opera to Broadway to pop. He also talked about the tendency of different singers to sing sharp or flat and how interspersing people of these different tendencies would help the tuning of the overall choir. Towards the end of the choir, he had the students stand near and sing to the wall to get acoustic feedback from the wall. This helped the students listen to themselves and one another so they could perform even precise cut-offs without a director.

Both choirs had noticeable improvement from the beginning to the end of the clinic, however it was even more noticeable with the girls. This difference was in part due to the experience of the singers, the experience of the clinicians, the behavior and focus of each group, and the length of each clinic.  The boys did have improvement in diction, blend, and dynamics, but the change the girls made in their repertoire was breathtaking. The attention to detail in facial expression, balance, blend, diction, dynamics, and vowel placement helped the students to be engaged in their music and be so much more expressive in their singing.

I enjoyed going to these clinics because I learned so much about the different approaches I can take as a teacher. I can have fun with the students but I can also have high expectations. I can make them do silly movements to improve the quality of their singing, but I can also explain the science behind singing. I am grateful that I was able to observe other choir directors and learn some of their tips and tricks to use in my own teaching.