Benjamin McCarley

Talbot Class Observation 2006

Through the class that I observed in a virtual setting, I was able to observe and analyze many
different aspects of the classroom, the teacher, and the students that provided me many different ways
to think and how I want to teach.

Starting off in chronological order of events, the class started in a circle on equal ground. The
classroom seemed like a welcoming place, with different musical posters around the wall and plenty of
natural light through the windows. When almost everyone had entered the room, the teacher gathered
attention of the entire class and started the warm-up process. Through the interactive hand gestures of
solfege and rhythmic beating on different parts of the body along with the changing note patterns, the
class was able to learn about music in a fun interactive way. The warmups conveyed the knowledge of
major and minor intervals and scales to students through openly singing, and rhythmic beatings through
the movement of the body and tapping/clapping/slapping along with the rhythm. The teacher was able
to assess both the group’s and the individual’s performance through repetition of the exercises, adding
on to the concept step by step to gauge the student’s performance. When a student came in late, no
mention was made of it, and the circle became inclusive without any words needed. When there was a
small issue of talking, the teacher took care of the issue discretely and quickly to maximize classroom
time and efficiency. Towards the end of warm-ups, students started to share some ideas on what to do
to end their warm-up period, and the teacher used their ideas in order to teach and demonstrate
further. By splitting up the group, the class learns more about musical independence and improvising in
a group setting and reaching a general understanding in the small group

When it was time to end the warm-up period of class, a transition occurred for the students to
gather their materials for the next section, which was recorders. The transition was quick to maximize
class time. The students, having their instruments and books ready, proceeding to move through the
book and scale work. These exercises were able to teach the students how to play a specific scale, but
also playing together in an ensemble, focusing on sound quality a little and improvisation within the
ensemble. The teacher was able to assess the student’s by having them play in groups of 2 to 3 students.
In this style, the teacher can hear what each individual student is doing, but not have to focus or call out
on a particular student if they make a mistake, as the teacher can clearly hear who it is coming from and
not have to deviate attention from the group. The teacher demonstrates the next step of the exercise by
playing for and with the students and also counting them off, playing each page of the book a few times
and then quickly transitioning to the next page. This technique is highly efficient in this environment
because the students can learn how to play it through the teacher’s demonstration. The repetition of a
section or page helps to cement the particular skills or goal of the assignment.

Through the next speedy transition into percussion, the usage of terms familiar to the students
along with the demonstrations of percussion technique, intonation and rhythm by the teacher provide
positive reinforcement to the students. The environment set up in this part of the class make the
students the active builders of the class, giving them opportunities to make the class what they want it
to be with the teacher backing them up. The next transition into the Orff instruments also builds upon
this foundation of the students being both learners and creators of the classroom. The students are the
ones going to retrieve the instruments from storage and actively moving and placing them in desired
spots. This creates an open environment for the students to do whatever they deem fit in that instance.
After setting up the space, the students then start playing the instruments and build a song through
what they play. This idea has the students learn more through playing. The teacher uses this to the
class’s benefit by changing meter and crossing rhythms within the song, providing a level of higher
challenge, bettering the class.

In the entire class and particularly this exercise, the students have complete freedom to explore
music, have chances to make mistakes and fall back in whenever, not having to worry about failure, but
rather the joy and success of making music. In order to foster musical growth, creativity and freedom to
play and do is needed. The space for making music in this classroom seems to foster a student’s ability
to be creative, and explore the vast world of music. The teacher is able to convey a sense of authority in
the classroom by maintaining control of the exercises and specific tasks for the day while being able to
foster a student’s growth through being a teacher and guide, but also learning about and from the
students and what they do with music.

