Phil Kleven Week 7

Another successful week. It's hard to believe I've been teaching for seven weeks. Everyone said it would go fast, but I didn't think it would go this quickly. Fortunately I'm able to stay in my first placement through the end of the semester. I have concerts coming up and I'm enjoying getting to know the students better each day.

This week, all of my ensembles spent time preparing for upcoming concerts and contests. The middle school students have their solo/ensemble contest tomorrow morning. I was able to work with all of the middle school students on an individual or small-group basis. I enjoyed this because it felt just like what I have done over the past years in private lessons. We made many positive connections and the students were impressed that I can play all of their instruments. Sometimes they think orchestra teachers just get up and wave their arms in front of the class, but we can play too!

I was also part of high school placement auditions this week. Students who wish to audition for a higher level ensemble auditioned after school on Tuesday. Additionally, all of the incoming 8th grade students auditioned. We made it through 6+ hours of auditions, and most students are placed in groups for the next school year. This was a tough process, and as students saw their results on Thursday, some were excited, and some were devastated. It's tough to see students so upset over results, but it is part of the learning process. Since I work with the three high school groups on a daily basis, I know what performance levels are necessary to be successful in the ensemble. Unfortunately, some students just aren't ready to jump up to the highest level group. They will see it in time and may even successfully audition in the coming years. I also saw why my cooperating teacher needed to separate herself from the auditions. She had dozens of emails from parents by Thursday, but the results were determined by a third-party professional. I took note of this as a potential issue as I look towards my future job requirements.

In terms of teaching, I discovered how hard I can push students. With our concert coming up early next week, I became very demanding with the various ensembles. One group in particular has not been working hard enough and I let them know how upset I was with their work ethic. My cooperating teacher was practically doing cheerleader moves in the back of the class as I said this. She has been struggling throughout the year to motivate this group. This is the largest orchestra (over 75 students), and it is too difficult to make connections with all the students. They are getting lost in the "sea of violins". My cooperating teacher has brought this to the attention of the administration, but it seems that there won't be an additional orchestra to help reduce numbers next year.

This week, I focused on standard 6 - Reading, Writing, and Oral Communication. "The competent teacher has foundational knowledge of reading, writing, and oral communication within the content area and recognizes and addresses student reading, writing, and oral communication needs to facilitate the acquisition of content knowledge." As I get to know my students better, I'm learning their individual reading and writing needs. Through various worksheets, I've been helping students acquire and develop the "musical language" - music notes, terms, and expressive markings. Through reading, writing, and verbal exercises, students have been learning and applying new terms at all levels of learning.

Goals for next week:
1. Have a successful concert at the high school
2. Begin work on new music for our final high school concert
3. Preparing middle school students for our upcoming March concert
4. Finish edTPA (Almost done!)

Phil Kleven Week 6

I learned more about being a teacher this week than all other weeks combined. The events that took place this week showed me that being a teacher is much more than teaching the perfect lesson or organizing the perfect learning strategies. It is about supporting the students in any way they need. This morning, while my cooperating teacher was conducting the orchestra, she was approached by a clearly distressed student. This is highly unusual, as students never approach the podium during rehearsal. They always ask questions from their seat in the orchestra. The student encountered an embarrassing situation, and my cooperating teacher needed to leave the classroom immediately to assist. At this point, I took over the rehearsal, and had to conduct a piece of music I had never seen or heard. This is truly challenging, but I was happy to do my best. I surprised myself by offering many helpful suggestions to the group while my cooperating teacher was gone. After they returned, she explained what happened and how it was more important to assist the student than send them to a counselor or other adult. 

An extremely difficult situation also arose this morning. We got word that a student's parent passed away unexpectedly this week. Throughout the day, many of the student's peers were visibly upset and struggled to accomplish anything during classes. We decided to break the group into small ensembles. (Students are preparing for the solo/ensemble contest next weekend). During this time, students were able to work with partners or in small groups, and those struggling with the news could meet with teachers and counselors. As a parent, it was very difficult to see the pain these students were experiencing. I know things will be difficult for the student when they return to school. 

In terms of teaching, I learned that I have to exaggerate my teaching to an extreme level. My orchestra students don't respond to too many verbal instructions, so I need to be animated to get my point across. I also learned that the pace of my teaching tends to be too slow. When I stop rehearsal, I need to get my point across in one sentence and get the students playing again. This is especially true in the high school. In one group, I have a student who is never ready to play. Once the student sets their violin down, it takes them forever to get it back up. I need to say things quickly before this student has a chance to get lazy. 

In the next week, I hope to learn more about how to connect with students. In my six weeks, I've made meaningful connections with the students, and our shared trust is allowing us to rehearsal and perform with great focus. As I get to know students better, I'm able to make more meaningful connections to their interests. At the middle school, I was able to connect a piece of music to the movie "Mission Impossible". The students loved it and it transformed their rehearsal. (The best part is that I caught this on my Task 2 edTPA video!) 

I gained great experience in standard 8 this week: 

"The competent teacher builds and maintains collaborative relationships to foster cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social and emotional development. This teacher works as a team member with professional colleagues, students, parents or guardians, and community members." As teachers, our relationships with students go far beyond classroom learning. Students look to us for guidance, support, and inspiration. When they are in distress, we must come to their aid. All students encounter events that challenge their social and emotional development, and we have to be ready to help them through difficult situations at any moment of the day. 

