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.

Experience 6

This week, my cooperating teacher suggested that I use straws and kazoos with the students to help them work on breath control, phrasing, and focus. However, the problem with giving the students a straw or kazoo is that there is the potential for many classroom management issues. The students like to bend or destroy their straws and play the kazoo when I have not instructed them to.

In anticipation of behavior issues, I set clear expectations for the straws and kazoos before handing out the materials. I explained that the students would get one straw and one kazoo which they were responsible for taking care of. If the student destroyed or lost either material, they would have to sing with words while everyone else sang through a straw or kazoo. I also explained that these materials are privileges, so if the students showed me that they could not handle them, they would have to put the materials away.

Using the straws and kazoos has been an adventure. The students sing with more forward focus, better phrasing, and better abdominal support when they use these tools. I often alternate between having them sing through a straw or kazoo then have them sing using lyrics. This helps them create the necessary support, then they have to recreate that sensation without the straw or kazoo. Using these tools has also been challenging because I have to constantly remind the students of the expectations, keep on top of behavior management, and sometimes tell the students to put the tools away because they are making poor choices. But as I continue to be very firm with my expectations and follow through with the consequences, the straws and kazoos are a great aid rather than a distraction.

Student Behavior

Throughout the last month and a half of student teaching it has been interesting to observe patterns of behavior with classes, sections, and individual students. In some instances, I have seen behavior evolve over time but in other instances behavioral patterns have continued. It has also been interesting to see how the behavior differs depending on whether I am teaching or whether my CT is teaching.

The gentlemen’s choir is very energetic. In general the students like to chat, joke around, and do tik tok dances during warmups. The students are great musicians and can accomplish a lot when they are focused, but they often break out into side conversations when the teacher is trying to give instructions. There is one student in particular that I refocus daily. He often dances in the middle of class, tips his chair back and forth, distracts his neighbors, or puts his feet on the chair in front of him. On the other hand,  the advanced women’s choir is usually very responsive and focused. The second sopranos are often guilty of talking to each other when the teacher is trying to give directions, but otherwise the students refocus quickly and get a lot of work done.

The intermediate women’s choir has the most behavior problems of the classes I work with. Some of the students prefer to draw rather than sing, some put a hoodie over their head and refuse to participate, others look at the director but don’t move their mouths, some stare off into space, and others turn around to talk with a neighbor rather than sing. Much of rehearsal every day is spent reminding the students to stop talking, put away distractions, have good posture, and sing.

I have seen the biggest shift in behavior with the 6th graders. At the beginning of the semester they were the group who were the most quiet and willing to participate, but now they get easily distracted and talk to one another rather than follow directions. Two students in particular are rarely on task. They rarely watch the director or face the front of the room, instead turning to talk to a neighbor rather than listen. If they do happen to look at the director, they giggle or stare blankly rather than sing.

The most helpful tools I have found to help with management are pacing and variety. If I teach with a lot of down time or space, I lose the attention of the students and it is hard to get it back. I have also observed that students respond well to routines because they know what to expect, however I have found that by including a little bit of variety there is higher engagement and students are less likely to be bored. I have found that in general eye contact, proximity, and nonverbal cues are the best ways to refocus students. If these are not enough, I tell the entire class to do the desired action or name the students who are doing what I asked. If needed, I also say the name of an individual student who is acting out to get their attention and refocus their behavior. My CT has brought to my attention that some behaviors are attention-seeking, so I sometimes ignore the behavior and move on. If I wait for the students to be completely silent before moving on a lot of time is wasted, but if I just continue to plow forward with the lesson the distracted students often rejoin the activity.

The students usually behave better with my CT than they do for me. I think that part of this is due to familiarity and part of this is due to trust. The students know my CT better than they know me so they are more familiar with and respond better to her personality and teaching style. Many of the students have known her for years so they trust and follow her directions well. On the other hand, I have only spent a month and a half with them so there is some trust built, but not to the same degree as my CT. As such, I usually have more behavior problems than my CT. I think that when I eventually have a more permanent job, I will gradually be able to build trust and familiarity with my students so they will eventually respond favorably to me.

Teaching and Instruction

In general, my cooperating teacher uses moderate to fast pacing. This helps to keep the students engaged. At times, she will have the students work on one piece for the majority of the class period, but she still maintain a fast pacing by constantly changing how she asks the students to sing. She might ask one part to sing, ask all parts to sing, instruct them to focus on vowels, tell them to focus on ending consonants, draw attention to a specific articulation, or remind students of the dynamics. If the students are struggling on a specific section, she has them repeat it several times in rapid succession or sing while doing some sort of movement so that the repetition is not boring.

My cooperating teacher’s instruction is different depending on how long the students have been working on a piece. When the piece is brand new, she has them listen to a recording to gain familiarity with the piece. As they begin to rehearse new repertoire she has the students sing through the piece a little bit at a time, supporting the students by playing one part on the piano and singing with the other part. She often has the students stand in circles so that they gain more confidence and part independence. As it gets closer to a performance, she begins to have them sing longer chunks or the entire song so they can begin to tie the seams and understand the bigger picture. They correct sections as needed then sing the entire piece again.

As the concert approaches, she pushes them to sing as much as possible from memory so that performing from memory in the concert is easy. A week or two before the concert, she might also record the students and have them listen to the recording to help them understand what they need to improve on. She also shifts her focus from pitch accuracy to artistic interpretation of the piece through diction, dynamics, and articulation.

Many of the questions my cooperating teacher asks are recall questions. For example, she will often ask the student how many times a particular melody happens to help them perform accurately from memory. However, she also asks reflective questions to help the student connect the pieces to their own lives or to help with student think of ways they can improve their singing.

