Observation #4 cont.

I don't know if I would do anything differently other than maybe not have so much to do in a half hour just so i could spend a little bit of time talking about each exercise instead of trying to get through everything i had planned and really not leaving time for questions, behavior issues, or talking about the piece in general. If there was anything i would change it would be this.

Observation #4 cont.

She told me afterwards that she has particular difficulty with one class of students that misbehave all the time and it makes it very difficult for her to keep the class going and the learning rather than disciplining one kid while the rest of the class gets bored. She made a big fuss over them that day for they're good behavior every little while she would thank them for being good. Rewarding kids for their good behavior is so essential to getting them to continue it. You don't just want to harp on them when things go wrong. You need to make sure you pay attention to when they're doing things right as well.

Observation #4 cont.

what this one particular teacher did that i thought was a good way of assessing is something she calls string karate. the way it works is that they are tested every other week on a certain piece and if they do well enough they pass and get a new "belt" which is a piece of string that gets tied to their instrument and they're all different colors depending on how far they've gotten. She does this in pairs or groups sometimes for time sake. playing together is a good way for kids not to be scared of playing and the is also a non-stressful situation for the kid to get tested on. I just really like the whole situation she has here.

Observation #4 cont.

at this age it's very important to get the kids to take lessons so the technique gets fixed now before the later years of learning. This is one thing i was thinking as i looked across the room at the technique of everyone and realized she will never have time to fix everyone's posture so orchestra is not where that is going to get fixed. It's at home and in their private lessons, if they can afford them.

Observation #4 cont.

Practicing at home is highly encouraged for time sake in this class. She only had thirty minutes with them every day so she tried as much as possible to stay on task and move quickly through each exercise.

Observation #4 cont.

Rhythms were said aloud before playing them. Speed was determined by teacher playing the exercise first. And everyone was playing with the book called Strictly Strings.

Observation #4 cont.

Elementary orchestra is harder to determine the overall objective other than applied learning of rhythms, notes and key signatures.