Rehearsal Episode 1 Reflection

What aspects of the lesson were successful? (Include student achievement.)
I felt that the lesson, overall, went quite well. The difference in the students’ playing from the beginning of the rehearsal to the end was significant. Granted, the playing never achieved perfection, or even neared it, but it did improve. The students found more right notes and rhythms, which were the most easily recognizable changes in their playing. One of my specific goals was to attempt to line up the articulations – both the tenuto and staccato passages. The articulations played by the students actually did improve a bit through my work with them.

What aspects of the lesson would you have changed? (Include student reaction.)
For this lesson, if I were to do it over again, I would have the students do more listening and vocalization. I think that audiation and vocalization is important – removing the instrument allows the students to truly focus on the concept at hand, and they could have benefitted from this sort of exercise. Also, I would have spoken a bit more slowly and clearly.

Reflect on your pacing of the lesson as seen by students. What cues were they giving you?
This is a tough question to answer. As my students were actually my peers, I know that they were paying attention but not very intently. They got all that I was trying to say, but they all had very blank expressions and, though looking at me, seemed to be disinterested. Thus, it is hard for me to say just what their take on my pacing was. They all seemed to follow along just fine; the only exception would be those who were not very comfortable with their (secondary) instruments and took a bit longer than others to remember the fingering of a note, for example. Otherwise, everyone seemed to stay with me at my pace, so I would say that my pace was not too fast. It honestly felt about right to me – fast enough to keep the rehearsal moving, but slow enough to keep everyone together.

Improvement goals. (Describe future teaching strategies, presentational changes, etc.)
As mentioned above, I would like to incorporate singing into my lessons. Also, I will need to be more specific in my attempts to correct problems with the ensemble – directions need to be clearer, comments more helpful, and conducting more communicative.

[ home ]  [ philosophy ]  [ mused courses ]  [ pgp ]  [ intasc standards ]  [ links ]