Goals for next week:

- Have a great last week of rehearsals before our concert

- Continue to build relationships and make connections with students

- Make solid progress on edTPA Task 3 (Tasks 1 and 2 are 90% done!)

Phil Kleven Week 5

Week 5 was a great week. After four busy weeks of adjusting to my intense schedule, things are beginning to settle down a bit. I began teaching very early on (Week 1), and now I know why my cooperating teacher got me up in front of the students so soon. We have a concert coming up at the end of the month, and we will share the conducting responsibilities for all of the groups. Thankfully I was able to get my jitters out early so we can get real work done over the next two weeks.

This week, I worked with each of the six orchestras and implemented a new strategy for each. I had fun with the middle school students, but started turning up the heat on the high schoolers. I'm expecting them to play at a very high level at the concert and I was much pickier in rehearsal than before. Some of the highest achieving students at the high school level (who are used to very high level conductors in youth orchestras) gave me some compliments on my improvements, and it means a lot coming from them.  I'm also learning to trust the middle school students. Their love for music is genuine, and I'm delicately trying to encourage them to move to the next level of playing without overwhelming them.

I developed a new strategy this week that cuts down on my workload and shifts responsibility to the students. We broke out into "sectionals" at the high school for several days. Sectionals are small-group section rehearsals. The violins, violas, cellos, and basses went to separate locations to work on their music. Since there are only two teachers for this class, the students ran sectionals themselves. It was interesting to see their perspectives on music that needed work, and their solutions for common issues. These sectional rehearsals were also positive because they allowed for students to assume leadership roles, and I saw many students stepping up who are not currently in leadership positions. This will be critical when the current seniors graduate and leave the group.

I spent a bit of time recording video for my edTPA this week, and I hope to discover more strategies that will help me present the best possible teaching evidence when I turn in the document. Now that I've been teaching for five weeks, I will be able to assess and fix musical issues quicker and have more efficient rehearsals.

This was definitely a Standard 5 week - Instructional Delivery.
"The component teacher differentiates instruction by using a variety of strategies that support critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, and continuous growth and learning. This teacher understands that the classroom is a dynamic environment requiring ongoing modification of instruction to enhance learning for each student."

I don't think there is a moment that this standard doesn't describe my class. I am continually adjusting and reflecting on strategies that best suit the needs of my orchestra. Additionally, a strategy that works at one time may not work again - even five minutes later. I discovered many great strategies for differentiation in a large group setting this week - most notably "Take two minutes to try it on your own." During this time, I'm able to get around the group to assist struggling and focus students.

Goals for next week:
- Continue taping (or finish taping) for edTPA
- Adopt Task 2 strategies into my daily teaching (They really help!)
- Provide an inviting atmosphere for students while expecting the highest level of work
- Help students become comfortable with music for our upcoming concerts

Phil Kleven Week 4

It's already week 4! Time is moving very fast. This was a successful week for several reasons. I'm very comfortable with all of the groups now. When I first got started, I began working with six different orchestras preparing six different programs of music for our upcoming February concerts. I've had enough time to work with all of them and become familiar with the music. I know we will have great concerts! I continued to be very picky in rehearsal this week. I'm getting better at assessing the ensemble's sound and fixing things quickly. There was one difficult situation this week - while rehearsing a song with the concert orchestra, I found that one section of musicians hadn't practiced and were completely unable to perform the music. My cooperating teacher and I decided to give the students a playing exam and change up their seating. Things improved a bit, but we need to make significant progress before the concert. One major positive was that I found new leaders in the group by changing the seating. One student in particular (who was very tentative to move to the front stand) became a natural leader and even started to enjoy sitting up front. 

The best strategy that I learned this week is "less is more". I learned that I can't let any mistakes go by uncorrected, mainly because the students often don't know they're making them. I learned to work on smaller sections of music, and pick apart every detail until the music is as good as I want it to be. I also learned that I need to break apart sections while rehearsing, and listen to individual groups or students. During one rehearsal, my cooperating teacher mentioned that the French Horns were very out of tune. On the video she took, I could hear how out of tune they really were, but was surprised that I didn't hear it as clearly during the rehearsal. It may be important for me to record rehearsals regularly to review the sound while I'm not teaching. 

In the week ahead, I hope to learn more about my rehearsal demeanor by having my cooperating teacher record more videos of rehearsal. She is nit-picking every minor detail and word I say, but I certainly appreciate it. I am a perfectionist and want to be as close to perfect in rehearsal as I can get. Additionally, based on my experiences over the past few weeks, I believe that I will be able to more effectively communicate my expectations to the ensembles and hold them to a much higher standard while continuing to create a positive learning environment. 

 This week, I chose to focus on standard 8 - collaborative relationships. "The competent teacher builds and maintains collaborative relationships to foster cognitive, linguistic, physical, and social and emotional development. This teacher works as a team member with professional colleagues, students, parents or guardians, and community members." 

We have high school students who come over to the middle to tutor the middle school students. This is a wonderful opportunity for both students, and builds a bond between older and younger students. Additionally, the high school students gain experience in teaching, which helps solidify their own understanding of the conceptual material we study at the high school level. 

Goals for the upcoming week:

1. Continue to be picky with sound in rehearsal

2. Build more relationships with students

3. Make solid progress on edTPA planning and recording