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.
Everyone has a different style when it comes to classroom management. However, being passionate is not an excuse for being grumpy. If you are a likable teacher, then students will listen to you, but it is not about power or authority. I urge you to be cautious in your approach when dealing with student behavior. Be consistent and fair...and strict if it suits you.
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