Thursday, August 23, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Private Voice Studio
Looks like I have 3 private students for the next school year so far. I'm expecting at least 2 more. I think that will be plenty on top of full-time teaching. I like teaching privately but it can get overwhelming.
I remember when I was in college, I used to think about teaching privately full-time. Now that I'm an actual adult in the working world, I imagine that would be an interesting lifestyle. I mean people can cancel anytime, and unless you have a strict cancellation policy, that's money you just won't get. Plus, you usually have to work when other people are off, such as the evenings and weekends. I don't think I'd be cool with that, especially if I have kiddos someday.
Last year I had a really young student - a 5th grader - and I was hesitant at first about it. I feel like a lot of my training was geared towards more "advanced" singers, plus I'd been working with high school students for the last 5 years. But as the year went on, I realized that it's actually kinda cool to teach younger kids, because, for the most part, you get a fresh start. I like that I can teach them the basics in a way that I think will help them as they get more advanced, especially with sight-reading. This student in particular got a perfect score on her sight-reading at Solo Fest in the spring and I was super excited for her! (And for myself, of course). Younger singers don't really have a lot of preconceived notions or bad habits to deal with, and I think I'm going to enjoy teaching this age group a lot. Plus the songs are easier to play on the piano. :)
Speaking of piano, I'd like to take a moment to remind myself that Idislike despise teaching piano lessons. I know this is true because all of my piano students have been good kids. I just don't feel like I know what I'm doing and I certainly don't enjoy it. Therefore, I will stick with what I know and enjoy.
I remember when I was in college, I used to think about teaching privately full-time. Now that I'm an actual adult in the working world, I imagine that would be an interesting lifestyle. I mean people can cancel anytime, and unless you have a strict cancellation policy, that's money you just won't get. Plus, you usually have to work when other people are off, such as the evenings and weekends. I don't think I'd be cool with that, especially if I have kiddos someday.
Last year I had a really young student - a 5th grader - and I was hesitant at first about it. I feel like a lot of my training was geared towards more "advanced" singers, plus I'd been working with high school students for the last 5 years. But as the year went on, I realized that it's actually kinda cool to teach younger kids, because, for the most part, you get a fresh start. I like that I can teach them the basics in a way that I think will help them as they get more advanced, especially with sight-reading. This student in particular got a perfect score on her sight-reading at Solo Fest in the spring and I was super excited for her! (And for myself, of course). Younger singers don't really have a lot of preconceived notions or bad habits to deal with, and I think I'm going to enjoy teaching this age group a lot. Plus the songs are easier to play on the piano. :)
Speaking of piano, I'd like to take a moment to remind myself that I
Sunday, August 5, 2012
August, WHAT?!
Well, it's August. Usually about this time I start getting back into school mode.
Yuck!
This September brings on two new classes for me. Last year I taught 5th and 6th grade music, and this year I'll be adding on 7th and 8th grade music. While last year went pretty well overall, I want to revisit the classes and restructure the curriculums (curricula?) for each.
My plan is to spend this week figuring specifics out, such as a general outline for the courses and overall goals for each. I'll start with a little brainstorming below.
By the way, I love the Olympics. Except for the commercials.
5th Grade
Composition - we did a project last year in which students set the text of a haiku to music, using pianos. It was pretty successful, but I want to add on a technology piece in which students use Finale to create the final product. The nature of Finale, however, makes creating the music almost too free and they end up changing the piece once they realize how easy it is to make changes. So I want to stick with this overall concept but tweak the requirements.
Research - The 5th graders at my school do a big research project, and the music teacher before me always gave the students a type of "headstart" by doing a modified project in music class. I stuck with that idea and had the students research a famous composer of their choice. While I want to continue with a research project, I would like to make it more meaningful to them. Part of the issue was that I never had them do any kind of presentation, so I think that will make it a lot better and mean more to them. I might go back to what they used to do, which was choose a medieval instrument, which ties into the overall 5th grade curriculum.
Music Reading - I need to continue adding music reading into the curriculum all the time. I want the kids to read music EVERY DAY in some way. I had too many days last year where they stayed in their seats and we would discuss things, instead of making music! So I need to get a whole bunch of exercises ready to pull out every day - singing, a rhythm game, etc.
Listening Journals - I had the kids do a listening journal this year and they had listening quizzes after a certain number. I don't want to do that exact journal again next year, but I'd like to stick with some kind of listening journal overall. Perhaps I can make it a blog-style type journal, and they can respond to listening examples through comments on a blog, and then I can respond to those comments.
What's my overall goal for this class? What's the theme?
6th Grade
I was overall really pleased with the 6th grade curriculum this year. Basically, it's a piano class. Depending on the class, they would play the whole class! The last term was a lot tougher, and needed more direction. The only things I would like to tweak about this class is changing the music to being "real" notes instead of "easy music" type cheater notes. I also want to work on how to grade them and perhaps create overall rubrics and guidelines for each song.
