Field Experience 1
For my field experience, I made my way back to my elementary school back in Scarborough. It was at Alexmuir Jr. Public School, where my musical journey really began and I thought it would be appropriate to go back there to learn again. A lot has changed, my old music teacher has retired and the hallways seemed much smaller. But the new music teacher, Ms. Greenwood, was just as welcoming and friendly.
The music room was quite large with ample space for children to move around and do activities together. There was a very bright and warm atmosphere in this room and in the back of the room there were large windows that let in plenty of light. There were posters and drawings of music related subjects all around the room. Some of the posters had the faces of composers with small facts, others had diagrams of musical instruments. There were stickers on the board that had solfege for students to look at and follow, as well as chalk boards with pre-made music staffs. At the front of the room was an upright piano. There were also doors that led to a storage of band instruments and recorders. Everything in the room, no matter what direction you looked, contained something of interest for the wandering eyes or mind. Along the back of the room there would be rows upon rows of different copies of music books for different grades. When I was still a student at Alexmuir, the older grades used to use these song books and we used to read through songs together while the teacher played the piano. In the corners in the back there were bongo drums and snare drums that were covered and tucked away.
On the day I visited, I observed a class of twenty-four 2nd graders, thirteen were female students and eleven were male. It was just after lunch time recess, so some of the children had quite a lot of energy but most were tired out from running around and playing. Thankfully most seemed like they were satisfied from playing and surprisingly brought quite positive attitudes about music. Before they entered the classroom, they lined up against the wall beside the door. Their homeroom teacher was with them, making sure that they were lined up quietly. When Ms. Greenwood made her appearance, she started giving them hand gestures and signals that they created to remain quiet. Ms. Greenwood would put one of her fingers to her lips and the children followed suite, knowing to be quiet. It was a simple gesture but effective.
Once the students were all inside, they sat altogether in one large circle in the room. Ms. Greenwood started off the lesson by just conversing with the children and asking how they were doing. After about 5 minutes, she began one of her first activities. Ms. Greenwood herself was sitting in the circle and she started to pat her legs to a steady pulse. She began to clap a simple pattern and if a student tried to clap along, she would shake her head and point to herself to signal her first. After a few repetitions she would gesture for the class to respond to her with the same pattern. Ms. Greenwood kept at this activity until all the little minds seemed to be focused on her and there was a steady call and response.
Soon after, she began to sing a simple pattern and would repeat it, encouraging the children to follow her. Not too long after, the entire class was repeating the pattern and seemed comfortable. She signaled for the children to stop singing with a little wave of her hand. She told the class that the pattern that they had just sung, was specific to just them. In doing so, she also challenged them to be able to stick to that one pattern, even if she were to say something completely different before! Ms. Greenwood quite literally meant she could say anything and they would have to respond with their pattern. Sometimes she would create a new complicated rhythm, other times she might shout the name of a delicious dessert, like pie. Which caused the children to laugh and work harder at responding with their pattern through their laughter. Later on the children continued their assigned pattern while the teacher sang her own part on top. This activity can provide an opportunity to play around with different time signatures and it helps them develop a sense of independence, when it comes to dealing with separate parts. The children are first presented with simple rhythms to follow, but they grew in difficulty slowly. I appreciated was that the teacher communicated with the children in a way that was applicable to them, she worded the activity to seem like something fun and engaging. She presented this activity in the form of a friendly challenge.
So far, the music experience has been mostly around the concept of singing and a lot of percussive actions. The next activity they did, Ms. Greenwood allowed them a choice. They could choose from songs that they have learned and sang before. Ms. Greenwood brought out a felt board on a little easel, the children remained seated, they were getting a bit fidgety. She allowed the class to vote between the “Five Little Pumpkins” song or the “Five little monkeys” song. The winner was “Five Little Pumpkins”. The words for it goes like this:
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said “Oh my, it’s getting late!”
The second one said “There are witches in the air!”
The third one said “But we don’t care!”
The fourth one said “Lets run and run and run!”
The fifth one said “I’m ready for some fun!”
