Observation Reflection
11/9/16
In my hours of observation for secondary methods, I had the privilege to observe four very different and unique music programs around the Boston area. These schools were Brookline High, Concord Middle, Arlington High, and Ottoson Middle school. By being able to see each unique music program at these schools, I gained a lot of knowledge by seeing classes and rehearsals for the general music, instrumental, and choral settings.
The first school I went to was Brookline High School in Brookline, MA. On my day of observation, I got to see a concert band brass sectional, a music tech class, keyboard skills class, and a freshman choir from two different teachers. One thing I noticed about the music program was that their was a lot of student involvement based on the large class sizes as well as a mix of students from different cultures, languages, and types of learning accommodations. Being very impressed with each class I saw, the one class that I took the most out of was music technology. In the music technology class, some things that went well were the sequencing of the lesson as well as the open opportunity for students to be creative and free to explore on their own levels, as they were learning to sample their own drumbeats on Logic. I really liked how the teacher provided students with visual and audio examples of what she was teaching the students how to do, and in fact, she even had screen cast tutorials made for each lesson for that class so students could follow along during their time in the computer lab or at home. I would say the one thing that I felt didn’t go well was when the teacher tried to connect how beats and rhythms connected to sampling in logic. In her explanation, she seemed to not connect to the students level about where the beat fell, how it was being played on the drum set, or how notational rhythms connected to the sequencing technique on the program clearly. Due to this lack of connection, the students became very confused and took more time in the work to complete the task she had assigned. This was especially true for those who did mot have much musical background taking the class.
Another school I went to was Concord Middle School in West Concord, MA. For this observation, I had the ability to observe a 7th and 6th grade band rehearsal. One thing that I found interesting was that there were two band directors placed at the middle school. For each rehearsal, one director would take the lead while the other would be roaming around, especially in the percussion section, to help students out and keep the rehearsal moving along. Some things I really liked and felt went well were the use of the physical warm-ups, historical connection and discussion of the pieces they were playing, as well as the rehearsal techniques and motivation the directors provided for students to practice and develop their skills in and outside of rehearsal. One thing in particular I liked was during one of the pieces the band played and sight read called “Niagara Falls”, there was a legato section where the band didn’t seem to grasp the style correctly. The director had a short discussion and got students to realize that the intended purpose was to mimic the sound of flowing water at the sight itself. When students learned this and tried the section again, there was a noticeable difference. The one thing I felt did not go very well were some aspects of classroom management during the day. In the 7th grade class, when a student was talked to for the 3rd time, the teacher did not move his seat, but rather told him to put his instrument away and stop rehearsing for the day. While I did not see this being bad, I felt that if the students were moved ahead of time, it would of disrupted the rehearsal less and allowed for more time. This also was very similar in the 6th grade class, as some the classroom management issues began distracting the whole band, and threw the rehearsal off course. Other than that, it was not too significant of an issue and the rehearsals were still very productive.
Lastly, my last two observations were in Arlington at the high school and middle school levels. At the high school, I was not able to observe as much as I thought I would since it was their weekly assessment day, but the classes were a pep band, concert band, and orchestra. What I liked seeing about the weekly assessment is that every Friday, students have to play by memory a small section of a piece they had been working in in their section or individually live for the teacher. This process seemed to work very well, as students seemed to progress and develop their skills throughout the year. It also encouraged them to practice as well, and do their individual part outside of class so the focus can be on the whole ensemble during rehearsal. When students were not being assessed, they were asked to do their homework, practice in one of the rooms, or find something quiet to do for the remainder of class. The classroom environment was very relaxed and laid back as there were couches and lots of space for students to use during this time. Due to the waiting that students had to do during this process in addition to the whole Friday being sacrificed for assessment time, I felt that these were only negative factors of what I observed, and could have been changed to make the class more efficient time-wise in the school year. Other than that, the rehearsal techniques, repertoire selection, and classroom environment were great for the students.
My last observation was at Ottoson Middle School, which was also in Arlington. There, I was able to observe a sixth grade chorus, as well as general music classes for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Every class that I saw that day definitely provided a unique experience based on what the students were learning, how they were learning it, and what the culture and environment of the classes were. One class in particular that stuck out to me was sixth grade general music. In this class, the course curriculum was titled “Pachelbeatles”, as it had facilitated an emphasis on guitar performance and music history by first learning chord progressions and melodies of classical tunes such as Pachelbel’s canon, and eventually moving forward to play chord progressions to more contemporary styles and music such as Beatles songs. I thought that the way the class was structured in its curriculum was very creative, and I also liked seeing how the class got to learn about their study not just through playing guitar, but also by listening, identifying, and even composing and creating. As far as the classroom management and environment, the older seventh and eighth grade classes had to be talked to alot for talking, fooling around, and not focusing on the lesson, but the sixth grade had little to no problems at all. I felt the teacher did a good job of not giving into the humor, and became stern when he needed to in order to make sure class could move without distraction. Overall though, besides the issues of student behavior and classroom management, the classes I observed provided a lot of interesting musical material that students could connect with and have room to be creative in the learning process.
Overall, each school I observed definitely provided a unique educational experience for students in their music classes. Getting a glimpse at a variety of techniques, methods, and accommodations that teachers use to create inclusive and productive learning environments has really opened up my mind to being a teacher at the secondary level. I had a great experience getting to observe these schools and got a lot of practical knowledge out of it.
