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!)