Reflection

As I was starting this project, I first came up with a series of end-goals that helped me settle on the eventual main topic, transcription. Talking with my co-op before starting, I was able to bounce ideas off her that helped give an idea of what it was going to look like with such a large group to teach! My main struggle in this early stage of conception was coming up with something that would be accessible, challenging yet achievable, for every person sitting in the 1st hour 6th grade band. The highest and lowest achieving students across the hour, working on the same project, what could I do that would engage them both? 

Though the STP is a capstone project for student teachers, there was a very real possibility this project would hold no weight without a graded, point-value. What could I come up with that would hold my energetic students’ interest with no grades to keep them responsible? If working with young middle schoolers has taught me anything, it is ‘don’t underestimate their attention span’! At my placement, I have been working on using deliberate, varied rehearsal-pacing techniques to try and keep engagement/concentration levels up. Distractions can be minimized but an assignment deemed unnecessary will be completed with little to no effort put in. 

This project was created to be something that was fun, starting by giving the band students choice over the songs they picked. I was pleasantly surprised to learn a lot of new things about the students' themselves thanks to their transcription song choices. It was also very rewarding and interesting to observe their process when encountering difficult sections and their problem solving capabilities. 

I jotted down reflection notes after each day's presentation, things that went well, things that did not go as planned or what to cover for the next time. Some project related, other things very much classroom and procedural-related. For example, from Day 1 I wrote, "students ask lots of questions, set up specific question time at the end of Slides". To elaborate, I had gone in knowing there would be questions so I prepped myself however I did not anticipate how many hands actually popped up. I answered the first few but quickly realized it was eating a lot of time. Learning from this moment going forward, I will be much more aware of student questions, and give them fair opportunity to voice them with considered time. 

Day 2 I anticipated there would be more 'progress-type' questions. As the students were given time to work, they had begun to run into challenges of the project. I tracked most frequently asked questions which were, "what notes come next?" and "How do I write the rhythm?" I understood that according to my Transcription Process cycle-chart, they were stuck between audiation and playing it on their instrument. My suggestion was to pull out a resource they all have access to, a tuner on their devices. This and audiating alongside them seemed to steer a lot in the correct direction. I had some questions form in my mind after this, noting frustration on some faces;

"Did they feel successful with tools provided?" 

"How could I make sure they are successful?"

Knowing your plan means you are ready to jump in with a solution whenever there is a problem. Not with free answers, rather by having the knowledge to guide the student towards a working solution with support. 

I took mental note of progress, by the end I had a rough estimate. About 1/4th of the class was very engaged, writing well over the average amount. Their pieces were well thought out and accurate pitch-wise. The majority of students had notes written, but they remained as dots without rhythmic value. There was good effort made by a few though most lacked the basic standard rhythmic notation. Only 1 single child was having a meltdown (relatively mild too), upset that Jurassic Park Theme was more difficult than expected, especially in a busy band room where hearing yourself think is hard. I would also like to reflect on the amount of students that volunteered to play! I knew there were a couple strong players that always liked to volunteer but there were a few that pleasantly surprised me when their hand raised to go next. The small group left were made of up students who lost their previous papers and were left to restart, and last who never wanted to try in the first place. 

Overall, I am quite pleased with how the project proceeded. The biggest issue accross each day was the volume level. Having a class packed with 44 6th graders becomes very loud. I offered a box of personal-headphones but they are the cheapest kind that does not block out any noise. When people are switching between audiating by humming or singing, and then back to their instruments, it creates a difficult environment for concentration. 

In the end, the goal is for students to walk away with more knowledge and experience than they started with. I believe I was successful in my effort to teach the students about Transcription, what it is, why it is important, and what kinds of music is best to transcribe. I am glad my students got to choose their favorite songs to listen to, things that they are interested in. Their work and clear effort are signs of interest in the subject and having genuine interest rather than the classic middle school apathy was my goal!

I love that I got to share my own examples, one was a transcription/arrangment I created years ago in an orchestration class! Playing flute and being able to demonstrate the process with an instrument in hand made it so much easier -- always show, don't necessarily tell. 

If I were to have an assignment like this in the future, I would keep a lot the same. I think the pacing would be different, not restricted to 3 days, 1 hour of class time each. I was worried to lead such a large group of children, the normal study is done with a small, selected focus-group, so I found prepping for an entire class a bit daunting. However, I think this pushed me to prepare even more, to find a solution to problems that arose as many would with your average band class. 

Making sure this project 'feels' achievable to students is important. To prevent the chronic "quitting because it's hard" attitude, providing graspable examples of work is extremely important. I believe by walking through the process, step by step with detailed instructions, you can set up the majority of students for individual success from the very beginning. I would have liked to dedicate more instructional time to standard rhythmic notation, that is where students struggled the most as evident in the final products. Given a longer project timeframe I believe they would have been able to edit their work with corrections, stems pointing the right direction, the addition of dynamics, articulation markings etc. Only a few students got to the point with their transcription that they began thinking about next-level musical ideas. Restructuring the project presentations with more emphasis on rhythm would be ideal, and if given another opportunity to lead a class or group through a transcription project similar to this one, I will definetly make the adjustments with student success always in mind.

Special thanks to Natalie Sears, my mentor teacher, and the Kinawa 6th Grade Band for participating in my STP!

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