Classroom Support Reflection

Date of the Lesson: November 17th

Student’s Name: Shawn Knapp

Describe your assignment (one secondary class/two elementary classes).

My assignment was to run a viola sectional with two violists who needed help before a quiz on the piece What
Child is This? They needed review on 6/8 as well as a few accidentals that are required in the piece.

How did you prepare for the class?

I did not have much time to prepare for the teaching, but I looked at the piece and played through it and
fingered through the piece alone so that I could find all the trouble spots. I was not sure of the tempo that the
students were taking it at, so I made sure to start myself slower rather than too fast.

What went well?

The students seemed to like the interactions and really like music, but they just needed a little help on the
side. The tempo was not really an issue, and we took it in six instead of two big beats at first. There were three
lines and the top two were the most important harmony parts. After working through all the notes on the top
line and making sure that the time, sound production and technique was there we worked on the harmony.
The students were responsive, and they seemed to absorb the information I was instructing them through. I
gave a few tips on sound production so they could be heard easier, and they improved a bit on the slurring
from note to note while working on the bow technique.

What do you need to do to improve?

I still tend to ramble, but it was not as bad as I thought. I also need to work on some of the language I use to
help make the lesson flow a little easier because I could use less words to give direction, but I also still need to
make sense.