Tweaking (Not Tweeting)

I don't even have a twitter account. I couldn't tell you one thing about Twitter, except that it is something like facebook updates.

To TWEAK is not to TWEET. I am going to try to fix my lessons so that they are more interesting and go smoothly. I need to wake up my Kindies and keep my 3rd Graders interested. The nice thing about teaching elementary school music is that you get a LOT of practice teaching the same lesson. Here, in particular, we may teach the same lesson up to nine times (nearly two weeks' worth of classes.) We have finally gotten through a whole rotation (which was messed up a little because of the random snow days at the beginning of the semester.) Note to self: I began teaching the Purple Group and will need to have a new lesson by the time the Purples come back around!

Well, through the day, I have been able to achieve my goals...but I think I have over-tweaked. This time, the Kindergarteners were definitely AWAKE and HYPER. Holy cow times two. The pace of the lesson was good, but discipline was difficult. I got to incorporate games much more quickly this time. We went through the content portion of the lesson quickly and efficiently, so we had more time to play the games. See-saw was REALLY HARD to do! They were better this time at having opposite people going down at one time, but of course they weren't perfect. (They are still getting their coordination down physically--goodness, they're just 5 years old!) The second game (added into the lesson) was hysterical. It gave them opportunity to keep the microbeat and do a made-up movement to the macrobeat of the song of one person's choosing. Oh. My. One kid acted as if he was a belly dancer, and another was a break dancer with some hips that MOVE. WHOA. (Both were boys, too! They were awesome...and also, I've a feeling, the class clowns.) It was admittedly difficult to keep them at bay, but, honestly, it was worth it just to see those two let it loose like that.

The 3rd Graders were definitely not bored...and they were HYPER as well. I was able to roll through the lesson, but the students really couldn't focus. (Today was picture day, which probably contributed to EVERYONE being hyper.) After some reprimands from Mrs. Ward and myself, they finally left well-behaved, and I thanked them. One thing I firmly believe in is positive reinforcement...and I want them to know they did a good job. Oh, yes, and we did do the dance. One complication: a little girl who has autism got in the middle and was screaming (while smiling/giggling) when we collapsed the circle into a bundle in the middle of the classroom. She wanted to be involved (as she is high-functioning) but I'll just have to make sure she doesn't get in a predicament like that. She could have been truly scared or she could have liked it. Oh, my goodness, it could have been awful. Thank goodness it wasn't blood-curdling screaming. She had a great time before that and was dancing/being Vanna White for me while I was teaching the lesson. That probably contributed to everyone else being hyper, but I am glad that she got involved and learned with us.

First Full LPs

Today is the day for new beginnings. Let me note that I am not feeling 100% present. I was sick yesterday afternoon and woke up feeling so-so and a little weak. I am determined to not miss any days of student-teaching, but that is based only on fate. I'm just glad I was feeling better than I was yesterday!

Kindergarten this morning...oh, dear. They come from 8:15-8:45, which means that neither the class nor me were awake this morning. I think my coffee yesterday made me sick, so I did not have my intense caffeine boost this morning. Nonetheless...both class and teacher needed HELP today.

High and Low lesson--expanded lesson from original mini-lesson! I thought the Kindies didn't have the lesson today. I found myself floundering because they had already heard the "We sing HIGH" and "We sing LOW" portion of the lesson. I found myself having to use more songs I happened to put on my playlist to ID high and low pitches. That was lucky. We ran out of things to do for that one, too, but I had one last piece we could work on in a march. We exited on "Well, you walk...and you STOP!" and simply marched/slid/tip-toed/walked on the beat. One thing Tracy suggested was to try to talk about high and low in that last song, which would have been a good wrap-up activity emphasizing the high and low concept.

