Grant
Undergraduate
Music Education |
Grant
Undergraduate
Music Education |
After teaching 23 individual lessons last week, I can definitely say I am exhausted! In the IB curriculum, each year group has a Unit of Inquiry, where all of their instruction focuses around a specific theme. The Year 2s are working on a unit on water and I had a couple of really fantastic lessons with them last week. One of our classes we focused on sound waves and vibration, including how lower pitches and higher pitches have different wavelengths. I brought in 3 glasses and filled them each with different amounts of water. We sketched the sound waves of each glass, determined what notes each glass sounded (hit the glass with spoons), and put them into an Orff orchestration of the Erie Canal (also water themed!).
Over the past 2 weeks, my mentor teacher and I have planned Friday Recitals where students have played piano, saxophone, and trumpet for faculty and their peers. I worked with the saxophone and trumpet students 1-on-1 in the days leading up to the recital and they played great! We put on the recitals in the music room, where students and faculty can attend during their lunch break. The recitals have been well attended and we are hoping they will be a weekly occurrence! As of right now, the only music in the school is classroom music. In my public speaking classes for Years 7-9, we have been continuing with the United Nations, types of governments, and types of debates. For the United Nations, we have been discussing what topics the UN is involved in and their responsibilities. Students have also been focusing on different types of government, focusing on similarities and differences between England, Italy, and the United States. The students were truly surprised by the Electoral College and asked lots of great questions. Our debate students have been focusing on techniques such as Ad Hominem, Ad Populum, Straw Man, and the False Dilemma. Students in our debate classes have been participating in and creating scripts utilizing each debate tactic. Managing classroom behavior is what I am focusing on the most - keeping students engaged and being good listeners to their peers. I have been trying different ways to keep the middle schoolers more focused and I have had the best luck with assigned groups of 4. When each student walks in the room, they get a number 1-4 and that is their group for the class. I have been keeping track of which groups work really well and wish groups do not. I have truly underestimated the importance of keeping students focused as soon as they enter the class. With the younger students I have been using a small drum for them to march to as they walk to the music room. With the older students, I have been utilizing bell-work - a short task with a timer as soon as they enter the room. I have also been keeping track of how long it takes the students to get set up for the class and created a scoreboard for their best times. I even tried an experiment where I have a prompt on the board and said nothing as the students entered the room. It is interesting that the Year 9s took 14 minutes to all enter the classroom and sit down. I only have half of a week left and I am done! Enjoy this watercolor painting I made over the weekend!
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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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