Teaching Notes, 20100825

It's now week 3, and I still felt I'm trying to get through some fundamental material as far as music theory is concerned. Working with a bunch of students with little musical experience is still quite the challenge. Is there an age limit after which it is harder to teach music, similar to learning foreign languages? I certainly hope 4rd grade isn't that limit, but I have been finding it hard at times to keep the students' attention.

This week's class was also taught during a 95-degree heat wave, which probably didn't help a whole lot.

Oonie Koonie Cha	Lead class into the room with the song
Students remembered this tune all right, especially as I reviewed the chant with the students still parked outside in their line. I tried to provide a slightly more complicated rhythm with my feet, but only part of the class really caught on. Many giggled.
Down By The Sea (Red Grammer)	Teach motions, teach 1st verse and chorus
Since it was so hot, I figured that it was an easy day to introduce Down By the Sea, although for 3rd/4th graders it could have been a little too simple for them. This time (compared to previous years), I did have them echo the 1st iteration of the song, and so when I started playing the song, some started singing. (Later, I discovered that some students also knew the song before.) By the time we got to the 3rd or 4th iteration, more were able to pick up the base melody, although I had to still prompt the students to do the aggregate motions in their original order. I also emphasized to the students to try to keep the beat as Red does through the song with snapping - this actually can be a little tricky since the snapping is really on the offbeat. I thought this went reasonably well. Perhaps in a week or two, I'll cover this song again, and ask students for input. It'll have to be another hot day.
Introduction to the Ukulele	Show ukulele to the students, talk about strings, playing, sounds, space
The students had been asking about the ukulele for a while, and so I finally whipped it out. I spoke first about the makeup, and then had a students describe the strings (4, plastic, black, etc.). I then strummed it a few times, and then walked around the circle, letting each student strum it once. Some students strummed pretty hard, and those students reacted in surprise as their thumbs felt a bit of a zing. I took that as an opportunity to compare strum strength and thumb numbness. :) I also talked about the resonance chamber and the hole, and its importance. I tried covering the hole with a tissue, but that didn't seem to block the resonance as much as I had hoped, so I sort of faked the disappearance of the ring when covering up the hole. However, we still had a good discussion about the importance of space, and I had the students try singing a note while first crouched, and then stretched out. We also spent a little time investigating what happens when you put fingers on the fingerboard. That led to a small chat about size and relative pitch. I didn't get the same "that's physics!" revelation that I did with my 2nd graders from last year, but I think the students understood that big tends to mean low and small tends to mean high. I hope it'll click even more when I bring in a guitar.
Hello World (Red Grammer)	Sing chorus with the ukulele
I had the students echo my singing while playing the song on the uke. The trouble was, though, that I hadn't quite planned to sing Hello, World, and I didn't have a set of chords in mind that was in the students' ranges. As a result, I sang in C, and that translated to a pretty low register for the students. Whoops. It was a good thing that I didn't really have much more in mind with this song; I only wanted to illustrate the power of the uke.
Deconstruction of Sweet Disposition	Play song, have students move to song, discuss changes
Sweet Disposition (by the Temper Trap) is a song currently on the radio whose lyrics are pretty innocuous, and is one of those songs that starts light and builds up as the song progresses. I managed to find an instrumental version of the song, and I edited it before class to shrink the duration while preserving all of the transitions. The transitions simply came earlier, shrinking the song from nearly 4 minutes to about 2:55. Before I played the song, I did ask the students what they listened on the radio, and a bit to my surprise, a lot of students were listening to things that I didn't quite expect them to listen to until they were older. No matter, I started playing the song, and I bet at least a few recognized it. Sweet Disposition starts with a fast rhythm guitar that meanders a bit, and after playing that part for about 10 seconds, we discussed what we were hearing. Some identified the sound as some sort of guitar, and I encouraged the students to wave/flow their arms as the guitar notes were also going up and down. I started the song again, and played until the bass drum came in. Again, I stopped the song, and we talked about what we were hearing. This process of listening and playing went on for most of the song. The edited recording of mine progressed as such: 0:14 add drums 0:39 add high guitar, drums now echo 0:52 just echoing drums 1:14 high guitar, cymbals 1:24 add snare 1:44 just drums 1:52 add rhythm guitar 2:14 add high guitar 2:45 just drums In neither class did I actually get to the end of the song, but I was able to get through enough to give the students an idea of how a song was changing as it progressed. Sometimes, I managed to have the students clap to just the snare part. Later the song had a much higher guitar riff that other students mimicked. I did intend on splitting the class into two (drummers vs. guitarists), but that led to a bit of a mismosh for the first class, such that I didn't try it in the second class. Anyhow, after we stopped (due to time for both classes), it seemed like students in both classes were interested in doing something like that again.