3rd Grade went much, much better. I had a little more practice on a bulk of this lesson, and even though some of the lesson was review, we had a good time. We talked about meter (duple vs. triple) and used Bluegrass examples to identify and practice listening for duple and triple. Things got a little redundant with the meter work by the end of the lesson. The other purpose of this lesson: to analyze folk! We listened, analyzed words, analyzed feelings, and analyzed stories. Note that it is better to talk about upbeat ballads rather than slow ones. "Sweet Afton" by Nickel Creek almost put my 3rd Graders to sleep. I planned on asking them to march out to "Tom Bombadil," but we ran out of things to do...until I realized we were really going over-time. I'd like to try a dance at the end for "Tom Bombadil," since it has an overall feeling of 2. If we can do a circle dance, it would work well. I'm looking forward to trying that tomorrow.

Darn Discipline

Today was almost a snow day, and it is Friday. Friday + Snow = HYPER kids

One thing I learned in my Educational Psychology class last year was that things are NEVER the students' fault. We can't change how students act, but we can change what we do in order to have a desirable reaction.

Yesterday, in my mini-lessons, I was calm, cool, and collected (the big Cs.) Holy cow, those kids were good yesterday. They listened to me, and my actions created a calm reaction. They were excited about the content, but they still knew how I wanted them to act by the way that I acted.

Today, I feel discombobulated.

My first lesson of the day (Kindergarten High and Low, using the Seesaw Song to make a game) was the opposite of yesterday. Yesterday, I couldn't get the kids awake enough to do the lesson, and they seemed (quietly) confused if I messed up any instructions. Today, in the other K class (two classes together today, but not yesterday) I had to yell to be heard. Maybe my instructions were not clear, nor did I maintain a calm attitude with myself. I suppose it doesn't really help when you have two classes in the same room. How can I find a happy median between these two K class attitudes? I can't blame the class, so what can I do to change?

I had to ask Mrs. Ward what to do after class. I noticed that when she teaches Kindergarten, the kids are attentive. She told me she emphasizes CLEAR instruction. THAT IS MY PROBLEM. I have to find ways to think about what I need to say in the simplest, clearest, concise way.

Sheridan being clear and calm = Students calmly responding to instructions

Thinking on the fly usually doesn't work, either. I need to have things written down and planned beforehand, or all is chaos.

Chaos isn't that great.

Testing, 1, 2, 3?

Today is the day for my first "official" mini-lessons. My lessons were for one class each of Kindergarteners, 3rd graders, and 4th graders.

Kindergarten:

We sing really HIGH!
We sing really LOW!

My original plan was to sing C in two octaves, but it was advised by Mrs. Ward that the range of Kindergarteners is somewhere around D4 to A4. Since D and A are do and sol in the key of D Major, I just used those pitches. We first made a beat to our tune, and then learned by rote (from me) the words, which used the rhythms Ta, Ta, Ti-ri, Ta. They were too young to have Tiri's integrated into the lessons, so I used a neutral syllable.
The basics of this lesson was to figure out HIGH pitches and LOW pitches. We spoke-chanted, then sang, and then physicalized it. To move, we marched to the beat in a circle, then pointed to the sky with HIGH and squatted/pointed to the ground for LOW. In this lesson, it was 8:30am...and it being my first class, I definitely messed up a few times. At this school, the beat is patted on the legs while the rhythm of a song is clapped. (Kodaly teaches consistency.) I instead had the beat with the feet, while patting the rhythms. The K's were confused, and I don't blame them! I think next time, I am going to use the "Seesaw Song" to demonstrate high and low pitches in a different way. I struggled with this lesson.

3rd Grade

Bluegrass: Nickel Creek

I originally planned to use Allison Krauss and Union Station, asking the students to identify the instruments heard. Instead, I was given more time, and I changed to Nickel Creek at the last minute. I also used a completely different plan. I decided to have them listen to an "up tune" in comparison to a ballad. We talked about bluegrass and how a ballad in bluegrass still has fast tempi/rhythm even though it is a song about a story. It was really neat--I was able to get them calmed down through the ballad "Lighthouse Song" by just listening to the story of the song. (I decided to not let them hear the ending verses, talking about the suicide of the lighthouse's keeper dying because his love was dead. I thought that was too much for 3rd Graders!) We talked about how the story was sad with the words, but how it could be mistaken for an up-tune if the words did not exist. We reviewed terms such as verses, chorus, refrain, and genre.

