Monday, Sept.

13:

I observed a beginning fifth-grade strings class. They were learning the names of the
open strings (C, G, D, A, and E, depending on the instrument). The teacher reminded them
about how to play the instrument properly, according to the instrument, and how to play with
correct posture. The teacher would ask a student to show the correct posture, and, if the student
did not understand, the teacher would remind them by modeling the posture.

The teacher also uses a sound of rhythms to keep the students on task. The rhythm
would just be a noise made with the mouth. She requires them to repeat the rhythm in the same
tempo. For students that had difficulty producing the sound, the teacher could having them clap
the same rhythm or tap it with a pencil. She also has a daily rhythm assignment that she gives
out every morning, and the students complete it by themselves at their own pace. She collects
them at the end of the class, and it helps her track the student’s progress in her class. She also
has a wall hanger folder that has extra books that students can grab if they forget to bring theirs.

At the end of class, we talked and the teacher said there were no students with IEPs in the
class. The students could have a 504 plan, which would be non-legally binding, especially if the
students don’t need as much structure every day.

Wednesday, Sept. 15:

I observed two band classes (beginning and intermediate) along with a beginning strings
class. In the band class, one of the students seems to get distracted easily. The teacher told me
to help these students keep where they were at in the music. I would point to the measures and
help them figure out where the notes were on their instrument. I would ask what notes they were
playing, and then the student would show where the notes were on the instrument. If I had not
been there to help the student, the teacher could have called out the name of the notes they
were playing or played the notes beside them, instead of across the room.
The teacher had to tell this student multiple times which line they were playing. At the
end of the class, the teacher reminded the student to turn in the daily rhythms. In the
intermediate class, the students played a piece called “Sakura Sakura”. It is a Japanese folk
song, and they learned about what it meant. I think the students would have greatly benefited
from learning about why those specific harmonies were used because they were struggling with
not playing each other's melodies and harmonies.

In the strings class, I observed the students and the teacher. I played cello to help the cellists
correct their posture, through modeling. This helped the students because it showed them how
to correctly hold their instruments when they were playing. It was a way to give a formative
assessment with immediate feedback.

Monday, Sept. 20:

I helped, in the beginning-band class, the students in the percussion (one of which was easily
distracted) section keep a steady tempo when the other students were playing high-low-highs. I
would help the student by counting and clapping the tempo. This seemed to help them keep on
task, and have a steady tempo. The student would also constantly ask if they could play while
the other students were doing something different. The teacher would ask them to play specific
notes that harmonized what the other students were playing. It gave them an assignment that
kept them busy. I think this helped the student because it gave them something to do. It
prevented them from interrupting the class with multiple questions.

In the intermediate band class, one student was having trouble remembering the fingerings of
their notes. The teacher knew it was happening, but I do not think they wanted to embarrass
them by calling them out, so they talked to them at the end of the class about coming in before
school to get help. The student had been silently fingering the notes, trying to remember them.
The teacher occasionally showed the fingerings of a clarinet part on flute, and I think it would
have helped the other student to have been able to see the fingerings also.

In the strings class, the teacher had made up a chant that helped the students remember their
correct posture. “Face front, straight back, feet flat, sitting on the chair. Huh!” They thought this
was very funny, and it got them moving in a steady tempo to be ready to play. The teacher had
them repeat this every time they started using incorrect posture.

Wednesday, Sept. 22:

In the intermediate band class, the student who needed help with fingerings came in on this
day, and they could remember some of the fingerings. They actually played some of the notes
in the class, instead of just fingering them. They still had some difficulty, but it was an
improvement from the class before. The piece of music they were playing was approximately
ten measures long. The student could silently finger about two to three of the notes, but they
could not play them. During the next class, the student could play about half of the notes. The
teacher praised them afterward.

In the strings class, they started learning how to use the bow. The teacher had them call out the
names of the parts of the bow while pointing to them. It was an interactive activity that kept them
focused.

Thursday, Sept. 23:

I observed two intermediate strings classes. The students repeated the “master of the alphabet”
game while tapping their hands to keep a correct tempo, just like in the beginning strings class.
They also sped up the tempo. This created a scaffolded learning activity because it built on their
prior knowledge of the musicians’ alphabet. The teacher could listen and watch the students
make sure they were mastering the alphabet. If they did not, the teacher would slow down the
tempo again.
One of the students in the second class refused to play notes except for one. They knew the
notes because they had previously learned on another instrument, but when they picked up this
instrument they would not play them, even though the student may have played it before. It was
unclear if the student had played another instrument, or if they had transferred from another
school. The teacher would ask them questions, to make sure they understood. The student
understood what was going, but refused to do the tasks. It was not a distraction to the other
students, but I think it frustrated the teacher because the student’s education was not being
improved. The teacher is having me give them occasional private lessons when I can be there
since they play my primary instrument.