Then “Ooo” went the wind, and out went the lights,
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Ms. Greenwood had little felt pumpkins, witches and a gate to really set up and help the children visualize the song. Using the piano to find her starting note, she jumped right into the music. She sang the song through once, just as a revision and then turned the song into another call and response activity. When she would sing the introductions, the children would respond with what the pumpkin sings (e.g. The teacher sings “the first one said” and the children respond with “oh my, it’s getting late!”). What I found very cute was that they all knew the little actions that go with each phrase. When they say “lets run and run and run” they pretend to run on the spot. Or when they get to the wind part, they start waving their arms at each other. Every time a new pumpkin would be introduced, Ms. Greenwood would stick a new pumpkin onto the board. After one round, Ms. Greenwood let them come up one at a time manage to felt board while she went over to the piano and started playing music to accompany the song.
I appreciated how this activity, helped different types of learners. There was opportunity to spatial and kinesthetic learners with the felt board images, there were words to go with the song that could help linguistic learners and the song was repeated with enough frequency to help auditory learners. Because it is also very engaging, allowing room for students to get involved in the activity through more than just singing. It makes it a lot more enjoyable learning experience and it got them moving which cures them of being bored and fidgety.
When it was time for the students to leave for their next class, she got them to sing a song to quiet them down. It was the “Quiet Please” song, where it’s sung to the notes of “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.” But the words were replaced with “Put your finger on your lip like this, shhh”. Then Ms. Greenwood would ask the children to quietly line up single file at the door that they usually exit from. She asked them to pretend that they are little mice being careful to avoid the scary cat that is going to catch them. It was amusing watching them totally change their posture and pretend to be little animals. Meanwhile there was another class of children waiting outside to come in, by the other door as the class’ homeroom teacher came to pick them up.
And so, ends my one hour of music class with these 2nd graders. It was a lot of fun for me to join in on the activities, because it was an environment that allowed for everyone to be silly and creative without judgement and even the shyest children tried their best to join along. No one was really signaled out to perform or sing on their own and a lot of the activities counted on group effort. When looking back on the class, it flowed quite smoothly, but the class was also exceptionally well behaved. Despite all the instruments around and music books, the teacher only had to use the minimalist of materials, our own bodies, the piano and images that go with the felt board.
For my field experience, I made my way back to my elementary school back in Scarborough. It was at Alexmuir Jr. Public School, where my musical journey really began and I thought it would be appropriate to go back there to learn again. A lot has changed, my old music teacher has retired and the hallways seemed much smaller. But the new music teacher, Ms. Greenwood, was just as welcoming and friendly.
The music room was quite large with ample space for children to move around and do activities together. There was a very bright and warm atmosphere in this room and in the back of the room there were large windows that let in plenty of light. There were posters and drawings of music related subjects all around the room. Some of the posters had the faces of composers with small facts, others had diagrams of musical instruments. There were stickers on the board that had solfege for students to look at and follow, as well as chalk boards with pre-made music staffs. At the front of the room was an upright piano. There were also doors that led to a storage of band instruments and recorders. Everything in the room, no matter what direction you looked, contained something of interest for the wandering eyes or mind. Along the back of the room there would be rows upon rows of different copies of music books for different grades. When I was still a student at Alexmuir, the older grades used to use these song books and we used to read through songs together while the teacher played the piano. In the corners in the back there were bongo drums and snare drums that were covered and tucked away.
On the day I visited, I observed a class of twenty-four 2nd graders, thirteen were female students and eleven were male. It was just after lunch time recess, so some of the children had quite a lot of energy but most were tired out from running around and playing. Thankfully most seemed like they were satisfied from playing and surprisingly brought quite positive attitudes about music. Before they entered the classroom, they lined up against the wall beside the door. Their homeroom teacher was with them, making sure that they were lined up quietly. When Ms. Greenwood made her appearance, she started giving them hand gestures and signals that they created to remain quiet. Ms. Greenwood would put one of her fingers to her lips and the children followed suite, knowing to be quiet. It was a simple gesture but effective.
Once the students were all inside, they sat altogether in one large circle in the room. Ms. Greenwood started off the lesson by just conversing with the children and asking how they were doing. After about 5 minutes, she began one of her first activities. Ms. Greenwood herself was sitting in the circle and she started to pat her legs to a steady pulse. She began to clap a simple pattern and if a student tried to clap along, she would shake her head and point to herself to signal her first. After a few repetitions she would gesture for the class to respond to her with the same pattern. Ms. Greenwood kept at this activity until all the little minds seemed to be focused on her and there was a steady call and response.
