Catherine Dwinal

Recently I was hired for a long term substitute position as a music educator at a K-8 school. Being mostly a band and general music person I really stepped out to something new when I took over all of the choruses for grades 4-8. I'm always into being the adventurous person so I decided this was going to be a learning experience. So far so good, even though I just received their music last week and their concert is the 27th the students have taken the initiative to make sure everyone is ready. Doing chorus practically everyday has also given me the push to practice chorus warmups and choral conducting as well. Every time something goes wrong as well I know what to change for next rehearsal. This is a great time to adjust things myself without a teacher leaning over my shoulder, trial and error!  

Remo World Kid's Percussion is an amazing set of drums that can take a beat and still sound awesome! They have all types of percussion from djembes to congas to even floor toms!

I had one of those wonderful moments today while sitting in on a dress rehearsal for one of our grade levels. There is an identified boy in one of the classes who was just sitting around and looking at the drums that were on the side of the room. Well I thought I would have a little fun and decided to go over and play with him. After a few minutes we eventually ended up adding percussion accompaniment to the songs the classes were singing! He has not responded to rhythm since I have been here but he was so engrossed into watching what I was doing and copying every single movement. We sat at one djembe and he mirrored every movement I made. It was a great way to get him involved with the rehearsal, he had fun doing it, and he learned a little rhythm while we were at it! I am currently reading a book by drum circle facilitator Kalani and this is one of the techniques I developed from it. It was just one of those precious little teaching moments! 

Airborne and Hand Sanitizer are your friends! Especially when you have 1/6 of your school out sick! AHH!

www.emusictheory.com is a wonderful site for those teaching beginning high school theory. Lots of helpful hints, worksheets, and even online drills to keep your class occupied for hours!

If you have the money, invest in a small boombox for your room with lots of power, also a double-ended audio jack with an Ipod with a screen. This is so helpful because you can get rid of the huge CD/tapedeck,recordplayer in your room which takes up most of your space. You can also get rid of all the CDs, tape, and albums which are taking up the other half of the room. The Ipod also allows you to find the song you want at a faster rate or you can already have it qued up to keep the class going at its rapid speed.  Having an ipod handy can also be a plus for you and your prep periods when you need a little musical boost to get you through the day!

Long weekends! I've been so caught up in school lately it is a nice time now for me to relax and get a little work done!  I plan on also working with a bouncing new M-Audio 49 key keyboard which is on the way right now (60 bucks off of WOOT.com!). It is a great beginner midi input keyboard for anyone looking to start composing and recording! If one is looking for a great mic as well, open up your kid's Rockband video game and pull out that USB mic. It has wonderful quality because it is direct input into the computer and does not have the mixer board to deal with! Software recommendations for recording and composing are Finale/Garageband/or Logic 8 for Mac. PC I would recommend Audacity/Cakewalk (if you can find a copy)/ or Cubase!

Recording and Composing are great to know for any music educator, I would recommend getting a jump on it now!

teacherinprogress.wordpress.com   Would you like to read some real experiences from a real student teacher? Then go to this blog! The author is a very good friend of mine from Colby Saywer College. She is student teacher at John Stark this semester and is an english major! It is an awesome blog, no making fun of students, no dissing the administrators or other faculty members! Just plain truths!

Tip 1- Always try to relate to the students right off the bat! If they know that you do something like they do then they are not afraid to come up to you to chat! It makes you look better as a teacher and the students love to talk to someone who understands where they come from! I cannot tell you how many students have come up to me to chat after I revealed that I! a teacher! have been to a hardcore metal show!

Tip 2- Never say no! I do not think I have refused my cooperating teacher once yet! I might be deadly afraid to try it, but it is a new experience and will make you a stronger person in the end!

Tip 3- Integrate technology! It helps the students visually learn the subject and reinforce it! A great collaborative technology tool is a wiki! Helps with putting up assignments, posting HW online, and sharing assignments with others to get feedback!

(Extra tip- If you are not comfortable in a skirt, then do not wear one! You just feel akward and your students know you do not feel comfortable either !)

Thinking Musically : Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture by Bonnie C. Wade

Thinking Musically is the central volume in the Global Music Series. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure–covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present–and comes with an audio CD of musical examples discussed in the text. ISBN 0-19-517143-8) Thinking Musically is also available in a package with Teaching Music Globally, by Patricia Shehan Campbell, a second framing volume in the Global Music Series. (automatically summarized from Amazon.com)

Read this while on vacation this summer. Great way to look at the beginnings of the creation of musical passion in a student. It breaks down what music really is and how to come at it a different way rather than just listening or looking at the facts. This book teaches the reader and breaks down what is the psychological process one takes when trying to understand the complex subject that is music. The author also takes vast amounts of time to include many examples and comparisons between music in different cultures and suggests activities and lessons for teachers to do with students to help them better understand what goes on in the musical world. This books also has a companion which is mentioned in the description that I also highly recommend it helped me create ideas for lessons and activities for the classroom.