This is the fourth visit I’ve made to this school, although the second class I’ve observed.
Many of the kids in each class are in both of the two I’ve been in, so I’ve gotten to know a few of
This particular visit to the Jazz Band rehearsal happened at the beginning of the week -
on a Tuesday, when their concert was the following Thursday. Per my request, the band director
allowed the group to work in sectionals so I would have the opportunity to teach a few of them.
Before I taught, I made a very broad, non-specific lesson plan. I knew the piece that we would be
working on, as well as a few spots where I knew the students were having trouble. However, I
didn’t know the particular circumstances of the sectional - how many different instruments
would I be teaching? Would the main band director have any spots she wanted me to address?
Would everyone show up, since it tended to be one per part? Would I be given the entire half an
hour to teach?
I ended up teaching the trumpets and trombones, and I certainly did have the whole time
to teach. I got to know each of the students much more personally than I had before, and they
were more willing to open up and talk with me about struggles they were having. When I would
speak to them in the large group, they would give short, non-specific answers, but our sectional
was more conversational than I had expected. It made for a much more relaxing change for all of
us! Everyone was involved, for the most part, and we did a good amount of playing together,
in front of my peers. I sang, clapped, demonstrated, and laughed with the group more than I ever
do in my techniques classes or literature teachings. I also noticed in the particular students I was
teaching heightened levels of confidence and musical ability from the first time I heard them
play through the pieces. I asked them if they spend much time practicing their parts at home, and
they said that it’s difficult to do without the full ensemble. Their responses, when I asked how
they’d gotten so good at the music over the past couple of weeks, was something along the lines
of, “you just keep on trying to play it, and it gets easier.” While that sounds somewhat
nonchalant, I think it’s a pretty good indicator of the students’ love for what they do. They don’t