Soon after, she began to sing a simple pattern and would repeat it, encouraging the children to follow her. Not too long after, the entire class was repeating the pattern and seemed comfortable. She signaled for the children to stop singing with a little wave of her hand. She told the class that the pattern that they had just sung, was specific to just them. In doing so, she also challenged them to be able to stick to that one pattern, even if she were to say something completely different before! Ms. Greenwood quite literally meant she could say anything and they would have to respond with their pattern. Sometimes she would create a new complicated rhythm, other times she might shout the name of a delicious dessert, like pie. Which caused the children to laugh and work harder at responding with their pattern through their laughter. Later on the children continued their assigned pattern while the teacher sang her own part on top. This activity can provide an opportunity to play around with different time signatures and it helps them develop a sense of independence, when it comes to dealing with separate parts. The children are first presented with simple rhythms to follow, but they grew in difficulty slowly. I appreciated was that the teacher communicated with the children in a way that was applicable to them, she worded the activity to seem like something fun and engaging. She presented this activity in the form of a friendly challenge.
So far, the music experience has been mostly around the concept of singing and a lot of percussive actions. The next activity they did, Ms. Greenwood allowed them a choice. They could choose from songs that they have learned and sang before. Ms. Greenwood brought out a felt board on a little easel, the children remained seated, they were getting a bit fidgety. She allowed the class to vote between the “Five Little Pumpkins” song or the “Five little monkeys” song. The winner was “Five Little Pumpkins”. The words for it goes like this:
Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said “Oh my, it’s getting late!”
The second one said “There are witches in the air!”
The third one said “But we don’t care!”
The fourth one said “Lets run and run and run!”
The fifth one said “I’m ready for some fun!”
Then “Ooo” went the wind, and out went the lights,
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.
Ms. Greenwood had little felt pumpkins, witches and a gate to really set up and help the children visualize the song. Using the piano to find her starting note, she jumped right into the music. She sang the song through once, just as a revision and then turned the song into another call and response activity. When she would sing the introductions, the children would respond with what the pumpkin sings (e.g. The teacher sings “the first one said” and the children respond with “oh my, it’s getting late!”). What I found very cute was that they all knew the little actions that go with each phrase. When they say “lets run and run and run” they pretend to run on the spot. Or when they get to the wind part, they start waving their arms at each other. Every time a new pumpkin would be introduced, Ms. Greenwood would stick a new pumpkin onto the board. After one round, Ms. Greenwood let them come up one at a time manage to felt board while she went over to the piano and started playing music to accompany the song.
I appreciated how this activity, helped different types of learners. There was opportunity to spatial and kinesthetic learners with the felt board images, there were words to go with the song that could help linguistic learners and the song was repeated with enough frequency to help auditory learners. Because it is also very engaging, allowing room for students to get involved in the activity through more than just singing. It makes it a lot more enjoyable learning experience and it got them moving which cures them of being bored and fidgety.
When it was time for the students to leave for their next class, she got them to sing a song to quiet them down. It was the “Quiet Please” song, where it’s sung to the notes of “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.” But the words were replaced with “Put your finger on your lip like this, shhh”. Then Ms. Greenwood would ask the children to quietly line up single file at the door that they usually exit from. She asked them to pretend that they are little mice being careful to avoid the scary cat that is going to catch them. It was amusing watching them totally change their posture and pretend to be little animals. Meanwhile there was another class of children waiting outside to come in, by the other door as the class’ homeroom teacher came to pick them up.
And so, ends my one hour of music class with these 2nd graders. It was a lot of fun for me to join in on the activities, because it was an environment that allowed for everyone to be silly and creative without judgement and even the shyest children tried their best to join along. No one was really signaled out to perform or sing on their own and a lot of the activities counted on group effort. When looking back on the class, it flowed quite smoothly, but the class was also exceptionally well behaved. Despite all the instruments around and music books, the teacher only had to use the minimalist of materials, our own bodies, the piano and images that go with the felt board.
