BAYSIDE INN
Assignments
Student Interview
School Trip Reflection
The trip we took to Saint Georges Elementary was very informative and overall enlightening on my knowledge of teaching music to a really young age group. Our music education class got that chance to work with an elementary grade three and four class to do musical exercises similar to those we experiment with in class sometimes. I was so shocked to see how fast some of the kids learned some complex melodies that i found even my peers and trouble picking-up. Furthermore it was fascinating to see the divide between those evidently more musical and therefore more invested in the activities we were doing, and those students that struggled tried more to distract themselves with their friends or otherwise. As I expected, a lot of the students followed the lead of the university class when it came to creating their own rhythms via body percussion or sound effects, although there were students that seemed fearless to create their own melody based on whatever was in their head.
It was absolutely amazing to see musical talent at it’s rawest form. Some of the students, I noticed picked some really complex melodies and still stayed relatively in rhythm and key to the entire group. I was almost starstruck and I remember thinking to myself how much I’ve underestimated the power of a young developing brain. Another thing I noticed was a lot of the boy seemed more distracted than the girls when the noise levels got louder, the boys were more likely to start talking and playing with friends and overall seemed more distracted. However, that being said, I found the boys to be more fearless in general with their responses to both the musical exercises as well as general questions. No matter how outrageous (and rather quick and witty) their responses were, there was no fear of expressing those ideas to the group. That was a general observation there were obviously the girls in the class that were more fearless as well as boys in the class who were more shy.
Overall, this trip was fascinating in terms of getting raw experience working with elementary school pedagogy and it’s effectiveness in the classroom. I was amazed overall to see how engaged the students were from start to finish, and even when the lunch bell rang it didn’t seem to tear their attention away from the exercises we were doing. If I were to do the whole thing again I would probably remember to not be so tentative and to instead embrace my inner child. It was a fascinating experience overall and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
The trip we took to Saint Georges Elementary was very informative and overall enlightening on my knowledge of teaching music to a really young age group. Our music education class got that chance to work with an elementary grade three and four class to do musical exercises similar to those we experiment with in class sometimes. I was so shocked to see how fast some of the kids learned some complex melodies that i found even my peers and trouble picking-up. Furthermore it was fascinating to see the divide between those evidently more musical and therefore more invested in the activities we were doing, and those students that struggled tried more to distract themselves with their friends or otherwise. As I expected, a lot of the students followed the lead of the university class when it came to creating their own rhythms via body percussion or sound effects, although there were students that seemed fearless to create their own melody based on whatever was in their head.
It was absolutely amazing to see musical talent at it’s rawest form. Some of the students, I noticed picked some really complex melodies and still stayed relatively in rhythm and key to the entire group. I was almost starstruck and I remember thinking to myself how much I’ve underestimated the power of a young developing brain. Another thing I noticed was a lot of the boy seemed more distracted than the girls when the noise levels got louder, the boys were more likely to start talking and playing with friends and overall seemed more distracted. However, that being said, I found the boys to be more fearless in general with their responses to both the musical exercises as well as general questions. No matter how outrageous (and rather quick and witty) their responses were, there was no fear of expressing those ideas to the group. That was a general observation there were obviously the girls in the class that were more fearless as well as boys in the class who were more shy.
Overall, this trip was fascinating in terms of getting raw experience working with elementary school pedagogy and it’s effectiveness in the classroom. I was amazed overall to see how engaged the students were from start to finish, and even when the lunch bell rang it didn’t seem to tear their attention away from the exercises we were doing. If I were to do the whole thing again I would probably remember to not be so tentative and to instead embrace my inner child. It was a fascinating experience overall and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
MOVIE CLIPS ASSIGNMENT
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The Kings Speech movie clip
This is an exquisite example of teaching at it’s finest. Even at the beginning of the clip the teacher of the king proposes the idea that his speech impediment is not merely a “mechanical” issue like the Queen clearly states. But also an issue of confidence. Over the course of the clip, the teacher and king go through various exercises of mechanical nature, however the teacher add in exercises (like the one where they shout out the window) to work on the king's fear of embarrassment. The teacher even clearly states “if anyone can shout vowels in an open window can learn to deliver a speech”. This is a clear demonstration of good teaching, the teacher in the clip realized that the problem didn’t lie solely in the mechanics of the king's speech, but the king's confidence was also holding him back. This clip shows first hand how teacher must be passionate about making a difference with a person, as well as being open to various methods of teaching and being in tune to which methods work best with certain students.
The King's Speech. Directed by Tom Hopper, performances by Colin Firth. Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter. 2006
Transformative power of classical music
Zander demonstrates amazing teaching of music in his ted talk “The Transformative Power of Classical Music”. Right off the bat, Zander shows the audience that music can be interpreted in various forms (demonstrating an open pedagogy). The first few minutes of the clip Zander describes obscure terms like “impulses” and “one buttered playing” to describe a very familiar musical term. Phrasing. This is a perfect example of using alternative methods in pedagogical situations to help describe what could be a more complex concept. Zander goes on to describe an instance where he physically moved one of his student while the student was playing a piece on the piano, and the student phrasing got better, or and Zander described “became a one buttered player”. This is just another example of how Zander simplifies a concept that can be hard to grasp. I chose this piece not only because i thought it was informative, but because of Zander’s talent for teaching, by identifying with the audience and using obscure techniques to bring out the musician in every person in the audience.
This is an exquisite example of teaching at it’s finest. Even at the beginning of the clip the teacher of the king proposes the idea that his speech impediment is not merely a “mechanical” issue like the Queen clearly states. But also an issue of confidence. Over the course of the clip, the teacher and king go through various exercises of mechanical nature, however the teacher add in exercises (like the one where they shout out the window) to work on the king's fear of embarrassment. The teacher even clearly states “if anyone can shout vowels in an open window can learn to deliver a speech”. This is a clear demonstration of good teaching, the teacher in the clip realized that the problem didn’t lie solely in the mechanics of the king's speech, but the king's confidence was also holding him back. This clip shows first hand how teacher must be passionate about making a difference with a person, as well as being open to various methods of teaching and being in tune to which methods work best with certain students.
The King's Speech. Directed by Tom Hopper, performances by Colin Firth. Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter. 2006
Transformative power of classical music
Zander demonstrates amazing teaching of music in his ted talk “The Transformative Power of Classical Music”. Right off the bat, Zander shows the audience that music can be interpreted in various forms (demonstrating an open pedagogy). The first few minutes of the clip Zander describes obscure terms like “impulses” and “one buttered playing” to describe a very familiar musical term. Phrasing. This is a perfect example of using alternative methods in pedagogical situations to help describe what could be a more complex concept. Zander goes on to describe an instance where he physically moved one of his student while the student was playing a piece on the piano, and the student phrasing got better, or and Zander described “became a one buttered player”. This is just another example of how Zander simplifies a concept that can be hard to grasp. I chose this piece not only because i thought it was informative, but because of Zander’s talent for teaching, by identifying with the audience and using obscure techniques to bring out the musician in every person in the audience.