PALMS MS OBSERVATION 1

Observation: Ms. Jones at Palms Middle School

Erik Alvarado

Department of Music Education,

University of California, Los Angeles

MUSC 110D: Comparative Study of Instrumental Music Education

Professor Emily Kubitskey

May 25, 2022

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The class began with students getting their instruments and music set up before the bell

rang. Something that caught my attention was the layout of the students’ seating, it was fairly

spaced out and utilized most of the space surrounding the podium. I noticed that this layout was

helpful when Jessica or Joel needed to help a student since getting to them was incredibly easy

and there was enough surrounding space to do demonstrations. After the bell, all of her students

were seated and the class began with announcements. Joel then led warm up exercises which

gave Jessica time to go around the room and aid students. I found this to be incredibly effective

in providing individual students with more detailed assistance without taking time away from the

rest of the class. Jessica did an amazing job in aiding Joel while he was teaching by having him

reword questions in a way that engaged the entire class. She would provide a visual aid by

demonstrating fingering on her forearm so students could more easily imitate what Joel was

talking about. Once Jessica was on the podium the pace of the class was incredibly fast and

effective given the time constraints of short class periods. She often used the who, what, where

model of giving instruction and provided vocal aid while the students were playing. This made

the delivery of information very clear and direct which saved her so much time. I noticed she ran

through tuning the same way a more mature wind ensemble or orchestra would to help create

that same routine and environment as they develop as musicians.

The environment she has created for her students was incredibly nurturing and

encouraging. One of the first things I noticed was her referring to her students as musicians. The

intent of using this term felt like it was meant to give students a sense of pride and ownership in

the music they were making. She would constantly provide encouraging comments to individual

students on specific attributes. She would step off the podium when making comments to instill

the routine that once she stepped on the podium the class was going to be playing. She would
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also acknowledge the imperfections of the group but would not make students feel shameful

about where they stand but instead stated that they will make something better as they work on it.

Using encouragement and moving on instead of repeating something in hopes of it getting better

kept the students feeling motivated to work on something.

When I first walked into the class, I thought she was a student since she was dressed very

casually. I feel like she has done such an amazing job establishing herself to the class that this

did not hinder how the students reacted to her. This may have been different earlier in the school

year but it was clearly not necessary now. While Joel was on the podium and Jessica needed to

give feedback or instructions to the students, I did notice that she would be talking to the back of

some students. While the section of students facing her appeared to be engaged, those with their

backs turned were often distracted by something else. Something Joel did that I would have done

differently is giving the rest of the class something to do while working with one section. At

some point it appeared that some students were falling asleep.

Jessica’s musical intentions appeared to be engaging the students with music and

developing musical skills whenever she could. This included development of musicianship skills

such as listening for subtle differences in tuning and intonation. She would teach using musical

terms and asking students to elaborate on their meaning. For social goals, she has done an

amazing job of establishing a sense of respect and encouragement with the students. All of her

students were very inviting and friendly even to us as observers. Students felt encouraged to

problem solve and were provided with the social support to enter an executive state.

Jessica’s experience as an educator shined so clearly in everything she did. Everything

she did felt so intentional and effective. Her personality was present the entire time but presented

in an appropriate way. There wasn’t any time at all for social engagement such as a check in or
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time for stretching which I felt would have been beneficial in jumping into such a fast paced

classroom environment. Even so, what she did clearly works for her and she probably has

reasoning for her routine. I would imagine the time crunch of short class periods having

influence on this.