Field Experience 2
For my second field experience I went to visit St. Mary Choir & Orchestra Catholic School. This is a music school that specializes in the arts and the students must audition to get in. At this elementary school, they have a special schedule for the 50 Year anniversary rehearsals, so that the students are given more time to rehearse for the big event. The I got to sit in Christine Petrasuinas’ classroom. She is one of the two vocal teachers there and she teaches the Gr. 6 - 8's. For this class I was able to observe the Gr.6s for a short time, but majority of my observations were of the Gr.7/8 split class. The older class had a totally of 45 students, 34 were female and 11 were male students. They essentially made up the older choir. The entire class seemed tired, before they began singing there was another teacher who came in to scold them of misbehaving through an assembly. That might have brought down their mood and made them more quiet than usual. The female students were very talkative with one another, whereas the male students talked but appeared much more bored with the class from the get go. To the top left of the room were the sopranos, to the bottom right where the altos. At the front on either side there were the basses on the left and the quasi tenors on the right. This was a class that has students with changing voices as well, which is why they can try 4-part choral works. Usually they sing 3 part choral music. Throughout the class, when the boys would talk to one another Mrs. Petrasuinas would make a boy switch spots with a girl away from their friend. I did think that this might have isolated the boys and made them less comfortable with singing their parts, but they held very strong.
The classroom seating was set up in a way that was like a university lecture hall. Each row of seats was elevated higher than the previous, allowing for a clear view of the teacher. The classroom had an acoustic upright piano and another keyboard on the other side of the conductor’s podium. When Mrs. Petrasuinas is teaching she uses a microphone and makes use of the computer/audio system. All around the room were cabinets full of scores and music. On the door was a large mirror. There was a lot of natural light coming in because one wall was made of mostly windows. The room was decorated colourfully with pictures of different composers along the wall. They had rainbow coloured trimming surrounding the blackboards and whiteboards. On one of the walls they had the sub-divisions as a reminder. They also had the schedule of their concert repertoire as they are preparing for a big 50-year anniversary concert. All the papers on the wall was related to the songs they were performing, they even had the pronunciation of certain words in the Latin language when singing.
Today’s lesson in class was rehearsing the Mass of the Children by John Rutter and various other pieces. The students did not use their sight singing textbook this class, but they do have one that they use called Successful Sight-Singing Book 1 by Nancy Telfer. The focus was the Rutter piece because it was the most difficult. After the Gr.6’s left, the accompanist Rebecca and Mrs. Petrasuinas placed the scores for the mass in the chairs that the students will sit on. I noticed later that all the students have pencil to write in information because at the end, the teachers collect back the books. This reinforces the habit of writing in your score because it affects everyone if you do not write in the markings. As the class comes in, they are lead through a simple warm up. Mrs. Petrasuinas uses solfege and hand signs with all the students when singing scales.
Before going into specific parts to rehearse, Mrs. Petrasuinas will ask them to sing through the entire work, movement by movement. What I appreciate is that she teaches them different details about the difference between movements and rehearsal letters. There were lots of opportunities to teach them new information or to remind them and she took them. Something I found that was an effective technique, was when she would ask the students to stand up or sit, out of the blue. I felt like this was a good way to keep them awake and at attention. When a certain part of the class was rehearsing, they would need to stand up. Other parts are encouraged to listen and follow the music for other parts, or think of their own part in the music to better understand how they all fit together. Mrs. Petrasuinas asks them a lot of questions that requires these young students to follow the score and to analyze it. She also asks for their opinions on the song and what needs to be worked on as well. When she did begin to help them with the music, there were times where she would ask the male students to come around the conducting podium and she would play their part specifically to help them. At the same time the accompanist is playing the other parts for the rest of the choir, effectively helping more students at a time. If Mrs. Petrasuinas hears a part is struggling she will sing it, and because she has the mic on it can be easily heard. Throughout her class she explains to her students why she makes the decisions that she does. There was a moment where she explained that when she is conducting the choir, she picks out specific parts to listen to at a time.
There was a strong emphasis on the individual work that needs to be done for the class to be able to move on. Just in general, individual learning I a big aspect of this classroom. Mrs. Petrasuinas even has individual folders filled with important sections of music that the students need to take home and practice when they cannot have the full score with them. The students were learning to sing the pieces entirely acapella until they had it well learned, before the piano could be introduced. Mid way through the class, she played a professional recording of the piece, just to remind the students of how the piece sounds and what their goals are. Also, whenever students were talking, she would move them. Whenever she heard something or if a student was not focusing, she would ask them to focus. Sometimes she is very general but other times she names a specific person.
