Rebecca Trautman
Observation Assessment
Methods of Elementary Music
Cassandra McMahan
April 23, 2015
I had the opportunity to observe Betsy Werner as she taught her first grade class at St. John Elementary School. Before the students arrived she gave a disclaimer to us that it was going to be a bit of an abnormal class period. She mentioned that within the next couple of days the students were going to be singing several hymns for chapel and a small review and so her main goal for that day was to teach those hymns to the children and not focusing on any one musical element. It was rote learning and memorization that day. She mentioned that that was atypical for her classroom where they are wont to do many different activities including listening, movement, games, etc. She thought it unfortunate that I came that day to observe her, but helped me to understand that there were other and better things to do with children and that things like rote memorization will happen in the future within my own choir, but that I should not make a habit of doing only that.
For the two main hymns that she was teaching the students she had the words to the refrain or the first verse written on the white board. She would demonstrate the melody for the children and have them do it with her. As she went along she would have hand actions to the different parts of the melody to help them feel the contour of the line. She also would have them stand up and times so that they would not start squirming too much from having to sit for too long. As they progressed through the songs she would erase some of the words to challenge the students to learn it by memory. She also took time to explain some of the words that may not have been common in the students’ vocabularies. The students, for the most part, enjoyed learning the hymns. There were times when they would blurt out their own ideas and thoughts or would start to shout-sing; when this started happening Betsy would quickly and firmly (yet still kindly) put a stop to it. She would say: “Is that how we are supposed to sing?” or “Student, we don’t blurt in the classroom, when the teacher is talking everyone is quiet and if you have something to share you can raise your hand.”
I think that the goal of the day was accomplished, but that it was a one day goal that would only serve for that week. I know that Betsy has other goals that surpass the time taken in one lesson and that those goals were not addressed as much in this lesson. Again, it was an atypical lesson, but one that has to occur from time to time. The children probably could have been more engaged in the music, but considering the time constraints and the pressure to perform I think that Betsy handled herself, her class, and her lesson well.