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.

And we're off...

Tomorrow I head off to Orlando.  I will be leaving at about 3:00 AM and driving for a good 17 hours...  All of this after having just returned to Princeton from the Westminster Choir tour through the South.  Tour was one of the most rewarding and beautiful experiences of my life, and I could not have asked for a better way to end my time with the Westminster Choir.  The final concert was by far one of the most musically enriching experiences I have had.  Along with that, saying goodbye to the choir was one of the hardest things I have done in my life.  I have grown to truly love every member of the choir and it will be rough not singing and interacting with these people on a regular basis.  

But with all of that said, I am moving on to what should be a completely different but equally rewarding experience.  I have just over 1,000 miles to travel tomorrow before getting my fingerprints taken on Tuesday and then getting settled the rest of the week before beginning my first day next Monday.  

I thought it would be nice to let you all experience a little bit of the program I will be working with.  Here is a link to the choir's YouTube channel where you can enjoy several recordings of the amazing music these students have made recently: http://www.youtube.com/user/FHSChorusOrlando.  This will give you a taste of the caliber of singing present at Freedom.  

Just this week I found out some of the pieces we will be working on this semester with the choirs and I could not be more excited to get started.  Among them are Jefferey Ames "For the Sake of Our Children" and the "Lacrimosa" from Mozart's Requiem, two pieces that have had the pleasure to sing at different points in my life.  I am looking forward to now getting a chance to conduct these great works.  

For now, I hope you all enjoy listening to selections from the choir.  I cannot wait to start this journey in a few hours and will certainly keep everyone posted on how the trip goes.  In just 24 hours I will be unloading at the K-Life house in the beautifully warm Orlando!

Here we go!

Greetings!

As many of you know, I am embarking on a journey in less than four weeks to student teach in Orlando, Florida.  I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to work with the students at Freedom High School as well as their conductor, Tesfa Wondemagegnahu.  In light of my excitement, I thought it would be great to document my experience.

To start, I will share some background about how this all got started.  Last January, the Westminster Choir went on tour to Florida for two weeks.  While there, we did several clinics at area high schools in which we sang for them, they sang for us, and then we shared lunch to get to know the students.  One of these clinics was at Freedom HS in Orlando.  I was absolutely blown away by this program, both the level of musicianship and character of the students.  The clinics were always my favorite aspect of tour, but this one in particular was touching to me; so much so that our tour manager was practically dragging me out at the end.  Our conductor, Dr. Miller, called them our kindred choir because they exhibited all of the qualities that we embody as a choir and musicians.  They were motivated, dedicated, expressive, communicative, passionate, and so much more.  I ended up leaving with a feeling that I was going to come back to this school ASAP.  A few days later, we were in Tampa singing at the Florida Music Educators Association conference.  While there, we ran in to Mr. Won and I posed the idea of possibly student teaching with him the following year.  He said he would love it and said we should pursue it, a reaction I most certainly was not expecting seeing as he hardly knew me let alone my ability.  The seed was thus planted!

I skyped my mentor in the music education department later that night to see what the potential for this project was, and while he said it would be difficult, it was perhaps possible.  The next step was to convince the music education department that this student teaching placement needed to happen and would be one that I could not get at a school in the New Jersey placement area.  I wrote a letter of intent to the department and collected letters of support from several faculty members.  After submitting the materials to the department, all I could do was wait.  I found out a few days later that my placement had been approved, and now I needed to put the final pieces together, like finding a place to live.

I contacted the leaders of Orlando K-Life, a Christian Youth Ministry organization that I participated in while in high school and volunteered for while in Kansas City.  They quickly offered me a room in the main K-Life house to live with the other volunteers.  I jumped at the chance.  This also provides an opportunity for me to volunteer for K-Life and enjoy working with students and peers in Christian ministry.

So now all I can do is count the days until I depart.  (22, for those who are counting)  I have very little information about what exactly I will be doing, though I do know my classes.  I will be working with three choirs, four voice lesson classes, a music theory class and then some time with a band and orchestra.  The adventures that seem to be in store for this program this next semester are unlike any I can imagine, but I will chronicle that as they arise.

I should also mention that I will be doing research while at this school.  The title of my research is an Ethnographical Study of Critical Pedagogy in High School Choirs, but I will elaborate on that in future posts as it is a bit involved.

For now, I am excited to get down there and begin working with this remarkable program and group of students.  My excitement level is unlike it has ever been, I think.  I plan on posting pictures as they occur, but I will also post videos and links to sites pertaining to the choir and the program to give a taste for what I am experiencing.  If anyone ever has a question or comment, I would love to hear it.  I am greatly looking forward to this journey and cannot wait to share it with you.  Expect more soon.

Hope you all are well and are ready for a wonderful holiday!