I gathered many different techniques and styles to teach. While I do not necessarily want to
teach in a 6th grade music setting, some of the practices of pedagogy of music can be transferred over to
a higher level of education. I can still provide a classroom space for students to explore and build upon
their individual foundations of music. I can be a guide to the students in what they want to learn, but
also learn from them in order to better myself and my teaching practices.
 Ben McCarley

Talbot

Cranford High School Concert Choir Rehearsal 11/12/14 (44 minutes = .8 hours)

This high school choir practice began with the ringing of the school’s bell system, which

prompted the students, who were talking to slowly become quiet. The room as set up so as the choir is

in a semi-circle of risers divided by voice part with the piano in the middle of the room so everyone

could see the director. Once class had started, the teacher had everyone have their 30 second time of

silence, which helped to ease into rehearsal and calm the spirit before everyone starts singing. The

environment was welcoming, with music posters and colorful walls within the room. The atmosphere

was fun and engaging, with students getting ready to sing beautiful music and the teacher providing an

open classroom. The teacher teaches and guides the choir while playing the piano throughout warmups.

While the students are singing warmups, the teacher provides feedback to the students while they are

singing. The teacher provides a visual representation of air spinning to help the students in their

warmups, creating a connection and reinforcement for proper singing technique. The last exercise

involved the teacher having the students sing the same melody but spaced out every 2 notes, creating

harmony within the choir. This helps the choir learn more about singing in parts and learning more

about the blending on voices into one unified voice. When warmups were completed, the students are

asked to sit down, and music is passed out. During this time, no time is wasted, and daily

announcements and other news are passed along to the choir during this time. Support of one of the

classes was proposed, and students were able to voice opinions, creating a very open environment.

When the books have been passed out, the next section of singing begins. Once there is a stopping

point, the teacher creates another instance of an open environment by asking the students what they

think they can improve upon. This allows the students to have freedom by controlling the class space,

and putting in their personal opinions and feelings into what they can do better to become well-rounded
musicians. The teacher is able to recognize the student’s contributions by applying their responses and

answers and put them into context on what they are singing, and how they can improve upon it. When

they move on to their concert piece, the teacher enhances the student’s experience by making large

conducting motions to convey expression and movement within the piece. For reinforcement purposes,

the teacher goes over individual parts. The students are then asked to stand when the individual parts

are finished so as to bring unity and connectiveness to the entire ensemble. The practice of singing on a

neutral syllable while still in the learning phase of a piece and singing solfege in the new sections helps

the students to start learning the song without worrying about the words yet.

In conclusion, the teacher was able to create an open and welcoming environment throughout

the rehearsal. He was able to connect what they were learning through different musical terms,

expressive movement, and general openness. The students were able to apply their musical abilities

through the singing of the exercise and express their thoughts on what they were doing.
 Benjamin McCarley

Talbot

Eric Combs Day 1 Beginning Band (30 minutes = .5 hours)

This video shows the first day of a 6th grade beginning band. The video begins with the teacher

giving a foreword about what the lesson plan would be like for the class. The teacher was very prepared

for the student’s arrival, taking proper steps such as labeling the chair’s with the student’s names,

setting up a tuner and a pencil on every music stand, having loaner instruments available for students,

and having already set up lockers for the students the prior week to have a smooth first lesson. Outside

of the room, the department has whiteboards that designate where each grade goes to each day to

either chorus or band. While the first day in many classes consists of procedures, guidelines, and rules,

but the teacher was able to create a plan where they were able to play a little bit. When the students

did arrive, the teacher was able to answer questions and give students time to orientate themselves

with the new environment. Once the students were able to get on their instruments and start playing,

the teacher was willing to let them warm-up and play while he had to take care of some student issues

and other administrative tasks to keep the class moving. After properly explaining what stepping up to

the podium and explaining what that meant, the teacher started some warmup exercises with the

students. The teacher was helping the students understand what could be better, using proper musical

terms and other information explicitly for each instrument. After practicing a few of the tunes, the

teacher was able to give them time for individual practice time, giving them freedom to practice and

move at their own pace.