After they finished rehearsing the Rutter piece, they brought another simpler Christmas song. They had this piece memorized and Mrs. Petrasuinas made a point to vocalize to them that she wanted the Rutter at the level that they had the Christmas song learned. She tells them that she is aware that there are pieces that they do not like but sometimes you learn them because they challenge and teach you. She tried to explain to them the value of learning a piece like this as well. By the time the class was over, they students knew very well that they needed to practice their music at home more. They appeared to be more cranky at the end, but that might have been because they had a 90 minute rehearsal.
When Mrs. Petrasuinas interacts with her students, it is usually verbally. Her tone of voice is rather stern when she talks but when she asks them to participate or do things, it is putting them on the same level as her and I appreciate that. But it was very clear that she had control over the class and the room. Whenever she heard people talking when they weren’t supposed to, she would ask for them to stop, yet she would still be conducting, and the students keep singing. It was clear that she had authoritative power without having to really try. They students were all very attentive, except for a few boys who would like to argue that they were not goofing around in the back row. After the class was over, I asked Mrs. Petrasuinas about her expectations when it comes to teaching students. She responded that she sets the bar very high, regardless of the school or level of musicianship because she wishes to help them achieve greater things. I do agree, that when you push the boundaries of your students and continually support them in things that are challenging, they will grow leaps and bounds. I feel like I can attest to pushing the boundaries of students within a reasonable frame, because at my previous schools our teachers challenged us in all aspects of school. We were encouraged to join advance placement classes and to sing repertoire I sing now in university choirs. I was amazed by the high quality of music that these young children were putting forth. Even then Mrs. Petrasuinas tells me that she doesn’t give compliments as easily as I did when teaching them.
Talking with the principle and the accompanists at the school. There is a lot of focus on independent learning in general and much of their school is based on students rotating to different classes, which better prepares their students for the high school experience. This field experience has reminded me of the kind of authoritative presence we need in a classroom. Yes, it is good to promote discussion and hear what the students are thinking, but a teacher needs to be able to put their foot down. A teacher needs to be on their toes even more than the students need to be. In order to access the classroom situation and what needs to addressed, a teacher needs to be constantly aware.
For my second field experience I went to visit St. Mary Choir & Orchestra Catholic School. This is a music school that specializes in the arts and the students must audition to get in. At this elementary school, they have a special schedule for the 50 Year anniversary rehearsals, so that the students are given more time to rehearse for the big event. The I got to sit in Christine Petrasuinas’ classroom. She is one of the two vocal teachers there and she teaches the Gr. 6 - 8's. For this class I was able to observe the Gr.6s for a short time, but majority of my observations were of the Gr.7/8 split class. The older class had a totally of 45 students, 34 were female and 11 were male students. They essentially made up the older choir. The entire class seemed tired, before they began singing there was another teacher who came in to scold them of misbehaving through an assembly. That might have brought down their mood and made them more quiet than usual. The female students were very talkative with one another, whereas the male students talked but appeared much more bored with the class from the get go. To the top left of the room were the sopranos, to the bottom right where the altos. At the front on either side there were the basses on the left and the quasi tenors on the right. This was a class that has students with changing voices as well, which is why they can try 4-part choral works. Usually they sing 3 part choral music. Throughout the class, when the boys would talk to one another Mrs. Petrasuinas would make a boy switch spots with a girl away from their friend. I did think that this might have isolated the boys and made them less comfortable with singing their parts, but they held very strong.
The classroom seating was set up in a way that was like a university lecture hall. Each row of seats was elevated higher than the previous, allowing for a clear view of the teacher. The classroom had an acoustic upright piano and another keyboard on the other side of the conductor’s podium. When Mrs. Petrasuinas is teaching she uses a microphone and makes use of the computer/audio system. All around the room were cabinets full of scores and music. On the door was a large mirror. There was a lot of natural light coming in because one wall was made of mostly windows. The room was decorated colourfully with pictures of different composers along the wall. They had rainbow coloured trimming surrounding the blackboards and whiteboards. On one of the walls they had the sub-divisions as a reminder. They also had the schedule of their concert repertoire as they are preparing for a big 50-year anniversary concert. All the papers on the wall was related to the songs they were performing, they even had the pronunciation of certain words in the Latin language when singing.
