Xaiver Williams

Dr. Maynard

MUS 271

30 September 2020
Practicum Observation #1

This practicum experience opened my eyes to how creative music educators can be in the

primary years of education. It is one thing to read scholarly writings on how to keep students

engaged in the classroom and another to be able to do that effectively. This class of 22 second-

grade students are in a musical environment where they have the opportunity to be engaged with

the music experience through several opportunities to participate. This educator believes in using

every second of the class period to keep the students involved and connected to the task at hand.

There were a few teaching strategies that caught my attention throughout the duration of

the class period. First, the teacher uses a body warm-up with an upbeat classical piece to get the

students ready for the class period. This struck me because the students may never listen to this

particular song ever again, but due to their ability to stomp, pat, clap, and wave their arms to the

beat of the music there is a different perspective the students now have with this particular song.

As a future educator, this is something that I would like to use at any level of education that I

teach. Using different genres of music can help students engage in different styles of music and

learn different concepts of music that they may not have learned before.

Secondly, I admire how the teacher uses one or two songs to teach a new concept. Earlier

in the class period, she reviews a piece that she has done before with the students and has them

sing it with her. She then has the students add an ostinato to clap to the song to add a level of

difficulty and the students do a great job clapping what the teach. Also, the teacher adds a new

song to the mix titled Button You Must Wander. For this song, she has the students identify each

phrase of the song with a letter. The next activity is one with the students sitting in a circle
Xaiver Williams

Dr. Maynard

MUS 271

30 September 2020
passing a button around and a student has to sit in the middle and guess who has the button. The

use of repetition and creativity seems to be a great tool to help students learn music and be

engaged in what is taking place in the classroom.

I enjoyed watching the educator connect with her students and the students being able to

connect with her through this amazing musical experience that took place in the classroom. In

my opinion, this is a great example of how to keep young students involved in the learning

experience while keeping it fun and productive. The main takeaway that I learned from this

observation is the importance of never wasting a second in class to have the students sing, clap,

or dance.