SLO Week of 4/27

What I have gained from my mentorship is immeasurable amounts of experience, and real life knowledge that I can later use when I am employed, and working with bands after college. I am one of the only students that will be going in to get their bachelor’s degree, already having prepared 4 pieces with bands; most students wouldn’t even know how to conduct yet! Instead I have learned how to conduct, methods for rehearsing bands, effective methods for communicating with students, how I must speak or express the concepts I want students to understand, and even more. I gained the most from my mentorship by simply practicing, discussing problems, and putting a lot of energy, effort, and passion into what needed to be completed. In the beginning, I would practice my conducting patterns often, and when I began rehearsing pieces with the bands, I would often listen to many different recordings, picturing what I wanted my band to sound like, picking apart important musical lines, and practicing what I would be doing up on the podium. Towards the end of this year a big lesson I have learned is that much of the rehearsal is dependent of your attitude, so in order to be the most productive when working with the bands, I had to keep an energetic, and positive attitude.

This mentorship has prepared me for the future by exposing me to the classroom environment and what it’s like to rehearse students before I even get to student teach. It already gives me a leg up, and I will already be ahead of the game when I get the opportunity to student teach or when I have my own band, because I will already be comfortable, and the setting or experience won’t be as scary or foreign of an idea to me.
I came into this mentorship knowing that I wanted to do music, and I figured that music ed would be the smartest route to go, but I did not realize the amount of passion I would develop for this particular sub field. In this mentorship, I used to think directors make music with students and it’s fun and there are some really great times and memories with it, but it wasn’t until experiencing this on the other side of the podium that I truly came to realize and appreciate the connections that are made in the wind band setting.

My advice to future students would be for starters to come into the beginning of the year prepared. Have a good idea of places you would want to mentor at, have a good idea of what specifically you’ll want to be studying for the year, and right off the bat know what some of your long term goals will be or have an idea of what you’ll want to be getting out of your mentorship. I know I did this, and I had a full year of growth from the beginning, while some of others may have had a slow start. My advice would also be to stay on top of your mentorship, not only like you would your other classes, but putting as much passion and energy into it as you would want to get out; after all, you’re studying what you want to do later in life, and there’s no reason to have anything other than a great attitude for it!

Graphic Source: http://www.real.com/resources/category/music-mp3s/

Blog Post 3/16

Although this video is intended to help us with our relevant group presentation, it also gives pointers on something I have to do almost every day. Whenever you’re working on the podium, you are public speaking, and the only way your teaching will be effective is if you are as comfortable as possible and are able to get your point across to the students effectively. I think these points are definitely applicable to what I do every day; I always have to be prepared, I always have to keep a good posture and physicality, and always try to pander to the students.

Preparing is probably what I have to do most to be able to speak comfortably in front of the bands. I need to have a lesson plan prepared and be able to identify chunk of music that we will be working on that day, as well as being able to identify the problems that are in the music and be able to rehearse the band to fix them. Also incredibly important is pandering to my audience. I always have to make sure the students are paying attention and identify with my attitude so that we are all on the same page when rehearsing music. You can rehearse the music all you want, but if the learning environment isn’t positive, and the students aren’t responding to your attitude, you’re not getting much done.

Blog Post 3/2

The whole purpose of my mentorship was to practice and gain experience that will be useful for when I want to become a band director, and that is the career path that I want to follow. In order to make this happen I would need to be music major in college, which is what I am planning on doing. I have already been accepted in the UGA School of music, and that’s where I will receive my higher education in order to pursue my career path.
The tasks that I most enjoy at my mentorship would definitely be when I am able to work with the bands on music that I plan on rehearsing and performing. That is really what I love doing, and what I enjoy most because it really is just me being able to do what I want which is create good music, which is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I think the tasks that are the least appealing but still equally as helpful are some of the more executive tasks of the job, such as dress orders or bus lists; Most people think band directors spend all their time on the podium, but there are a lot more unappealing task to the job.