Few activities are student-led, but they are always student-focused. At times the students get to lead a familiar warm-up, make suggestions for improvement, or determine dance moves in a listening or movement activity. Usually, my cooperating teacher usually tells the students what to sing and how to sing it, but she always listens to the students to determine what pieces or concepts need the most attention. She is very aware of student behavior, posture, note accuracy, blend, diction, and dynamics and consistently makes corrections to help the students make the best sound possible. She uses a mix of modeling and verbalizing in her instruction. She often has the students sing, comments on an improvement to be made, models the way that it should sound, and has the students sing with the adaptation.

Experience 5

This week my cooperating teacher and I spent a lot of time discussing non-traditional ways to teach choir. Middle schoolers have a short attention span and so they focus better when they do active activities to do throughout the class period. This was especially true on Friday because it was the end of the week, Valentine’s day, and right before a 3-day weekend.

I have found that it can be really helpful to have the students do a wall push-up, wall sits, or sit-ups during slower pieces so that the students engage their abdominal muscles and support the sound through a sustained note or crescendo. If students are not to listening to one another or rush the tempo, I have found that it is helpful to tell them to close their eyes so that they focus more on what they hear. If the students have trouble with a particular rhythm, it can be helpful to have them do body percussion to internalize the rhythm. Or if the altos keep wanting to sing the melody, it can be helpful to have them squat to remember that they go to a lower pitch.

I have found that when I incorporate more movement and fun activities into singing, the students are able to focus more easily and produce better sound. Incorporating movement also keeps the music fresh and interesting so the students and myself are less likely to get bored while rehearsing the same music week after week. I look forward to finding other ways to bring movement into the choral classroom to help the students stay engaged and to keep the music alive.

Classroom Environment

My cooperating teacher meets the students at the door and greets them each by name. She displays a music related question or prompt on the projector for students to complete at the beginning of class. As students enter the room they spit out their gum, put their belongings on either the rug or foam mat at the front of the room, grab their binder from the designated slot, and sit in their assigned seats.

The back of the room has three riser-like steps so that each of the three rows of chairs is at a different height and it is easy to see over the other students. The walls have music related posters displaying vocabulary, dynamics, and solfege. There are also inspirational posters about working hard and the current date and date of the next concert are clearly displayed. Student supplies such as pencils, tissues, hand sanitizer, and the clipboard to sign out when leaving the room are all on a shelf near the door.

When the tardy bell rings, my CT closes the door and takes attendance. She compares her seating chart with the numbered seats to easily identify which students are absent. Students are given a few minutes to complete the prompt from the projector, they discuss the answer to the prompt, and the students stand for warm ups.

My CT does physical warm ups, breathing exercises, vocal exploration, phonation exercises, diction and vowel exercises, and has the students sing a rote song in a round. The student sit and take out sight reading. They use a procedure similar to MPAs so they will feel more prepared in the sight-reading room. My CT has the students identify the key signature, time signature, starting note, ending note, and range. The student speak the solfege in rhythm, establish the key, sing the exercise, talk about what needs to be improved, and sing the exercise again.

The students put away their sight reading page and stand. They sing one of their pieces as far as possible from memory. Once they reach a point where they can’t remember what is next, my CT reviews the parts individually then together. The students sing the section several times and are given a new goal to focus on with each repetition. During one repetition they focus on dynamics and during another repetition they focus on diction. My CT gives the students physical tasks to complete to remind them of their goals. She has the use arm movements to portray the growth and decay of the dynamics or punch the air to remind them to emphasize certain consonants. These movement keep the students engaged and focused as they sing.

My CT has the students take out another piece and stand in circles according to voice part. The students are a little talkative and sloppy forming circles but are refocused easily. Most students participate and the change in singing formation helps them stay interested and focused. My CT plays each voice part individually at the piano then has all the voice parts sing simultaneously. Being in close proximity with others in their voice part helps the students to sing out more confidently. The bell rings, so my CT dismisses the students. They put their binders away in their designated slots, gather their belongings, and exit after another class period of music making.

Experience 4

This week has been both challenging and exciting. Now that I have been working with the students for several weeks I have been able to form relationships with them. Many of the students talk to me before or after class and ask me about college, what I did over the weekend, invite me to attend performances for their extracurricular activities, or give me a drawing. But now that they are more familiar with me, they are sometimes less willing to participate and push the boundaries to see how much they can get away with. I am now having more problems with classroom management so I am learning to develop the skills of awareness, remaining firm, and planning more engaging lessons to prevent boredom and behavior problems.

The intermediate choir I am working with has been especially challenging. I am struggling to get students to participate so I am worried they will not be prepared for their concert and MPAs. My cooperating teacher has suggested that I use faster pacing and more variety while I teach to keep the students engaged. She has suggested having the students sing in circles, record audio of the students singing for them to listen to, sing facing a wall so they get more immediate audio feedback, use movement such as punching the air each time there is an accent, have them sing along to an accompaniment track while I conduct, and give a candy prize to the student with the best vowels. I hope that as I incorporate more variety into my teaching that I can keep the students engaged so that they will want to sing and be better prepared for their upcoming performances.

Despite these challenges, there are also very rewarding moments. For example, I recently went to a school board meeting where the students who went to All State were recognized. I was so happy to see them receiving recognition for their accomplishments, and many of them excitedly said hi to me before or after the meeting. I could tell that they were very happy that I had taken time out of my day to come and support them and I was so proud of all of their hard work.