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Sarah Dodge - Jazz Visit 2

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

them better than others.

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,

even though each instrument had particular problems we needed to address.


For me, in my teaching, I was significantly more relaxed than when I’m teaching in class

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

give up easily, and they know to just “keep on trying!”

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