1/5 Blog Post

What drives my research is my desire to keep trying to find the answers to my essential question, and continue trying to develop my knowledge and understanding of what is required to be a band director, and the daily struggles or rewards that one has in this field. I really strive to fully understand as much as I can right now so that it makes my secondary education easier, and when I start student teaching or get my first teaching job, I will already have experience and knowledge, and not be so naïve or clueless when starting off.
My current essential question is the same as it always has been: How can I further develop, progress, and improve teaching the art of music, as well as my teaching style?
I think some things that may be helpful for my final project would be a demonstration, which would be similar to an informance type event which was the topic of my last annotated bibliography. Also something else that would be helpful in presenting information would be some sort of recording presentation of the improvement made by a band over the course of working on a piece.
Information that will be included in my real inquiry will include interviews with both my mentor, as well as the students. The interview with my mentor includes some concepts I reflect on about being a band director in the future. Interviews with students will include their opinions about what they may like or dislike about certain teaching styles or class atmospheres. I also will include survey results from a survey students took evaluating me personally.

Week of 2/2

So far, the couple things I have worked on for my final project, besides the annotated bibliographies we will be using, are the interview I did with my mentor, and I also created a survey where students gave their opinions of my teaching. So I’ve really covered the real inquiry I needed for the project. The interview was interesting because I had a chance to hear a more personal side to questions I had about being a band director later in life. I also felt the interview helped me understand that band directing is so much more than hopping up on a podium and conducting; there is so much more to it, and a lot of people don’t understand. As for the survey, I created questions (or statements) similar to an evaluation students would do for their teachers. This was so I can get some feedback for my teaching style, and see what I’m doing well or not so well when I’m in front of the bands. I found that most of the statements (positive), the students mostly strongly agreed with, which is great, but there were definitely areas that had some less strong responses, and I will use this feedback to get even better when up on the podium.

Mentor Interview Q&A’s and Reflections

1. When did you first realize you wanted to TEACH music and why?

“I decided my senior year of high school, it was the thing I was best at and it was the thing I enjoyed most. There was no other academic area that intrigued me or that interested me. I had a lot of adversity going into it because people didn’t want me to do this and there was no money in it.”

Reflection: This makes sense and I completely relate to this because I also feel as though music is the only thing that interests me. It’s really what my life revolves around, but also I know that some of my family members don’t think it’s the best job money wise, but are still supportive.

2. How do you feel about the education of students when they first start on their instruments?

“My wife’s a middle school band director who has an incredible band, but there are also awful bands, or those who fall in between. I feel like they are prepared to a point, I feel like the methodology is ok, but I feel like more could be done. There are certain techniques that need to be done, that I don’t necessarily think are being done every day in some places that are not the best.”

Reflection: I agree with this. In our high school band program there is definitely a mix of different level player freshmen. Sometimes the freshmen are very well versed on their instrument, but others are not really good in the way they play, or even in the technique of a musician. I feel that most students should be well-educated from the beginning, to prevent bad habits later on.

3. When did you first find that music was an outlet for you, if at all?

“By the time I was 8. I played the organ back then, and that was a huge form of expression. In fact when I retire I want to go back and take piano lessons again.”

Reflection: I relate to this because music is a big form of expression for me. I wish I would have started earlier.

4. What was one of the first things you realized when you started teaching about communicating with students?

“They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. In order to be good at this, you have to be able to communicate on their level. You have to give respect to get respect. You have to talk to everybody, everybody has to feel important, and they have to feel like they make the group successful. “

Reflection: This is true, and I’ve tried to approach my mentorship like this.

5. How do you feel about the importance of singing?

“It’s something that has developed with me in the past 5 years. I think it’s an incredibly important part of not only hearing pitch, but students begin by having to focus on hearing and getting things right. Not only is it an ear trainer but a methodology in rehearsal.”

Reflection: I agree with this. Students should be able to sing and should be good at it, almost as equally as they are on their instrument, because the internal sense of pitch is extremely important.