In my hours of observation for secondary methods, I had the privilege to observe four very different and unique music programs around the Boston area. These schools were Brookline High, Concord Middle, Arlington High, and Ottoson Middle school. By being able to see each unique music program at these schools, I gained a lot of knowledge by seeing classes and rehearsals for the general music, instrumental, and choral settings.
The first school I went to was Brookline High School in Brookline, MA. On my day of observation, I got to see a concert band brass sectional, a music tech class, keyboard skills class, and a freshman choir from two different teachers. One thing I noticed about the music program was that their was a lot of student involvement based on the large class sizes as well as a mix of students from different cultures, languages, and types of learning accommodations. Being very impressed with each class I saw, the one class that I took the most out of was music technology. In the music technology class, some things that went well were the sequencing of the lesson as well as the open opportunity for students to be creative and free to explore on their own levels, as they were learning to sample their own drumbeats on Logic. I really liked how the teacher provided students with visual and audio examples of what she was teaching the students how to do, and in fact, she even had screen cast tutorials made for each lesson for that class so students could follow along during their time in the computer lab or at home. I would say the one thing that I felt didn’t go well was when the teacher tried to connect how beats and rhythms connected to sampling in logic. In her explanation, she seemed to not connect to the students level about where the beat fell, how it was being played on the drum set, or how notational rhythms connected to the sequencing technique on the program clearly. Due to this lack of connection, the students became very confused and took more time in the work to complete the task she had assigned. This was especially true for those who did mot have much musical background taking the class.
Another school I went to was Concord Middle School in West Concord, MA. For this observation, I had the ability to observe a 7th and 6th grade band rehearsal. One thing that I found interesting was that there were two band directors placed at the middle school. For each rehearsal, one director would take the lead while the other would be roaming around, especially in the percussion section, to help students out and keep the rehearsal moving along. Some things I really liked and felt went well were the use of the physical warm-ups, historical connection and discussion of the pieces they were playing, as well as the rehearsal techniques and motivation the directors provided for students to practice and develop their skills in and outside of rehearsal. One thing in particular I liked was during one of the pieces the band played and sight read called “Niagara Falls”, there was a legato section where the band didn’t seem to grasp the style correctly. The director had a short discussion and got students to realize that the intended purpose was to mimic the sound of flowing water at the sight itself. When students learned this and tried the section again, there was a noticeable difference. The one thing I felt did not go very well were some aspects of classroom management during the day. In the 7th grade class, when a student was talked to for the 3rd time, the teacher did not move his seat, but rather told him to put his instrument away and stop rehearsing for the day. While I did not see this being bad, I felt that if the students were moved ahead of time, it would of disrupted the rehearsal less and allowed for more time. This also was very similar in the 6th grade class, as some the classroom management issues began distracting the whole band, and threw the rehearsal off course. Other than that, it was not too significant of an issue and the rehearsals were still very productive.
Lastly, my last two observations were in Arlington at the high school and middle school levels. At the high school, I was not able to observe as much as I thought I would since it was their weekly assessment day, but the classes were a pep band, concert band, and orchestra. What I liked seeing about the weekly assessment is that every Friday, students have to play by memory a small section of a piece they had been working in in their section or individually live for the teacher. This process seemed to work very well, as students seemed to progress and develop their skills throughout the year. It also encouraged them to practice as well, and do their individual part outside of class so the focus can be on the whole ensemble during rehearsal. When students were not being assessed, they were asked to do their homework, practice in one of the rooms, or find something quiet to do for the remainder of class. The classroom environment was very relaxed and laid back as there were couches and lots of space for students to use during this time. Due to the waiting that students had to do during this process in addition to the whole Friday being sacrificed for assessment time, I felt that these were only negative factors of what I observed, and could have been changed to make the class more efficient time-wise in the school year. Other than that, the rehearsal techniques, repertoire selection, and classroom environment were great for the students.
My last observation was at Ottoson Middle School, which was also in Arlington. There, I was able to observe a sixth grade chorus, as well as general music classes for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Every class that I saw that day definitely provided a unique experience based on what the students were learning, how they were learning it, and what the culture and environment of the classes were. One class in particular that stuck out to me was sixth grade general music. In this class, the course curriculum was titled “Pachelbeatles”, as it had facilitated an emphasis on guitar performance and music history by first learning chord progressions and melodies of classical tunes such as Pachelbel’s canon, and eventually moving forward to play chord progressions to more contemporary styles and music such as Beatles songs. I thought that the way the class was structured in its curriculum was very creative, and I also liked seeing how the class got to learn about their study not just through playing guitar, but also by listening, identifying, and even composing and creating. As far as the classroom management and environment, the older seventh and eighth grade classes had to be talked to alot for talking, fooling around, and not focusing on the lesson, but the sixth grade had little to no problems at all. I felt the teacher did a good job of not giving into the humor, and became stern when he needed to in order to make sure class could move without distraction. Overall though, besides the issues of student behavior and classroom management, the classes I observed provided a lot of interesting musical material that students could connect with and have room to be creative in the learning process.
Overall, each school I observed definitely provided a unique educational experience for students in their music classes. Getting a glimpse at a variety of techniques, methods, and accommodations that teachers use to create inclusive and productive learning environments has really opened up my mind to being a teacher at the secondary level. I had a great experience getting to observe these schools and got a lot of practical knowledge out of it.