I was so distracted with the song deconstruction exercise, that I totally blanked out with regards to an exit song. No exit song! Doh.

One thing I've noticed is that for the 2nd (larger) class, I kept finding myself inside the circle, whereas for the 1st class, there was just enough room for me to insert myself into the circle at any time. I also have to keep adjusting the 2nd class circle so that they don't crowd, although perhaps they're doing that because I'm in the middle.

I also moved one student from the 2nd class out of the circle for the first time. I hope that perhaps sticks in the minds of some of the students; that particular student didn't get to do the song deconstruction.

Next week, I must introduce Sol, and perhaps I'll introduce the staff as well.

Teaching Notes, 20100823

It's week 2, and I wanted to keep trying out new things for the students. This time, I had prepared a whole bunch, but I found it hard to get through it all, as students had more trouble with the activities than I expected. Furthermore, it appears that I might have a bit of a logistical problem with my classes; my first class starts at 10:20A, but that's when recess gets out, and students cannot beam over to class in a split second. As a result, it felt like I had only about 20 minutes for my first class, which turned out to be a bit of an equalizer as my second class again seemed to have a little more trouble keeping focus (although it was much improved since the previous class).

Everybody Oughta Know	Lead class into the room with the song, add nonrepeating 3rd line, zipper
Students remembered this song pretty well, and by the time I went in, they were singing enough to know what they were supposed to be singing. I then added the nonrepeating 3rd line, which took a little bit of practice getting used to. At this time, I was also gesturing with my body the scale up, and I asked the class why I was making that sort of motion. In only one of the classes did I try zippering in a few changes to the song, but I didn't ask the students for ideas. I thought that that would be a little too dangerous at this point.
Names on Board - rhythm/accent intro	Group first names by syllables and accent config
I prewrote all of the students' names on the board, arranging them by syllable/accent group. When it was time to do this exercise, I had the students speak the first few names of each group, and then we talked about what was similar among the names of a particular group. I then tried to see if students could notice differences between two-syllable names that had the first vs. second syllable accented. Unfortunately, that eureka took at lot longer than I had hoped, which didn't leave me a lot of time for the 3- and 4-syllable names.
Body Rhythms	Have students echo whatever rhythms I did, one measure at a time
This was meant to be a lead-in into the next item, but I also felt that it would be a good way for me to try to capture the students' attention. I'd start out with simple half-measure tap/clap combos, and then they'd respond. When I moved to full-measures, it took a little while for the students to adjust. (This really makes me believe that the students had very very very little music before this year.) I eventually moved in some stomping with the clapping and tapping.
Oonie Koonie Cha	Teach chant, then song to students, then apply rhythms to the chant
I got a lot of giggles (understandably) when teaching this, but I was finally able to get the students to repeat me, and perhaps keep some semblance of a beat (without explicitly explaining it). Of course, they were constantly repeating whatever I was saying, but at least they were listening to me and watching what rhythms I was producing. I did keep the rhythms pretty simple, and perhaps the next time I do this, I'll do something a lot more complicated. As this was the end of class (already!), I had the students eventually walk in a circle while we did the song/chant/step.

I meant to interject items with a "Well Enough Said... About That" answerback, but I forgot to do that for the first class. I'll try to do it again for both classes, as I do want to start teaching that song.

A few students asked me what the ukulele was, and I told them that we didn't have time to talk about it. I hope that translates to more focus and less chatter for the following week.

I prepared a whole lot more for this week, including introducing 'sol', playing the cookie jar game, epo i tai tai e, botendere, and yes, even talking about the ukulele. I think I'll have plenty for next week as a result.

Teaching Notes, 20100811

We're back! This year is going to be particularly exciting, as I am finally, after two years, teaching in a school where my son is attending - namely, College Park in San Mateo. This not only means a new school for me, but CP had previously been without a consistent music program whatsoever, relying on parent volunteers to come in (and usually just for 4th/5th), an anonymous donor donating funds for 6 classes a year for the lower grades, and some instrumental music for 5th grade. The Music for Minors presence now provides significantly more music coverage for the students.