4th Grade

Original Aboriginals

I felt that this lesson was the most-planned and succeeded the most. Students entered the room to didgeridoo music. I wish I had grabbed my didgeridoo from home, but I completely forgot it. (I am not being sarcastic! I really do have one!) Honestly, it was good to not have the distraction. Mrs. Ward suggested that if I do bring it next time, to hide it until the very end.
After the didgeridoo song, we listened to two Aboriginal chants. The chants took up most of the lesson--they were the core! I asked questions, we did some rhythm stick imitation, listening, and voila!

All done.

Note that next time in Chant #2, demonstrate ABA style with the two patterns of rhythm displayed even in folk Aboriginal (non-Western) music.
A=Ti-ta, Ti-ta...
B= Ta, Ta...
A=Ti-ta, Ti-ta...

A Day Out:--Oberving Discipline Styles in Varying Classrooms

Today is the day for observing other music and non-music classrooms. I am visiting a 5th Grade class, a CDC A class (special needs, students with severe disabilities), and a 1st Grade class. Yesterday, I observed Brenda Swinson's 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade music classes (the after-lunch blocks.) I may observe her again today.

My first adventure: 5th Grade.

This class is full of well-behaved kids. The discipline style of this particular class is very similar to Tracy Ward's (my mentor teacher's) style of teaching and discipline. She has the ability to command her classroom in a way that the students actually listen. They answer questions attentively, ask questions attentively, and are fascinated (at least while I am observing) with the topic. They are having a discussion about the Civil Rights Movement through short stories. I am excited to say that Mrs. Ward is teaching Civil Rights, too, to these 5th Graders. They are singing with their first choral piece (two-part treble) called The Promised Land, a spiritual. It is so important to African-American culture, and it ties in with the Civil Rights/Black History that are being taught in the classroom. We call that cross-curricular activities. This is something that I want to be able to do when I teach. I want students to learn more about the topics (tying into music) that are being learned in other classes. From a previous post, I spoke of how we are learning of Marian Anderson, the first African-American to ever sing at the Metropolitan Opera. This also ties into our topic. I'm a little amazed, actually. I love to see how interested these 5th Graders are in their English classroom. It can only benefit the class topics in music class.

Second fun activity: Special Education A

If I could not teach music, I would teach special education. The ways of discipline focus on simply keeping the students interested in tasks at hand. This particular class is categorized by students who are in the low-functioning range (but don't get me wrong--they are so smart!)
Today was a day for farm animals during group activity. All six to seven students sat at a table around a teacher's aide, who told stories of farm animals while using visuals such as books and animal figurines. All the while, activities inspired simple songs, such as Bingo, Old MacDonald, Little Bunny Foo-foo, and many more. They were all nursery-rhyme songs or songs that could be learned in pre-school, but they had a truly positive effect on the kids. They didn't necessarily sing them, but they enjoyed them and got the point. It was marvelous!

Third amazing class: Mrs. Arning's 1st Grade Class

I wish I could take a picture of this classroom. It is decorated in ways to learn, which are exciting and colorful--visually appealing. It is organized into different categories of learning while also being exciting and interesting. As far as discipline goes, Mrs. Arning also commands her class and is able to question calmly and receive calm answers from her students. They are excited to learn--which is pretty wonderful since they are currently talking about math. In cross-curricular learning, math is extremely important to music. I love music not only because it sounds great, but because it is full of patterns, like math. We have to count the beats in a measure, add up measures, divide portions of notes in the measures, and figure out what scale degrees pitches are on. Today, in this hour of observing, the students are learning how to add (which is huge in the music world.) They use real-life questions with real-life answers. I wonder if music teachers could give music information for their students to learn in their daily class time with their main teachers?

