Brianna Brown - 3B - Centennial High School

March 17, 2017

Topic: Musical Performance/Education
Event Evaluated: Mentor Meetings Under Dr. Holt

Mentor Assignment #1

Preview:
The following Mentor Assessment outlines the combined experiences of two mentor
meetings (3/14/17 and 3/16/17) held with Dr. Holt, where I learned about the foundations of
being an effective music teacher and gained some practice in analyzing a students performance.
I was also given the opportunity to observe and understand how a highly stressful event impacts
a teacher and what they must do in order to ensure a peaceful, productive class.

Analysis:
The life of a musician is filled with wonder and exploration, as well as hardship and
constant tests of willpower. The life of a music teacher however, is nothing but constant tests of
willpower. Through my observation of Dr. Holt, it is easy to see the side of teaching that is often
forgotten. Students competing for attention and critiques, piles of music waiting to be organized,
chairs and stands thrown about the closet-sized room, are just a few of the daily tasks that a she
must handle all while maintaining a perfectly collect composure. Though I have only met with
her a few times, she has already allowed me into this hectic world in many different ways.
One of the first ways Ive been able to experience the life of a music teacher is through
doing some manual labor myself. Ive been given the opportunity to organize music, number
measures in original copies, set up the room before school begins, and organize competition
material. Though it doesnt seem like much, doing these small tasks is critical to keeping the
schools orchestra running properly and peacefully. It is also good to see that I am not only
receiving some hands on experience, but I am also helping my mentor in a time of great stress.
Doing these tasks is critical to understanding a music educator because it lays the foundation of
order for the class. In theory, if the music were to remain chaotically placed about the room, a lot
of class time would be wasted trying to simply locate different pieces or parts. By having a
system of organization, this allows the class to run effectively and quickly (two traits that are
highly important when working within a time constraint). I plan to transfer this level of
organization into my own teaching methods so that when it comes time to teach, I can focus
more on my student and their needs rather than wasting time trying to locate something.
Preparation is not important, but instead is vital to the world of music and its teachings.
Another way that Dr. Holt has introduced me to the world of musical educators is through
watching her teach other students and involving me sporadically. While I am going about my
assigned task, she will ask if I noticed anything about the students playing or what my opinion
was on the performance. This gives me an opportunity to practice my methods of communicating
to a student, while also forcing me to multitask in ways that I am not entirely used to. One
example of this would be when I was organizing the music for an upcoming competition, an
underclassman came in to perform for Dr. Holt. Overall the student demonstrated a great amount
of time and work placed into the piece, however they still had some room for improvement. I
watched as Dr. Holt would first point out the problem area and ask how they felt about it. This
is usually just an implication that something in that part was not exactly right, but in few cases it
is used to point out a particularly good area of the music. By asking the student how they felt
about it, it allows them the opportunity to give themselves a critique or praise. A student being
able to identify good and bad within music is an important trait to possess and implementing this
question technique allows them to build it greatly. Going back to the underclassman, they were
able to understand that they had not played something right, but could not identify why. This is
when Dr. Holt caught my attention and asked what I thought the problem area was. After a little
thought, I suggested that the student improve their tone, as the projection of sound was very
weak, and therefore most likely impairing their intonation. Dr. Holt then went on to expand my
idea and gave the student multiple options on how to achieve this improved tone. This continued
on until the student had to leave for their next class, and they left feeling and sounding more
confident than ever. Looking at how such improvement can be made in such a short amount of
time rose many questions and ideas.
One of these questions came from observing the great amount of detail Dr. Holt put into
each response or idea she gave. Why? Why was she giving one student such an abundance of
options to fix one small problem? I learned that this was to allow the student some flexibility in
their choice and help them choose a technique that fit them the best. Also, explaining each option
in massive detail allows the student to at least become some what acquainted with it. It educates
them and allows them a foundation for if they encounter another similar problem that calls for a
different solution. Another question was how? How was she able to remain so calm in a time of
intense pressure on both parties? The simplest answer I received was that she transferred her
urgency into teaching. It is not good for the teacher to become frantic or impatient because then
nothing would ever get fixed and the student would remain stagnant in their musical abilities,
ultimately defeating the purpose of teaching. What I ultimately learned from these questions, was
that maintaining a good source of communication at all times is key when teaching a student
especially if the student is under intense stress. This solid communication allows for the student
to better understand the material while also providing them a sense of comfort, rather than
adding onto the massive stress already felt.

Reflection:
Overall, I believe that I still have much to learn from Dr. Holt, but now I will be focusing
on the details and aspects often overlooked. By focusing onto these things, I will expand my
knowledge of both music and teaching to a level far beyond just listening and critiquing. These
experiences have also help me set a goal for future meetings, where I will strive to help at least
one student not only fix a mistake, but also teach them a valuable technique that they may carry
on to other performances. The goal will be to help them not just improve, but to understand why
they have improved, and by doing so they will begin developing their own understanding and
expansion of the world of music that surrounds them.