As I was the one who brought CP and MfM together, I landed the job of being the docent coordinator for the school - nothing terribly huge since I have only one other docent working with me at the start of the year, allowing for the two of us to cover 5 classes, or approximately 120 students. (Yep - the ratios are higher here than at Montclaire.) Because there is some music exposure at 5th grade for all students at CP, I felt that it would be better to start MfM classes for the older grades first, so that students going from K through 5 wouldn't have a hole in music coverage. The anonymous donor's classes affects K and 1st grade, and with MfM classes covering 3rd through 5th, we now have only the 2nd graders with no music coverage. My hope is perhaps to bring in some of the roving docents and give the 2nd graders some classes.

This year also, incidentally starts far earlier, as CP is a year-round school. I *almost* taught a class the previous week, which would have been the 6th day of the school year, but that was going to be a little too much of a scramble for me. However, this is also the first time I've started basically during the 3rd week of schooling, and that should lead to a few more classes, which I feel is pretty important given that my students (3rd and 4th graders) haven't had any significant music at all at CP.

My classes this year involve one 3rd grade class of 27 students, and one 3rd-4th grade mixed class of 31 students. (31!) Again, none have had significant music at CP, so I figured I'd start with some material from my 2nd grade classes, and that should be good for at least the 1st day. I have only 5 minutes in between classes, and there is going to be a class from the other docent 5 minutes after my second class, so I'm going to have to be very cognizant of the time.

For both classes, I had the students follow me into the classroom. I then had the students form a circle, and in order to provide a little bit of space, I had the students take one step backwards while facing the center of the circle.

With 27 students, there's enough room for me to be in the outside of the circle and still have all of the students follow me pretty well. With 31, I found myself spending more of my time in the middle and constantly turning around. I don't know if that in itself led to more chaos and more students being pulled out in the middle of the class, but it was certainly more difficult to manage. The next class, I may just try to spend the majority of my time at the outside of the circle.

