Jenny Jordan

MUS149

Observation Reflection #22

December 1, 2020

This class was a middle school percussion ensemble. The classroom had the percussion

set up on one side of the room with chairs facing them on the opposite side. There were

whiteboards and a few posters on the walls. The environment feels very task-oriented. The

transition between the first piece and the second piece was very smooth, albeit a bit long due to

the necessary setup, as the students moved the instruments on their own and were courteous

while doing so. The teacher didn’t need to bring the focus back to the task at hand, as the

students were always focused on the music.

The rehearsal jumped right into a run-through of their first piece before breaking down

the piece into smaller focused sections to work on specific concepts. After playing the piece

once, the teacher discusses dynamics with the students in the piece. The teacher also discussed

“singing” the piece, noting that the students had all the notes down and just needed to add more

expression. For the second piece, the students also did a full performance of the piece before

working on the smaller details.

The teacher was great at giving students a specific objective to do when playing the

sections of the piece. When going over dynamics, the teacher was sure to add that dynamics are

difficult on percussion instruments due to their nature, but still emphasized that the students

could do it. The teacher also explained that the students should play the music as if they were

singing it, giving students a visual for how to perform the piece. The teacher emphasized the

need to play as an ensemble, telling students to find out where their part fit. The teacher was sure
to tell the students that he was impressed by how well they were playing the piece. The teacher

asks the students questions about the piece a few times and answers some of their questions. The

teacher communicated what he wanted from the ensemble very clearly throughout the lesson by

giving the students certain objectives to improve for every section they ran through again. Even

though the teacher had given the students a lot of feedback for what they could work on, he was

still able to tell them what they were doing well. At one point, he tells the students that they

make the instruments worthy of being played and asks them when their next concert is, showing

a personal interest in the students.

For my taste, I felt that the teacher did too much talking instead of showing the students

what was wanted of them, particularly for middle school students, but it did seem to be effective

for this ensemble. Despite this, the teacher was very kind and positive towards the students. I

liked the teacher’s positive reassurance that the students knew the piece while still giving them

feedback to work on.

Link: https://youtu.be/wdfv1NwDCg4

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