10/14

We guided the GM students in using laptops to play music games from MusicTechTeacher.  I actually witnessed a lot more learning happening than I expected to, so I was happy.  They loved one game in which they could create a likeness of a face that would become a person that would be flung from a catapult in a barrel once they completed a number of music questions.  They made faces of me and Mrs. D.

At the end of the day Mrs. D and I were around just a few students and one of them asked, "Have you ever sat down to watch TV and forgotten to turn it on?"  I found that to be hilarious, yet also quite a possibility for this girl, which then made me sad.  I can't speak definitively on her potential, her interests, or her future (it would be shameful for me to figuratively box up a student in that way), but she does not seem to have the standard mental fortitude of a student her age.  I imagine most everyone knows of the young girls that pretend to be silly, frantic, and ditzy for attention — well, this girl isn't pretending.  In a similar way to the boy I talked about yesterday, I think she could accomplish the most if she had the opportunity to focus on just a few things in depth, instead of having to spread out her attention over an overwhelming number of subjects.  I think she gets lost in them.


Symphony No. 7 In A Major, Op. 92: II. Allegretto (Beethoven) - London Symphony Orchestra

9/15

I'm getting very frustrated with a disruptive group of girls in choir.  I really hope that separating them (as we will soon) will solve the problem.  Mrs. D doesn't think it will.  Grrrrrrr.

We sailed through a unit of expressive markings (dynamics, tempo, and articulation) in Theory today.  Sweet.  I got to play some great music (below) as illustrations of points of the lecture.

"Surprise" Symphony 94 in G Major, Mvmt. I (Haydn)
Symphony 7 in A Major, Mvmt. II (Beethoven) - London Symphony Orchestra
"Oxford" Symphony 92 in G Major, Mvmt. IV (Haydn)

Today was an early dismissal day, which meant that the schedule of classes was topsy-turvy.  However, I enjoyed the sequence of GM classes that we had today.  The rowdy class did quite well, perhaps because we had them before lunch.  In all classes, we had fun playing melodies like those from "Smoke on the Water" and "Ironman".  Teaching an instrument about which I barely know more than the students is an adventure.

The day ended with a music department curriculum meeting.  I'm not in the mood to go into the craziness of satisfying the administration (and state) by modifying curriculum outlines, but I'll mention that we did enjoy some amusing conversation.  Teachers really can be relaxed and jovial people, I hope you know.


String Quarten No. 5, Mvmt. I, II (Glass) - Kronos Quartet