Blog 7: Advocacy

"Hello Parents! I would like to discuss with you why you should want your student to be in the music program. Music isn't just about playing the right notes at the right time, in fact it does so much more for the students. Music further develops life skills that students will use far into their future. Students learn to be better communicators through music, bot visually as well as verbally. Students are fully engaged in the class and their participation and input make the class successive. Students are expected to observe their surrounding colleague to pick up expressive ideas and techniques. After concerts and during rehearsals student give feedback on the quality of the ensemble, suggestions, as well as interpretations of the scores. Each semester students will be placed in smaller ensembles in which their success is dependent on their communication. Discipline is another skill that musicians must posses to be productive and successful. Discipline is a very difficult skill to excessive, but music make that job much easier. Students will understand the importance of private practicing and giving 110% at all times, because they like music, they like sounding good. Think of it like a positive reinforcement, except they are the ones rewarding themselves for good behavior. Critical Thinking and Creativity are what make music, music. During rehearsals and concerts students observe each other and assess themselves. On the spot students have to think of Ideas to fix problems they are having, how to get certain sounds out, or better bowing that are comfortable. The backbone and foundation of music is creativity. Without it music wouldn't exist. Creativity isn't only required when the composer wrote the work, but it is also required to learn how to play it. Students will think of Ideas on how to play the music with technical accuracy. similar bowing and fingering patters make playing the music easier, and sound consistent. As I said earlier where would music be if it weren't for the individual musical expression that is spawned from creativity. By students accessing their own personal connection to music they can select and choose different techniques to give them the sound they want to hear.Most importantly is Music lets students express themselves for who they are as an individual, and the beauty of it is there is no correct or incorrect answer to musical expression, it's as individual as the individual themselves.

Secondary Elementary Observation (Hawthorne elementary)

On Tuesday the 10th of April Sallie and I went to observe Chandra Lind at Hawthorne. Her class was very well disciplined, there was little if no talking while she was instructing, students were quick when transitioning between pieces. The best part is that all of the students were responding to Chandra's teaching, not just listening but actively engaging themselves asking questions or demonstrating it for the class. When they needed to pack up and leave they all properly put their instruments away first and calmly, then helped put away chairs and stands. It was a very smooth operation, and I highly recommend most students to observe Chandra for classroom management.

Elementary Observation (Irving)

On Wednesday April 4 Shannalee, Sallie, Jeph, Adam, and I Attending an elementary (5th grade) band program. The structure of this class seemed very loose and almost chaotic at times. Students were disruptive a lot of the time, and it took a while for them to get set up and to transition between pieces. The balance of the ensemble had a correlation to their technique, rather poor. For example, the percussionists weren't striking the drums in the right spot so that they would resonate, and there for they would slam the drum stick against the drum, often hitting the rim and crating a large loud dry sound. several wind players had poor posture which could be related to them being too quiet cause they don't have air or any air support. At the end of class we learned that the teacher was a voice only type teacher placed in a field she had little experience in.

BHS Jazz Band and Secondary Observation of BHS Band

On March 22 Shannalee, Sallie, Kira, and I observed the BHS Jazz band and the regular concert band after. The Jazz band was well disciplined, and was ready to play what the instructor commanded. he warms them up with a tune that every musician improvises a solo and they move on. We each got to start a jazz piece at our own tempo (which was on average an/around Allegro). When the Jazz band left the next period was Band. To me it felt like it took an abnormally long time to set it up and be ready to play. Burdhal's teaching methods are pretty agressive which I admire because students that I talk to have a lot of respect for the man, so they dont feel like he is being unjust to him. The way the students saw it was that he is VERY passionate about the music so he "has every right" to be angry when something goes wrong in the music. Another occasion was the percussion was constantly missing their parts and Burdhal did get extremely frustrated with it and did yell, which at a time made me uncomfortable. Of all the teachers I have ever seen in my Life Kelly Burdhal's school of teaching is the most aggressive of any other that I know. When I plan to teach I will be an aggressive teacher who want to get stuff done, I view school as social job, not a party. I've seen one too many times teachers who are gentile and forgiving get trampled on by students, and with todays society the youth are becoming more forward about their feelings and teachers now need to react to that and have more forward teaching methods.

BHS Secondary Observation

On March 20th Kira, Sallie, Karen, and I lead Warm-ups for the BHS Camerata Orchestra. Sallie started off with a scale for the ensemble, Kira with the Call and response improve. I was next with the Etudes, and Karen finished it off with the fiddle tunes. I had originally planned to play the Etudes on the violin, but no one was willing to loan me out one, so I practiced on the cello with intentions of playing that. The reason why I was against using my primary instrument was because I would have to sit for demonstrating the variations in the Etudes. If I was sitting (in the teaching world) I would not be able to see if every student was participating, if students were struggling, or misbehaving. Luckily, Joe Q Let me borrow his violin the night before we had the warm ups. it was a bit difficult sight reading the etudes on an instrument that I hadn't played for 5 years. I had planned the rhythmic variations of the etudes and at the end I selected two people to make up their own and demonstrate it to them.

BHS Primary Observation

On March 6th Kira, Sallie, Karen, and I observed BHS Camerata Orchestra. They were very well behaved. Most of the class time was spent doing warm ups, and yes he was walking us through them one by one, but I feel like on a normal day it would have taken around half an hour of time to warm up. leaving very little time to play music. He had a variety of useful warm ups. He would start with scales, and change up the rhythms, then would play a short melodie and have the orchestra copy him. He would have the orchestra pull out their etude books which were all the same sequence of etudes but written in the octave of the instrument. He would play the etude and have the ensemble play it back, then would change the rhythm of that etude and they had to repeat it in the same rhythm. Finally, he would have them pull out their fiddle tunes and he would select random soloists to play at the repeats. The first day they did not get to any concert music.

CJMS Band (Secondary Observation)

On February 23 I, Adam, Kira, and Sallie Observed the Chief Joseph Middle School Band. They were very attentive during class, with minimal disruptions, only one time I recall her having to ask a student to behave and keep his voice down. They actually surprised me for their organization of the 5th grade. When they switched works the percussion section (all by themselves) moved their instruments around to the proper arrangement and reorganized themselves in a quiet timely manner. A handy tool is that the teacher used a microphone necklace thing and her voice was amplified over the loud speakers so that students could hear her. One problem I see with this is that if she can be louder wouldn't this encourage playing while the teacher is talking? cause now students could play PPP and not pay attention to the teacher while you can clearly hear her voice over everything else, but that student if focused on that instrument.