Patricia Morrison

Landstown High School

Student Teaching/Recording Response

(3/30) In today’s lesson I worked with the beginning orchestra class and focused on

building bow technique with dynamics. In our new piece that we just started, dynamics are a

huge factor. One of my observational takeaways is that it is imperative to break down a concept

to the bare minimum, and then build it up. I noticed that in my video, I did a great job at pacing

my lesson appropriately, but noticed that I tend to talk way more than needed. I found myself

constantly reminding and saying what we were going to be doing next, which becomes a bit

redundant after a while. In the future, I want to be more aware of how much talking I do, and

instead, do more doing.

I think I also did a great job at demonstrating concepts I wanted the students to achieve

and understand. However, I still did way too much talking. I also feel like sometimes my brain

starts to go faster than my mouth, and I need to gather my thoughts before I start speaking. I am

still trying to learn how to “talk” to the students, and sometimes I need to just take a breath and

think about how I want to deliver information to the students. Another area for growth is to

continue to improve my direct feedback. It’s a little challenging to give direct feedback to two in

person students without making them feel like I am picking on then. However, giving more

meaningful feedback that will continue to encourage and foster growth will benefit them much

more in the future rather than me saying “it was better, nice job,” etc.
 (4/28) In today’s lesson I worked with the students on preparing their piece, Vortex in a

more “normal” ensemble setting, and continued to work on rehearsal strategies. We warmed up

with the D melodic minor scale, since that’s what the key of the piece is in and then did a

conducting warm-up. Since this was the first time in over a year where the students had to follow

a conductor, the first exercise I did with them was to have them clap with my downbeat. I first

explained to them what an ictus was, and the importance of it. They then clapped with my

downbeat and I altered the articulations, tempo and dynamics. Then, they did the same exercise

but with an open string. It was more challenging for them to react to my baton once we added an

instrument, but they adapted quickly. As I have progressed through my student teaching, I have

learned the importance of explaining terms and techniques through doing. Rather than just

explaining everything verbally, it is much more meaningful to have the students just do it.

Once we got comfortable with following a conductor, we began rehearsal. Since we have

to sit distanced, one thing I noticed was how much the social distancing affected the student’s

ability to listen to each other. The violas have a spot where they become metronomical and the

other parts need to fit into their eighth notes. I then had the violas turn around towards the

players and the problem resolved almost immediately. This is just another challenge we had to

overcome, and it tested my troubleshooting skills.

At the end of rehearsal, the students completed a self-check in that asked them to rate

how they thought the ensemble performed today. At this point, playing together in an ensemble-

like setting is something we’re not warmed up to just yet. The students have filled out a google

form similar to this in the past, except they graded themselves. The new form also asked

questions that made the students think about their part and how it fits in with everyone else’s
part. I have also learned that it is important to give students the chance to self-reflect and be their

own judge, rather than being judged by the teacher all the time.