Encourage good musicianship as much as possible. Focus on steady beat, correct fingers, etc.
7th Grade
The 7th graders learn guitar, which is going to be interesting for me. Guitar is certainly not my strength. I'll just need to make sure I'm always a few steps ahead of the kids (other than the kids that take lessons!) and to not get myself freaked out.
Keep them engaged, update the songs, and work on your own guitar technique and skills.
8th Grade
The 8th graders will be taking a class that focuses on film scoring. In the past, students have done activities such as take a clip from a movie and add classical music to it. They also choose a children's story to record and add sound effects to it. They also watch various films and take notes on the music. I'd like to continue with this general theme but update a few of the elements. I would love for them to take a video and add original music, but I don't know if there's time. Having them write music is a whole different level. I think what I'd really like to do is get them using Garageband instead of stupid Windows Movie Maker, which is all I have. UGH. I think what I really just need to do with this class is look at the previous curriculum and materials used, and update it and make it my own.
What's the overall goal for the class? What aspects of film scoring and multimedia do you want them to focus on?
I also need to get more comfortable and familiar with my super cool SmartBoard! There's so much I can do with it and I'm a SmartBoard dummy.
Here's to a productive week...well, not toooooo productive...it is summer still! :)
Yuck!
This September brings on two new classes for me. Last year I taught 5th and 6th grade music, and this year I'll be adding on 7th and 8th grade music. While last year went pretty well overall, I want to revisit the classes and restructure the curriculums (curricula?) for each.
My plan is to spend this week figuring specifics out, such as a general outline for the courses and overall goals for each. I'll start with a little brainstorming below.
By the way, I love the Olympics. Except for the commercials.
5th Grade
Composition - we did a project last year in which students set the text of a haiku to music, using pianos. It was pretty successful, but I want to add on a technology piece in which students use Finale to create the final product. The nature of Finale, however, makes creating the music almost too free and they end up changing the piece once they realize how easy it is to make changes. So I want to stick with this overall concept but tweak the requirements.
Research - The 5th graders at my school do a big research project, and the music teacher before me always gave the students a type of "headstart" by doing a modified project in music class. I stuck with that idea and had the students research a famous composer of their choice. While I want to continue with a research project, I would like to make it more meaningful to them. Part of the issue was that I never had them do any kind of presentation, so I think that will make it a lot better and mean more to them. I might go back to what they used to do, which was choose a medieval instrument, which ties into the overall 5th grade curriculum.
Music Reading - I need to continue adding music reading into the curriculum all the time. I want the kids to read music EVERY DAY in some way. I had too many days last year where they stayed in their seats and we would discuss things, instead of making music! So I need to get a whole bunch of exercises ready to pull out every day - singing, a rhythm game, etc.
Listening Journals - I had the kids do a listening journal this year and they had listening quizzes after a certain number. I don't want to do that exact journal again next year, but I'd like to stick with some kind of listening journal overall. Perhaps I can make it a blog-style type journal, and they can respond to listening examples through comments on a blog, and then I can respond to those comments.
What's my overall goal for this class? What's the theme?
6th Grade
I was overall really pleased with the 6th grade curriculum this year. Basically, it's a piano class. Depending on the class, they would play the whole class! The last term was a lot tougher, and needed more direction. The only things I would like to tweak about this class is changing the music to being "real" notes instead of "easy music" type cheater notes. I also want to work on how to grade them and perhaps create overall rubrics and guidelines for each song.
Encourage good musicianship as much as possible. Focus on steady beat, correct fingers, etc.
7th Grade
The 7th graders learn guitar, which is going to be interesting for me. Guitar is certainly not my strength. I'll just need to make sure I'm always a few steps ahead of the kids (other than the kids that take lessons!) and to not get myself freaked out.
Keep them engaged, update the songs, and work on your own guitar technique and skills.
8th Grade
The 8th graders will be taking a class that focuses on film scoring. In the past, students have done activities such as take a clip from a movie and add classical music to it. They also choose a children's story to record and add sound effects to it. They also watch various films and take notes on the music. I'd like to continue with this general theme but update a few of the elements. I would love for them to take a video and add original music, but I don't know if there's time. Having them write music is a whole different level. I think what I'd really like to do is get them using Garageband instead of stupid Windows Movie Maker, which is all I have. UGH. I think what I really just need to do with this class is look at the previous curriculum and materials used, and update it and make it my own.
What's the overall goal for the class? What aspects of film scoring and multimedia do you want them to focus on?
I also need to get more comfortable and familiar with my super cool SmartBoard! There's so much I can do with it and I'm a SmartBoard dummy.
Here's to a productive week...well, not toooooo productive...it is summer still! :)
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