Today’s lesson in class was rehearsing the Mass of the Children by John Rutter and various other pieces. The students did not use their sight singing textbook this class, but they do have one that they use called Successful Sight-Singing Book 1 by Nancy Telfer. The focus was the Rutter piece because it was the most difficult. After the Gr.6’s left, the accompanist Rebecca and Mrs. Petrasuinas placed the scores for the mass in the chairs that the students will sit on. I noticed later that all the students have pencil to write in information because at the end, the teachers collect back the books. This reinforces the habit of writing in your score because it affects everyone if you do not write in the markings. As the class comes in, they are lead through a simple warm up. Mrs. Petrasuinas uses solfege and hand signs with all the students when singing scales.
Before going into specific parts to rehearse, Mrs. Petrasuinas will ask them to sing through the entire work, movement by movement. What I appreciate is that she teaches them different details about the difference between movements and rehearsal letters. There were lots of opportunities to teach them new information or to remind them and she took them. Something I found that was an effective technique, was when she would ask the students to stand up or sit, out of the blue. I felt like this was a good way to keep them awake and at attention. When a certain part of the class was rehearsing, they would need to stand up. Other parts are encouraged to listen and follow the music for other parts, or think of their own part in the music to better understand how they all fit together. Mrs. Petrasuinas asks them a lot of questions that requires these young students to follow the score and to analyze it. She also asks for their opinions on the song and what needs to be worked on as well. When she did begin to help them with the music, there were times where she would ask the male students to come around the conducting podium and she would play their part specifically to help them. At the same time the accompanist is playing the other parts for the rest of the choir, effectively helping more students at a time. If Mrs. Petrasuinas hears a part is struggling she will sing it, and because she has the mic on it can be easily heard. Throughout her class she explains to her students why she makes the decisions that she does. There was a moment where she explained that when she is conducting the choir, she picks out specific parts to listen to at a time.
There was a strong emphasis on the individual work that needs to be done for the class to be able to move on. Just in general, individual learning I a big aspect of this classroom. Mrs. Petrasuinas even has individual folders filled with important sections of music that the students need to take home and practice when they cannot have the full score with them. The students were learning to sing the pieces entirely acapella until they had it well learned, before the piano could be introduced. Mid way through the class, she played a professional recording of the piece, just to remind the students of how the piece sounds and what their goals are. Also, whenever students were talking, she would move them. Whenever she heard something or if a student was not focusing, she would ask them to focus. Sometimes she is very general but other times she names a specific person.
After they finished rehearsing the Rutter piece, they brought another simpler Christmas song. They had this piece memorized and Mrs. Petrasuinas made a point to vocalize to them that she wanted the Rutter at the level that they had the Christmas song learned. She tells them that she is aware that there are pieces that they do not like but sometimes you learn them because they challenge and teach you. She tried to explain to them the value of learning a piece like this as well. By the time the class was over, they students knew very well that they needed to practice their music at home more. They appeared to be more cranky at the end, but that might have been because they had a 90 minute rehearsal.
When Mrs. Petrasuinas interacts with her students, it is usually verbally. Her tone of voice is rather stern when she talks but when she asks them to participate or do things, it is putting them on the same level as her and I appreciate that. But it was very clear that she had control over the class and the room. Whenever she heard people talking when they weren’t supposed to, she would ask for them to stop, yet she would still be conducting, and the students keep singing. It was clear that she had authoritative power without having to really try. They students were all very attentive, except for a few boys who would like to argue that they were not goofing around in the back row. After the class was over, I asked Mrs. Petrasuinas about her expectations when it comes to teaching students. She responded that she sets the bar very high, regardless of the school or level of musicianship because she wishes to help them achieve greater things. I do agree, that when you push the boundaries of your students and continually support them in things that are challenging, they will grow leaps and bounds. I feel like I can attest to pushing the boundaries of students within a reasonable frame, because at my previous schools our teachers challenged us in all aspects of school. We were encouraged to join advance placement classes and to sing repertoire I sing now in university choirs. I was amazed by the high quality of music that these young children were putting forth. Even then Mrs. Petrasuinas tells me that she doesn’t give compliments as easily as I did when teaching them.
Talking with the principle and the accompanists at the school. There is a lot of focus on independent learning in general and much of their school is based on students rotating to different classes, which better prepares their students for the high school experience. This field experience has reminded me of the kind of authoritative presence we need in a classroom. Yes, it is good to promote discussion and hear what the students are thinking, but a teacher needs to be able to put their foot down. A teacher needs to be on their toes even more than the students need to be. In order to access the classroom situation and what needs to addressed, a teacher needs to be constantly aware.