For this TE I was with the 8th grade orchestra (2nd violin section) at CJMS during their first period. We were working on fine tuning some of the details of their music for the upcoming concert.
I was hoping to get the students to blend more as a section and play a little more precisely in terms of rhythm, dynamics, and articulation. Also, especially since 2nd violins often have an inside voice or a countermelody, it was very helpful for them to work on their part apart from the whole group.
I didn't have a partner for this activity, so she didn't teach the rhythm assignment. I worked with the second violins in the hallway. I had them all introduce themselves and tell me their favorite color. We only worked on one piece, but it had lots of complicated issues and I was pretty nit-picky. A lot of the problems that the students were having were rhythmic accuracy problems, so I had them clap and count several passages. Besides some rhythmic problems, I spent a lot of time working on dynamic contrast, and having matching articulations. One technical issue that I did address was having them anchor their thumbs while pizzicato-ing.
I was not assessing the rhythm using the created this TE, since that is what I did last time. I felt in general that the objectives for the sectional were met. I think that the most effective thing I did was to try to mix it up a lot, and not just continuously dwell on one thing, but by changing what we were working on I think I was more effective at getting them to think about blend, rhythm, articulation, and dynamics all at the same time.
I felt quite good about the lesson overall. I wasn't nervous, and just had a good time working with the students. I think that I had lots of good ideas for them, but I'm not sure if they all applied them... I think this experience relates to the future challenge as a music educator to combine musicality, technique, and motivating the students all into one small session.
Your reflection is complete, if not a little "bare-bones." I know I have mentioned this before, but again, I would like to see a bit more development--especially in your reflections. I appreciate your diligence to completing everything in a timely manner, and there is no question that you will receive a very good grade in the course, but I believe that you could do better in terms of depth of thought when it comes to reflecting. This is a valuable skill to possess for all teachers.
ReplyDelete4.5/5 NS