Grant
Undergraduate
Music Education |
Grant
Undergraduate
Music Education |
I know that my last posts have been primarily focused on my travels, but the blog this week is about the International School! As I have touched on before, I have a fantastic mentor teacher. Through the guidance of Dr. Renzoni and my mentor teacher, I have taught most of the Year 1 and Kindergarten/Transition classes, and am starting to teach some of the older years. On Monday we had one day of Parent/Teacher/Student conferences where my mentor teacher was in conferences all day - I taught 3 classes on my own (Y1, Y4, Y5) and they went well!
In the past few weeks, the Year 1 students have been doing a Unit of Inquiry on Forces of Measurement and are discovering that the speed of the beat can be measured (tempo). I have introduced different tempo speeds, tempo names, metronome markings, and have been focusing on the relation between animals and tempo. For example, they are associating animals such as turtles and snails with slower tempos, while cheetah and hummingbirds represent faster tempos. Another activity we have done is listening to excerpts from The Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saens) and discussing what animals they think the music represents. There is one song I taught them called Grizzly Bear that they adore and ask to sing every class. Each time through the song there is a grizzly bear - one student “sleeps” while the other students sing and do aural/tonal patterns (singing exercises). The goal of the song is to not wake the grizzly bear and sing the patterns right! Each class I have to come up with new patterns because their tonal capability and echoing is truly inspiring. This past week I have introduced the Year 4 and 5 students to music technology. All of the students in the school either have an iPad (younger students) or laptop (older students). We have been utilizing music technology via free websites such as Bandlab and Chrome Music Lab Sound Maker. Through these websites, students have already made simple, group compositions in their first few lessons. The next few weeks we will focus on each student creating their own composition. Because the Year 4 Unit of Inquiry is All the World’s A Stage, we want to include sounds from around Siena in their individual compositions. One example of this is recording the church bells from the city center and uploading the recording into the websites! So far I have been truly impressed with the intellect at the school, especially the younger students. When talking about animals, the Year 1s came up with hummingbird and tortoise, and then had a discussion about the difference between turtles and tortoises (which I did not know!). In addition to music, we also teach 3 public speaking classes where Years 7-9 are having great discussions on government, status, and are creating a Model United Nations to debate world topics.
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Ciao a tutti!
What an eventful Easter break I have had! On April 5th I had a half school day and I was on Easter break until coming back to school on April 17th! I was fortunate enough to meet up in Pisa with 2 of my childhood friends from Niagara Falls. Although we met in Pisa, we stayed 4 nights inside the historic walls of Lucca. During one of our days in Lucca, we rented bikes - there is nice bike path around the fort and takes about an hour (while stopping for pictures along the way). One of the most beautiful things about Lucca is that it is surrounded by the Monte Pisano, a gorgeous mountain range. Another cool fact for all of you opera fans, Lucca is the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini! For one night In Lucca, I cooked dinner for the first time since being in Italy - yes my host-family spoils me. We had spaghetti and sauce - the sauce consisting of onion, garlic, fresh tomatoes, red wine, and basil. The following day we ended up heading back to Pisa on Easter and visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower is surrounded by hundreds of yards of green grass, filled with children playing soccer. We hung out in the courtyard, sat in the grass in the shade of the sun, and kept an eye out for flying soccer balls. The rest of my break included a few days walking around in Florence and then back to Siena! Hello everyone! I have been teaching for over a full week at the International School of Siena alongside a wonderful mentor teacher. My mentor teacher has only been at the school for around a month so we relate on being new! The music classes here range from Year 1 to Year 11, so there is a lot of material to cover! One of my classes of focus is teaching in a Kindergarten/Transition class which consists of students ranging from age 3-5. I learned very quickly that there is quite a drastic range of intellect and personalities, and I am constantly improving on my pace. A few things that I found helpful for this age group is to always move the class forward, have minimal down time, and continually praise individuals . I am keeping the students moving and singing, while being as goofy as possible. In regards to Italian cuisine, I am full all the time! One of my food highlights of the week is Fiorentina Steak, cooked rare in the kitchen and then served on skillet-type plate, cooked to your liking. I have been continuing to try as much chingale (wild boar) as I can, typically served over pappardelle pasta in a ragu sauce. At the school, where everything is cooked fresh, we have had pumpkin soup, turkey and gravy, and pasta and red sauce. On Friday our students attended an assembly that talked about career goals, climate change, and included a musical performance. Our 5th graders sang “Wayfaring Stranger” while performing on percussion instruments. They were advertising our 5th and 6th grade choir which will be starting this week! I am so excited to experience the starting of a choir and instrumental music program from scratch. Fiorentina Steak Chiangle pictured above and below. Marita, Connor, and I wearing our Bengal Orange at the Piazza del Campo.
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AuthorHello everyone and welcome to my blog about my experience student teaching at the International School of Siena! My name is Grant Asklar and I am a senior Music Education major at SUNY Buffalo State University. I play primarily saxophone, clarinet, and flute, and am looking forward to this intercultural teaching experience. Archives
May 2023
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