In conclusion, the teacher was able to create a very welcoming environment for the students,

giving them freedom to create music, even within the limited class time on the very first day. The

students were able to express their questions and play music freely.
 Benjamin McCarley

Talbot

String Academy Beginning Group Class (45:30 = .8 hours)

The video begins with the students, being around the ages of 6-7 or so (at least that is my

guess), standing in a sort of line with the instructors around them and the parents sitting behind in

chairs. The instruction starts with the students holding the instruments, with the teacher having them

count. The teacher has them tapping the instrument on different pitches while the teacher goes down

the line and helps out every individual student. In terms of rhythmic work, the teacher has them

plucking strings and stomping their feet to emphasize beat and having them learn music through

movement. The students then play the exercise by themselves down the line while the teacher assess

their level of understanding. The students then give the instruments to their parents, who act as a

support system and a friendly face for the students. When transitioning to exercises with the string bow,

the teacher is able to have them learn technique and holding the instrument by playing one note on the

violin and the piano playing to provide rhythm structure and reinforcement. When moving over to more

advanced music, the teacher has the students playing in pairs so not to feel isolated and having a

partner to play music often helps with technique and rhythm. However, the teacher then moves down

the line again for the students to play independently down the line to teach a level of professionalism

and even has them bow after a performance to mimic a proper concert setting. The final 3 exercises are

based around building a foundation of general music skills, including solfege, a rhythm game on the

piano, and an around the circle game of keeping a beat through body language and sounds. Each of

these games provide a sense of musical foundation, and the teacher is able to keep the kids engaged,

even towards the end of class when they started to get a little bit more rowdy.
 In conclusion, the teacher was able to create an atmosphere where the students can learn more

about the instrument they play and about music in general. The exercises the teacher presented kept

the kids moving and engaged with the music. However, based on what I observed, except for a few

moments here and there, the kids did not necessarily seemed to be enjoying what they were doing.

When they were playing, many of the students seemed very mad or discontent, and seemed

disinterested in some of the exercises. While I don’t think the teacher did the best job in teaching the

students by moving down the line and having them play individually, I am not one to judge a person’s

teaching method, especially when they have had experience for way longer than my measly 4 years of

working summer camps.

Benjamin McCarley

Talbot

Paoli High School Band Lesson (34 minutes = .6 hours)

The video recording starts without any prior context with the conductor standing on the podium

ready for the band to begin warmups. While they are playing warmups from their book, the teacher look

around to the different sections to assess and understand what the students are playing and checking

their level of confidence and understanding of the music. When a stopping point is reached, the teacher

makes remarks that aim to address enhanced performance traits and steps to take to improve qualities

of tonality and pitch. He makes a remark and a suggestion for an individual to listen not just to their own

voice, but also to another in a different instrument family in order to understand the tone of the entire

ensemble and help to view the general sound of the group rather than focusing solely on an individual

sound from one instrument. When the class transitions to the Bach chorales, the teacher has them play

and hold the starting note to reinforce the starting together and breathing together mentality. He then

has them sing that note to reinforce the pitch and tone qualities on the opening note to better play as a

band and not just as a group of people playing on instruments. When tuning, the instructor has

individual sections play to enforce the tuning note for the entire section. When the band transitions to

the piece of Malguena, the teacher has the band first play different parts of the piece to focus on

learning more about the piece, as it was only the second day that the band had played the piece. The

instructor then broke down the piece into just pitches being bopped on the instruments, having the

notes being played legato for the students to recognize similar patterns and pitch values across different

parts.

Throughout the rehearsal, the teacher is able to provide an environment where failure is an

option and the themes of music can be explored by learning a new piece. The students were able to
continue learning a new piece while taking what their conductor was giving to them through feedback to

better themselves as musicians.