6. Explain a musical concept that you have figured out the best way to explain to students over the years and how?

“How to communicate what I want my band to sound like; using the sound pyramid, and teaching the difference between a bright sound and a dark sound. The students get an idea of what the band’s supposed to sound like.”

Reflection: This makes sense because a lot of students are visual learners so picturing the pyramid would be one way to understand the concept of the balance.

7. Explain a concept that you had a lot of trouble communicating to students and then had to think of how to communicate it?

“The most effective way to teach rhythm, and how to get them to understand triplets. Just how to understand the rhythmic concepts and you have to address both auditory learners and visual learners.”

Reflection: Wind players usually have a harder time with understanding rhythm in relation to tempos, so it does take work to get them to understand, and it makes sense that you have to explain it in multiple ways, like he said, to reach both auditory and visual learners.

8. How do you differentiate between your podium personality and off the podium personality?

“People know when it’s rehearsal time, people understand we have a focus, but off the podium I mingle and talk and be friendly, so that I can bridge the gap between rehearsal Naughton and off podium Naughton.”

Reflection: I definitely see this on a day to day basis, and I feel like this is a really important concept. Students need to know that you’re approachable and friendly, but they also need to understand that when it’s rehearsal time, it’s time to work.

9. How did you go from your previous more abrasive teaching style in earlier years to your current more relaxed style and why?

“The early methodology almost lost me my career. I learned from a guy that was very hot headed, and that became my teaching style. You would just kind of fly off the handle really easy. And one year, a kid got in my face at a football game and we got in a verbal argument. The assistant principal and parents came over and I ended up resigning that job later that year. From that point I became a calmer person, and learned that if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right. So I try to make my classroom positive as much as I can.”

Reflection: This is definitely a good lesson that was learned. I feel it’s important to have a positive atmosphere in any music activity, and I know if I had a director who was very rough and hot headed, I would probably not like to be in band class very much, or even the band program.

10. What is one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned on the podium from a teaching standpoint?

“To get respect, you give respect.”

Reflection: This is definitely something I need to keep in mind on the podium because it is definitely true. Students will not pay attention to one thing you say if you don’t respect them.

Essential Question Week of 11/17

My Essential Question: How can I further develop, progress, and improve teaching the art of music, as well as my teaching style?

Why did you select this as your essential question? I feel it’s important to reflect on one’s own teaching, and really transfer the idea that you are teaching an art to students. In my annotated bibliography, the article I chose spoke a lot about how students usually learn the basics and mechanics of their instrument, but not the artistry of it, and how it really can become an outlet to express emotion. So, in my essential question, I found it suitable to address this discrepancy, and throughout my mentorship find ways to answer the question.

What excites you most about finding the answer to this question? What excites me most about finding the answer to this question is simply the journey that I will spend trying to find the answer. Being in front of the bands, and rehearsing and teaching has already helped me so much, not just as a teacher, but as a musician as well. When I find a method that they understand, and I can get across the message I’m trying to send them. So what excites me is continuing to find ways to communicate and teaching the bands. I’m also exciting to continue my own education and continue to discover new ways and means in my own teaching style.

Do you feel that this question accurately reflects a desire/need that you have to find out more about this topic? Yes. I feel that this question reflects one of the main themes that I come across with my mentorship almost every day. As I mentioned before, I strive every day to find new ways of teaching, and that is a desire that I fulfill through my mentorship. I always need to find new ways of communicating, new ways to teach, and new concepts to listen for and explain for the students. My desire to learn more about this topic grows every day as I learn new things about the students, and then I think, how can I do this even better? And that is what my mentor helps me with, and what I hope to research more about.

