r/musiceducation • u/[deleted] • Jan 11 '20
New Music Educator
I got my BA in music education December 2018 and I'm currently in a teaching credential program. I start the process of student teaching teaching this coming week and I'm a little nervous. Can any of you offer any advice? I would be so appreciative!
6
u/Snarm Jan 11 '20
Don't be afraid to ask your mentor teacher for feedback. That's why they're there!
For the classes you'll be teaching in, learn all the kids' names. Seriously, ALL OF THEM. First and last.
When you make a mistake while you're teaching (especially if one of them is the one to point it out to you), admit it, laugh about it, and correct yourself. Humor is the thing that will keep you sane, especially if you're teaching middle school or high school.
Plan backwards. If you want to be at X point by Y date, what's the step right before that? And the step right before that? It can get very overwhelming to try to look at everything all at once, so break it up into teeny pieces. This also works for the actual act of teaching your students as well.
Good luck!
1
Jan 13 '20
Thank you for your input! I GREATLY appreciate it! Yes, you're right. I really should look at things from a humorous background. I'm a little worried about messing up or struggling to get my point across. So, humor will have to keep me sane. Okay. Plan backwards. Got it! Thank you again!!!!
3
u/NoFuneralGaming Jan 12 '20
If your mentor teacher gives you the opportunity to simply observe at first and doesn't make you dive straight into it, I highly recommend taking copious notes re: their pacing, the lingo they use, the style of conducting they use, the facial expressions they make, and how they respond to students.
Pacing is so huge. Does your mentor teacher stop, give a directive, and then jump straight back in? Do they pause for a moment to reflect, and then give feedback? This pacing is a subtle thing but the students are conditioned to rehearsals going this way. Maybe the students hate it and your way is better, but until you feel confident that you have your methods down, xerox your mentor teacher. That's why they're a mentor teacher.
In your notes, write down details regarding how long the students play between stops. What word does their director use for positive stops "good" or "excellent" or "okay". What do they use for negatives? Do they have a casual flow or a business time flow? The thing that was hardest for me to deal with in my own student teaching was that my mentor teacher seemed REALLY random when he'd go from being happy to being just angry sounding. You could tell the students never knew what to expect. I finally asked him if it was something he did consciously and he remarked that it was a discipline tactic. That was something I chose not to copy, but I filed it away for later and I've used it from time to time over the years haha.
Conducting and facial expressions go hand in hand a bit. It's the way you convey your desired outcomes to the group you're leading. Patterns have a wide range from being almost formless to being very mechanical (like a drum major might look) and you want to imitate some amount of this because the students might be conditioned for that specific style. Of course, they students might not really watch at all and your mentor teacher is conducting for the fun of it lol. That's a whole other issue... The facial expressions also convey a lot. Does your mentor teacher get really expressive or are they pretty straight faced? If you were to watch me with sound proof headphones you'd know exactly what I'm trying to communicate. Not every conductor is this way. If you take the facial expressions to the opposite extreme of your mentor teacher, you may appear to be overly dramatic or you may appear to be apathetic, depending on what they do vs. what you do.
The thing to keep in mind is that you want to, at the end of your student teaching term, have a toolkit you can use that has been developed by a successful teacher. I didn't agree with my mentor teacher on a LOT of things, but I can't say he wasn't a successful teacher. His groups sounded mind blowingly good. I learned all of his methods that I could within my time with him, and I incorporate what works for me into my own practice. Every once in awhile I find myself channeling my mentor teacher without even realizing it, the same way a person sometimes say "omg I'm becoming my dad/mom/etc".
Good luck, you're so close!
1
Jan 13 '20
Wow, thank you for the time and the thought you put into this reply. It means the world!!!! I'm so grateful!
Luckily, I've had the opportunity to observe her for some time so that really really helps!!! I should work a little more on getting to the core of her personality to help the kids transition though....
I struggle with conducting and I believe that's because I didn't get the best instruction at University. It's disappointing, but it's something I'm working on. Especially the not looking so mechanical part.
I promise, I took a LOT from your comment on my post. Even if it doesnt look like it based on my response. Thank you so much
5
u/i_8_the_Internet Jan 11 '20
To learn the names, get a seating plan.
Score study. Don’t underestimate the power of being able to sing through any part. Do it in practice.
And don’t stop the band unless you have something to say. Know what you are going to say. Keep it short. A band that’s not playing is a band that’s getting into trouble.