I've just been exhausted these last two days. Student teaching and a job makes for a very tired Eric.
On Thursday, I observed a geometry class taught by Ms. Cox. She too started with a warm-up. She gave them an equation and asked several questions about it. I think that's one interesting thing I've noticed about all the classes I've oserved so far. They all had some kind of warm-up. In music, we do warm-ups to prepare to play. I like that the other subjects do warm-ups to prepare the mind to think.
I took the clarinets i beginning band out that day. I'm impressed at how fast these kids are progressing. The notes are getting clser to being one sound everyday. There is still a long way to go. The saxophones did well on Friday as well. For both these groups, I started to give out little prizes for playing a solo. I'm hoping this owill encourage kids to practice so thy feel comfortable enough to play in front of their peers.
The big thing that happened yesterday was the rally at Chico High. The band played and I played clarinet with them. The band also got their t-shirts today and many of the kids were wearing them to the rally, myself included. I was very interested to watch the rally, because it gave me a peek into the all-american kind of high school. I feel that my personal high school experience was not the avereage typical american high school thing. These students, yesterday, showed some true school spirit and seemed to have a lot of fun at the rally. Everyone wanted to be at the rally it seemed.
I always started class with a warmup. The kids had to have paper out doing it before the bell rang or were considered tardy. You are right about it getting them focused. In high school especially, they are going from one subject to the next, and refocusing them on what is going to be done that hour is critical. My warm up always had something to do with either what we had covered the day before, in order to review and move forward, or if we were starting someting new, an inquiry type question to get them thinking. It also gives you time to take role and have no wasted class time.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are having fun and working hard. Don't lose your enthusiasm...it's your best friend when things get discouraging.