Sammie Cohen

MUED480

Teaching Recording Self-Assessment

This recording was taken during the last 35 minutes of a typical jazz band rehearsal.

Looking at this video objectively, I’ve noticed some weaknesses and strengths in my planning,

execution, and teaching. To begin I believe my vocabulary could be more specific and varied to

give multiple entry points for students to understand what they are supposed to do. Going

forward, I also want to take time to ensure everything is in order in terms of having music and

correcting glaring errors. I felt that my content and repertoire knowledge was relatively strong,

however my conducting needed more clarity to express what I wanted the students to bring out.

Additionally, I want to avoid fading out my voice at the end of my sentences, as it potentially

shows a lack of confidence and conviction in my directions and teaching. I also feel that I could

leave the podium to closely interact with more of the students. I think a few of my rehearsal

strategies were quite effective such as temporarily taking out stronger players to listen to how the

rest of the ensemble is truly doing. I also used modeling to help students hear one of the licks

they were struggling with and had them play it back. In the future, I’d like to utilize modeling

more in the jazz band classes, especially for aural concepts. Additionally, I believe I could have

been more prepared by studying the score and determining how much work certain parts will

need. Hopefully, this preparation will allow me to be more efficient in rehearsals and get more

done. Overall, watching this recording I learned quite a bit about my teaching tendencies and the

ways in which I can improve.