Benjamin McCarley

Talbot

Dan Bergman Be 4th Grade Teaching Example (38 minutes = .6 hours)

The classroom has many different aspects that make it warming to musicians, including the

musical themed carpet and the solfege sign near the windows. The class begins with the teacher playing

the theme from Star Wars and raising his hands on the 4 th beat, with his students standing in a line and

mirroring the movements that their teacher does. The teacher then adds different components of

moving such as spinning, crouching, stomping, and moving fingers up and down. This is able to teach the

kids about a steady beat, rhythm, and pulse within a particular piece of music. After having them

breathing, he then has them singing with the teacher singing with them. Creating a beat while singing

helps reinforce with the students of beat and syncopation. When moving to the piano to provide the

beat, the teacher has them singing acapella and has them spacing out their start time to express the

concept of different parts at different times. The teacher is singing many of where many would speak to

teaching phrasing to keep them rooted in music. The teacher has the students actively participate by

acting as aides and providing physical motion like the teacher was doing before in order for another way

for the students to learn the piece. The teacher even has them learning life lessons through the counting

of sticks away to respect a common space. The teacher is able to assess the student’s understanding of

the music through the sticks and the way they have them laid out. After collecting the students, the

teacher has them singing the same piece in solfege patterns with signs to demonstrate another way of

learning to sing. The teacher is singing the piece with them to show them that taking risks is acceptable

and for them to learn more about solfege. He then has them in circles and having them move around

and do different bodily movements to practice music through movement and associate music and body.

This exercise also has them moving around and keeping them engaged and encompasses an aspect of
fun. The teacher enacts a call and response movement when moving to the solfege. The teacher

engages the kid with casual fun banter that keeps the students engaged on the task at hand. The

teacher asks the kids about the lines of solfege in terms of questioning and answering lines within the

music. Ending the class, the teacher has them recognize proper endings for musical tonality and

expected outcomes to a particular sequence of music. Even when they are lining up to leave, he has

them sing to line up.

The teacher was able to create a very active and moving music class where the aspects of music

are very mobile and engaging. He was able to convey the different points of music in a very

unconventional way, which I believe sticks with the students more than a traditional learning standard.

The students are able to properly express themselves through many interactive activities that have them

singing, moving around, and using different parts of their bodies to make music.
Benjamin McCarley

Talbot

Merrill-Lee Rasmussen: Student Teaching LHS Concert Band (51:10 = .9 hours)

The environment is a typical looking band hall with the instructor in the front of the room on the

podium with the musicians seated in a half circle around the podium. The instructor has the band move

up from their seats and start rehearsal stretching. This helps to start rehearsal through the breathing

exercises and help to create a strong foundation and core for playing. The instructor has the band split

into 2 groups and moving the pitches at different times and different directions to support the idea of

using breath while playing. The instructor asks the students what their opinions are on why the exercise

is being done, and the instructor uses their answers to enforce what the exercise is all about and provide

feedback. The instructor has them listening to another instrument other than their own in the exercise

to get a feel of the sound and tone of the entire band, not just their individual sound. The instructor

then has the band perform a chromatic scale as a band, which as a personal note, confuses me to an

extent as you cannot fully interpret what the band is trying to accomplish with the clashing of notes.

Through tuning, the instructor steps off the podium and goes by some individual sections, providing

feedback through their playing. Once every section has tuned, the entire ensemble plays together and

then pulls out the first piece of music. The band plays one of the pieces most of the way through, with

the instructor providing insight and feedback, having them repeat different sections for reinforcement.

Moving through the section, the teacher provides insight of repeated mistakes, having them repeat the

section until the teacher deems it fit. The teacher asks the band questions about what they could do to

better their sound and has them playing it with that answer. The instructor makes great use of the

student’s pencils to reinforce and physically write down some of the feedback presented. Ending the
recording, the instructor was able to provide final remarks regarding counter melody within a piece, and

has them play the specific section again to reinforce their common idea.

In conclusion, the teacher, while still only a student, was able to capture the essence on what an

instructor of band should be able to do: Assess the band’s understanding by the style and way they are

playing, and providing reinforcement and advice to how they are playing. The students were able to play

the music with feedback to better themselves individually and as a band.