A stop in with Tracy Ward's 3rd Grade Music Class
My favorite music lesson thus far: William Tell Overture (Form)

Intro, ABABCDCBA, Coda may look confusing, but look at the patterns! It is the form of William Tell Overture, and here's a great activity. Play William Tell and show them the form by use of visual posters. If you use different rhythms for each section (ABCD) that can be repeated, you simply show the students the rhythms first in ta-di-ta-di, then with body percussion, and then with instruments. You can therein create an "orchestra" with your third graders. To aid the lesson, you can read a book or tell the story of the legend of William Tell (or overview of the opera) before or after the mini-orchestra. This lesson seems to be the most fun for the students thus far in observing and aiding Mrs. Ward!

Five Teaching Styles...WHEW!

At Lotts, we have four music teachers and (now) one student music teacher (me.) We all have different teaching styles. Me--I'm just figuring out my teaching style. I hope I can use all the great ways to make my own, but I know my teaching style is HEAVILY similar to Dr. Debbie Dunne-Sousa's, who was my Elementary and Middle School Methods professor in Fall '09 and Spring '10. I'm excited to see what I can pick up from each of them.

Let's start with Tracy Ward. She's my mentor teacher, and she has a good classroom management skills. (This is something I need SERIOUS help on, so I am grateful.) She focuses on keeping the lessons well-rounded while also integrating history of music, and movement/games. So far, we have done intro lessons on the recorder, which are great when controlled and not blasted by the students.

Though I am assigned to Mrs. Ward's class, I have the ability to observe the part-time teachers three days a week in class. I have observed Sherrie Rumboldt, who teaches here on Fridays and Bearden Elementary Monday through Thursday. I was introduced this week to Ben Burnette, music teacher of Lotts Monday-Tuesday, Halls music teacher all other days. Therein--because of the double-teachers available--two classes are in the music room Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. Wednesdays and Thursdays only have one teacher (Tracy Ward) with one class per block. IN ADDITION, Brenda Swinson teaches one class per period in her portable music classroom. Isn't that schedule a little overwhelming? Truly, because of the rotation (two music days per classroom every nine days), a student could have as many as four teachers!

The discipline styles of the different teachers are quite different. Tracy and Ben command their audiences through music, though Tracy prefers calming quietness of the students and Ben prefers a medium-quiet classroom (as she deals with K-5, while Ben and Sherrie teach only K-2.) Ben thrives with singing and accompanying with his guitar or CDs, getting the students to sing loudly and confidently with fun songs appropriate for children's voices. Tracy accompanies with guitar, piano, and CDs and likes the students to calmly sit while also coordinating body percussion. Brenda and Sherrie are more activity-based and get their students up and moving around. Sherrie mostly focuses on movement exercises and games to songs, and Brenda combines Kodaly with Orff and dancing to keep her students up and running. (Brenda splits the time in half with movement exercises such as dance and sitting down to ask questions and read the music.)

There is so much more to write, and so much more to learn! Stay posted on what else I learn from observing all these different teachers!

Goin' on a Safari

We are planning a Safari program for the First Graders! It comprises of songs to sing, songs to move to, and some that will even allow the students (remember, they are all around 6 years old) to play Orff instruments. Between songs, jokes and poems will be read about Safari animals--several accredited to Shel Silverstein. Seven songs will be sung, and we have just started teaching the kids the songs when we got back from the winter break.

My favorite is "Boa Constrictor"
I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor (repeat x4)
And I don't like it very much.
Oh, no, (oh, no) he swallowed my toe, (he swallowed my toe.)
Oh, gee, (oh, gee) he's up to my knee, (he's up to my knee.)
Oh, fiddle, (oh, fiddle) he's reached my middle, (he's reached my middle.)
Oh, heck, (oh, heck) he's reached my neck (he's reached my neck.)
Oh, dread, (oh, dread) he's SWALLOWED MY slurp!

