Week 4

What a week it has been... and it's only Thursday.  This week, my co-op and I have been splitting class time so that I do warm ups, sight singing and one piece for rehearsal and he would rehearse two other pieces.  My personal goal for this week has been to focus on direct instruction in rehearsal so that we can accomplish more tasks in a more efficient manner and keep the rehearsal moving rather than leave it feeling like little was achieved.  It has proven to be extremely successful and has made the pacing of the rehearsal much more energetic.  

Two days ago in rehearsal, I saw one of my students with his phone out as if he were taking a picture of me while I was turning off the metronome, and when I asked him what he was doing he quickly put it away and looked concerned that I would take his phone from him.  I let it go since he is not a student who typically has his phone out or is distracted in rehearsal.  Then yesterday morning I get on the high school chorus Facebook page and found that a video had been posted of me... I press play and all of a sudden I was squashed by a huge boulder!!!  At first I was concerned, but then I realized that it was done out of love and that they would never have wished such a fate for me.  Just one example of how great my students are.  Care to watch?  Check it out on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=369453189748800

Today, I taught the entire day by myself.  It went extremely well.  My goal of using more direct instruction went extremely well, especially in the Varsity chorus and Patriot Singers.  The most exciting part of the day was the voice lessons I got to teach.  There are three sections of voice lesson classes and so I taught five different students throughout those classes.  I have loved working one-on-one with students on their solo voice work because it challenges and stretches a different skill-set that I have not had the chance to use while at Westminster.  The role has completely reversed from being a student who receives lessons on a weekly basis to now giving multiple lessons everyday.  I love hearing from the students that something we discover together works well and is showing improvements for their voice.  

It has been a great week and while I am excited for the weekend to see my students in their first concert, I am definitely bummed that it is the end of the week tomorrow.

Week 3...? Where has the time gone?

I cannot believe it is week 3 of student teaching already!  The time has literally flown by.  Let's play a bit of catch up.  While there is much to mention, I will try to condense it and focus on writing more often from here on out...!

Week 1: I moved into my house and spent most of it filing music into my computer.  I realized I have arguably too much choral music for a college student, but so it goes.  My house is extremely nice and my roommates are very cool guys.  Above are a couple of photos to illustrate this greatness.  The first is my first Orlando sunset that I saw as I drove into the city at the end of a 15 hour drive...  The second is shot of one of my neighbors...  No big deal.

Week 2: I started teaching this week.  I spent the first day mostly observing, getting a feel for how things work in this program, meeting all of the faculty and administrators, and starting to interact with the students.  Right away I recognized how fortunate I was to be working with such a great program.  The first period is All-School chorus which has already proven to be my most challenging course.  This is the group of students who are not 100% interested or invested in being in choir but need a fine art credit.  It has been exciting to come up with ways to get them excited about coming to choir first thing in the morning.  One example is that we will be starting Katy Perry's "Firework" tomorrow in rehearsal as it is something they requested.  We'll see how that goes.  Second period is Junior Varsity Chorus.  This ensemble is the next level up from all-school.  They are extremely motivated and strive to be better everyday, which I thought would take a lot of work to instill, but they bring that attitude themselves.  These kids clearly want to work hard so that they have a chance to be in Varsity chorus next year.  Which leads to third period, Varsity Chorus.  This is the first auditioned ensemble that is a phenomenal example of hard work, dedication, and musical prowess.  The first time I heard them sing, I was inspired.   Fourth period I teach a group piano class full of beginners.  They mostly work through repertoire using the Alfred book for piano, but recently I have started teaching them lessons on scales so they can sharpen up their technique.  Fifth period is my "planning" period, but typically I teach students voice lessons who want additional work vocally.  Sixth and Seventh period are more voice lesson classes in which I teach which ever students who are eager private voice in about 20 minute segments.  The last period, which is technically after the school day has ended, is Patriot Singers, the top ensemble of 40 singers that meets everyday.  This is the group that originally inspired me to come to Freedom High School.  This ensemble is breathtaking.  Getting to work with them is the highlight of my day every single day.  There you have a daily rundown.  Typically, I hang out after school to work with students who may want assistance, help with the spring musical "Legally Blonde," or to work on lesson plans and practice my voice music.

That has been my life for the last three weeks.  I won't drag this post on with tons of stories and details, but trust there are plenty to share.  My co-workers are awesome, my students are inspirational, my roommates are great guys, and this entire experience so far has been beyond anything I could have envisioned!  Here are some more pictures to give you a feel for the school and my new life! :)

The first is the front entrance of Freedom High School.  The second is the sunrise the other morning as I walked into school... I could get used to this.