11/10 blog

In the last month, my mentorship has been fantastic. As I progress throughout the year, I grow my musical knowledge and confidence even more. I am in front of a band almost every day, and now I have the opportunity to actually rehearse pieces with them that will be performed in concert. With the concert band, I am in the middle of working with them on a piece that we will perform at the annual Christmas concert. The piece is really developing as a musical presentation, and we find things to improve upon every time we rehearse it. With the symphonic band, my mentor recently chose a piece for me to also rehearse with them and perform at the Christmas concert. The piece is harder than the one I am rehearsing with the Concert band, so it will definitely be more of a challenge. I am currently studying the score and will be working with them later this week.

An experience that I think has helped me with my mentorship is not technically a class that I took at school, but instead a leadership workshop that was provided for the marching band leadership team. This workshop extensively helped me with my leadership skills, and with just generally being able to navigate through life more effectively. Without this workshop, I would not have been able to develop my confidence and assurance as a leader, and just generally would not have developed into the person that I am today. This workshop, which I attended 3 years successively, has helped me with my mentorship by helping me develop my leadership personality, which includes being comfortable in front of anyone who I may instruct or lead, being able to communicate what I want and how I feel with those who I associate, and just generally knowing logical ways to maneuver through difficult situations. This leadership workshop was more useful than any class I have taken in high school.

11/3 blog post

http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fgrowingleaders.com%2Fblog%2Ffirst-soft-skill-develop-students%2F&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFMtJjDHCuM5SAyJyggvrk86y6x7w

One problem I feel many young people face in the workplace is the generational gap between them and the older, more established workers. Young workers seem to have an air of entitlement, and lack of humbleness. Although this isn’t really a problem they face, it is more one they need to fix. Today’s generation, and more of the younger generation of workers have been raised differently, thinking that going through the workplace is something easy to do, and that things will just be accomplished magically, not thinking that they must work as hard as they can to be successful. These workers lack social intelligence. Social intelligence is the capacity to effectively negotiate complex social relationships and environments. Social intelligence is definitely a quality most workers should have, especially when applying or interviewing for a job. Social intelligence is important because no matter how smart an applicant can be, the lack of manners, empathy, and social attunement can be what is most important in that job. You have to know how to talk and work with people, and be able to navigate very well socially. This social intelligence is really what makes any applicant qualified for a job, or at least seals the deal. What really spoke to me from this article is the lack of care or work ethic that young adults usually have at their job. I know I also agree with the author that this is completely unacceptable, and I know that when I have a job to do I put full effort to make sure everything is done well.

Mentorship Write up

My Profile: When I first started playing in middle school, going into high school, I had always loved music. Throughout my high school career I was one of the most involved people in all the music ensembles. Marching band, indoor drumline, indoor concert bands, jazz band, you name it; I took full advantage of all the programs offered. It was my freshman year that I decided to learn a wind instrument, and little did I know that French Horn was definitely something I was made to do. As I moved on through high school, improving rapidly in all my musical endeavors, I was starting to find that music was all that I wanted to pursue in life. I knew Music Education would be what I wanted to pursue, but I wanted just a little more than that feeling, a little more detail, a little more experience.

I was invited to do the Honors Mentorship Program at our high school which encompassed choosing a mentor in the field you are wanting to study later in life, and being able to get real hands on experience daily in that field; exactly what I needed! I now mentor with my band director of 4 years, Mr. Naughton.

My Mentorship: I work with Mr. Naughton and the Concert and Symphonic band at my high school almost everyday. My activities vary from studying conductor’s scores, to doing certain administrative activities, to actually being up on the podium conducting the bands. I have a weekly schedule where I switch off between warming up the Concert and Symphonic bands during the week. I will be rehearsing and conducting pieces with both the Concert and Symphonic band for both the Winter concert, and the Spring concert. My main goal for this mentorship is just do get the experience and confidence of being up on the podium, and rehearsing a band, and really just how to work with the students, because that’s not something most students get to do until they start student teaching after or when studying to receive their degree.

My Future: I plan to attend the University of Georgia and major in Music Education, with my main instrument of study being French Horn. My task in the next few months is to prepare all of my music auditions to the best of my ability in order to be accepted into the school of music.