Jenny Jordan

MUS149

Observation Reflection #13

October 18, 2020

The classroom was set up similarly to most other band classrooms, with the students sat

in a typical band formation with whiteboards and a projector. There were various items like

trophies around the classroom. The classroom was very task-oriented, and the teacher clearly

communicated her expectations for the class. The students were usually attentive and weren’t

disruptive to the class, but when the occasional disruption occurred, the teacher was quick to

bring the focus back to the task at hand. I admired how organized the entire lesson seemed to be.

There was no question as to what the teacher wanted from the students, and they respected her

and listened to her throughout the class.

The lesson started with some breathing exercises, with students breathing in and out to a

certain amount of beats. This activity was very appropriate for a band, as breathing is an

important aspect of playing for wind and brass instruments and it’s a good way to get students in

the mindset of playing. The teacher then had the students do a variety of exercises with a

metronome, focusing on concepts like articulation, long tones, and playing scale degrees. After

this, the main part of the lesson was sight-reading two pieces. The teacher asked the students

many guiding questions to analyze the piece before playing it. Most of the time in this section of

the lesson was used for analyzing the pieces beforehand.

This teacher was good at helping out students when they needed some extra assistance.

For example, the teacher started clapping when students got off of the metronome to try and get

them back on the beat and briefly demonstrated fingerings on a clarinet when the clarinets
needed some help. The teacher, although a bit more task-oriented than some of the other teachers

I’ve observed so far, was still not afraid to compliment students for doing a good job. For

example, she was sure to praise the percussion for playing a rhythm accurately. Throughout the

sight-reading portion, I admired how much the teacher had the students analyze the pieces before

even playing them. The questions allowed for the students to think through the piece and

ultimately play it better when it came to reading it. I also liked how the teacher had the students

clap out rhythms that were in the pieces before playing, as I think it helped the students further

understand the pieces even more. After playing through the first piece once, the teacher asked the

students to give three things they did well and three things they needed to improve on, which

fostered self-reflection in the students.

Overall, I loved how much this teacher had the students think more critically about what

they were playing. There were a lot of questions being asked, but they guided students and will

likely build the foundation for them to become exceptional sight-readers in the future. The

teacher’s concise style of teaching kept the class on the right track, as everyone always knew

what was expected of them.

Link: https://youtu.be/HXaAjWTpyng

Honor Code:

I affirm that I will uphold the highest principles of honesty and integrity in all my endeavors at

Gettysburg College and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect within and beyond the classroom.

-Jenny Jordan