Poem by Shel Silverstein, music on the recording of Peter, Paul,and Mommy.

The first two lines are slow, and you shake your head to line 2. The following 5 lines accelerando until the apex of he's SWALLOWED MY slurp! Students pat the beat on whatever body part that has been swallowed, and it is fun! We have a "pet" (stuffed) snake we put around the kids. The idea is to additionally have feather boas to pass around and up as if being "eaten" up to that part of the body.

More to come! Here's the list of the songs:

Funga Alafia (Swahili Greeting Song)
Let's Go on a Safari (Orff instruments)
Animal Fair (with piano)
Boa Constrictor (with guitar)
My Rhinoceros (with guitar)
Goin' to the Zoo (with guitar)
The Crocodile Song (with piano)
Let's go on a Safari (repeated)

I will only be providing words in this blog for copyright purposes.

First Days: Lotts Elementary

I have been a student-teacher for a whole five days over the last two weeks (due to snow days, which has been interesting by far) in Knox County in Tennessee. I am currently at A.L. Lotts Elementary School and am being mentored by Tracy Ward, general music teacher extraordinaire. I am her first-ever student-teacher, and we are both very excited for this semester to unfold.

The first day last week (before the snow) was a simple in-service in which Tracy introduced me to the school, administrators, and several teachers. She informed me that Lotts has a total of FOUR music teachers on-staff. She and one other teacher, Brenda Swinson, work full-time, while two more are part-time at this school. Sherry Rumbolt and Ben (?) work a few days a week at this school and rotate to others during the week.

The schedule here at Lotts is a little complicated when it comes to non-core classes. Music classes see a music teacher twice every nine days. Some of them see one to four different music teachers a year, simply because of the crazy schedule! Additionally, on days in which a part-time teacher is here, TWO classes are in the music room at the same time. Half of the day is my mentor's to teach, and the other half is taught by one of the part-time teachers. It was difficult to understand at first, but seeing it for the past four school days shows me how difficult it is to teach consistent lessons. Sometimes one half of a music class has to be re-taught a lesson, and it can be confusing to keep track of who's-who throughout the week. After all, over 1100 students attend here, and the schedule makes learning names even more difficult. I suppose I didn't realize how complicated scheduling can be, but at least I am seeing how music teachers cope with students who learn similar content in different places. Tracy Ward simply keeps going and tries her best to work around the schedule with her lesson plans. In all honesty, the lesson is aided by other teachers' similar lessons already taught. The students do not seem to object to learning music from different teachers in the rotation. It seems to make them learn more, but I hate seeing that consistency in teaching is difficult for Tracy. She carefully plans and writes out small summaries in her calendar for each class period to keep track of who has learned what.

So far, the students have been very well-behaved. Tracy is able to keep control over her classrooms, guiding them to be polite and attentive. She emphasizes singing, which I love. Her degree may be piano-based (Music Education from UTK with a piano/general emphasis), but she always teaches singing in the classroom. She has a good balance between a capella singing and singing with accompaniment (piano or guitar.) I am learning so much already, simply by assisting her and observing classes.

I'd like to comment on two things that I have seen in Tracy's class that have been enlightening: Recorders and BOOKS!

She has been teaching her 4th grade classes some intro lessons here in my first days here. She actually is a church-musician who plays recorders (as well as the piano.) She is able to demonstrate the instrument well for the students and is able to control the environment well enough that the students learn efficiently and effectively.
Historical content is extremely important to Tracy's lessons. She reads books to her students that explain songs, famous singers, and even operas. So far, we have heard Marian Anderson's biography (in preparation for MLK Day and learning about Civil Rights), the story of the opera William Tell, and Follow the Drinking Gourd.

This semester marks my last and final months of my undergraduate college career. I am looking forward to learning so much here at Lotts for the next two and a half months.