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.