Everybody Oughta Know	Immerse, teach by repetition
This song always worked well in my previous classes as a short intro song (although arguably I may have overused it last year), but I figured that it would be ok for this group, and it was. Students were able to repeat each line that I sang, although some had a look as if they were wondering why they were doing it. The song isn't supposed to have the 3rd line repeated, but I had the students do it anyway. In the future I hope to zipper in some suggestions from the classes into the song.
Hello in Many Languages	Sing "hello" in sol-mi, have students repeat
This was undoubtedly a secret way to get the students used to the sol-mi interval, without telling them what it was. I think I had hello in about 10 different languages. During the exercise, though, I found that I could have really used a map of the world, especially when I tried to describe where countries like Nepal and continents like Africa lived. If I do find a map, I may label it with different songs pointing to different parts of the world, something that was done in the music room at Montclaire.
Clapping Names	Have each student say their name, and have the class clap it
I did this with my students both years at Montclaire, and it's a great way to break the ice, while getting them familiarized with some (very simple) rhythms used in our names. I'll extend this a bit for the next week.
What Do You Hear?	Ask students about sounds they hear, then have them experiment w/ high and low sounds
This is something I thought would be a little too simplistic for 3rd and 4th graders, but they were happy to oblige and provide reasonable (usually) examples of sounds. Eventually, I had the class settle on a bird and caltrain as the sounds, and I had the students put their hands on their noses or their throats (gently!) in order to hear the high note or low note vibrations. This exercise leads naturally into the next song...
I Can Sign Up High	Teach song by rote, then have them act out the song slowly. Repeat, varying tempo and volume.
This song was one that works well for the lower grades, and at first I wasn't quite sure whether or not the 4th graders would find it too simple. But, the song was a good opportunity to get the kids moving again. Also, with the lower grades, I might not have varied the volume or tempo and have the opportunity to discuss both on the first day. But, the students were able to understand the concept of volume or tempo reasonably well, particularly when I sped up the song. I also introduced the classes to the term "pitch", although I don't think that really stuck in their minds when we were varying the pitch during the song. The song also provided a good opportunity to keep the song focused; I wouldn't start the song until people were silent (which, for the larger class, sometimes took a little bit of time).
Do, Mi	Introduce the two notes, and hopefully get them used to the interval
Similar to what I did at Montclaire, I took two chairs and had one represent Do while the other represented Mi. (BTW, this is a variation of the Bobby McFerrin presentation about pentatonic scales that you can find on youtube.) I would stand in front of the Do chair and sing 'Do'. At that point, I described the importance of Do, and how it ended every song. I then took the opportunity to sing Everybody Oughta Know just to get to the last note (fortunately, it's a short song), and that provided the students a little more context. I also changed the pitch a bit, and hinted that Do can move around depending on the song and the person. I then had the students sing "Mi" when I stood in front of the chair. I then went back to Do, and I had the students sing accordingly. This exercised required that I make sure that everyone was on the same note, and I had to take the time to let everyone's voice match mine at each note. I hope to get the students used to singing a regular Do at middle-C; I don't know how successful I'm going to be at that, and that's going to take several weeks of this.
The Longer The Faster	Teach students game, play it
This is always a winner. :) Seriously, I've never had a dull moment with this exercise, and I figured why not use it again. I spent a little bit of time explaining the song, and because of time constraints, I didn't demo it as long as I normally would have with individual students and counting. When we started, students kept up with the tempo reasonably well, and they were counting pretty loudly. However, as the song progressed, it seems like the class missed a beat here and there, and the 8th count was no longer where it should have been. For the first class, I didn't stop the class, and I just let the class count at their own pace (they sped up as the song sped up too). For the second class, I did try to keep the beat with my voice and hands, and when a student failed to reach the next student at 8, I held up the next marcher until the next set of 8 beats commenced. In both classes, the counting got pretty loud, making the song a little hard to hear. I did spend about a minute talking with the class about what they heard as far as the song was concerned, and enough students to my satisfaction noted that the song was accelerating. None noted the triangle hit at 8, which is something I'll have to point out at a later date.
Well Enough Said... About That!	Teach students that single phrase
I'm a big fan of Sweet Honey in the Rock songs, and one song, "Still Gotta Get Up In the Morning", has this one line "Well Enough Said, About That" several times in the song. At some point in the year, I want to teach the students how to sing the whole song (and perhaps with instruments), but I figured I'd start with the one line, which can also serve as a call-and-answer breaker to refocus the class. I first taught the phrase, and then I had them answer with "About That" whenever I sang "Well Enough Said". After 2 or 3 tries, the students got it, and they were silent while waiting for me to sing it! Yay for song snippets that can help manage a classroom.

Well, that was a lot of fun. I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to cover with older kids, so I had also prepared to do "Oonie Koonie Cha", "Epo I Tai Tai E", and even "El Juego Chirimbolo" just in case - all potential dance/movement items.

The older kids definitely pose a different challenge versus the younger students. The older ones definitely pick up and understand more, and more quickly, but *only* if you can keep their attention. With class sizes of 27 and 31, that is certainly a big challenge, and after one week, I don't think I have a good grasp yet at the secret balance between activity and discussion for children this old.

The one thing that is helping me so far is, ironically, knowing that the students haven't had any real music instruction at the school before. That allows me to replay a lot of material from my class from last year, and take it at any pace that seems reasonable.

Teaching Notes, 20100607

As you might have noticed, these are notes for 20100607, although I'm writing them in August.  That's because 20100607 was a repeat of the same class on 20100526, except it was the last class for my later class.  I had the same lesson plan, and it had just about the same success, although this second class was a little rowdier, as they had been all year.  Of course, it has been several months, so I don't really recall all of the details.  I do recall that Sing A Song was pretty successful, although the recording wasn't so useful since some of the students sang right into the microphone at full blast.

With that, however, I will no longer be teaching at Montclaire, as it appear that I will be bringing Music for Minors over to College Park in San Mateo next year, where my son will start Kindergarten.  I have always wanted to make sure that my own kids get music as elementary school children, and thus I'll be teaching at CP instead.

As for lessons learned through the year, the one thing that I did learn was to not schedule my classes the first thing on a Monday morning.  That pretty much mortgaged my workweek right off the bat.  Plus, it seemed like events (usually health-related) over the weekend led to an immediate scramble to cancel classes; cancellations seemed to be easier to manage the previous year when I was teaching on a Friday.