On Reflection...

Here is my reflection on the teaching exercise in UB's Secondary Methods Class:

First of all, I was less nervous than I anticipated I would be, which is good since I have no experience with the clarinet. Having a group of my peers watching me certainly added to the anxiety, but I think I could have carried on with the lesson in a similarly confident fashion.

It is probable that the student didn't have an understanding of what my personal objective was. I could have done a better job being upfront with the procedure and maybe a little less laid back and conversational. Structure is very important in education, and I could probably attribute this observation to all I teach. I believe I listened to the student a reasonable amount, or at least made the attempt to, and tried not to talk "at" him. I was able to attain some important information regarding the student's background (family history and involvement in music making) that would help me gauge his motivation and attitude towards the instrument, and this was one of my goals. I do not believe I spoke of anything over the student's head, so I feel like my approach was that of a first band lesson.

Some other approaches from my classmates that I enjoyed were the people who were able to get the student to make sound through the mouthpiece or even instrument. Another good technique was making funny noises with the mouth in a effort to teach the specific approach to the instrument. Something I might have missed that other teacher's seemed to recognize was placing the case on the ground to lessen the probability of breaking the instrument.