Having Kelly in our class was such a joy! I definitely had a lot of fun in this guest lecture. I think that we talked about a very important issue: what to do with students that do not want to be in music class at all.
I think as music students we often don't understand why anyone would not want to come to music class. We think of it as something fun and enjoyable because it's part of our personality. However, what about those kids that think of music as just another class? Those students whose love for math or science or history is on par with music? What if it's "boring"? Kelly showed some real life examples of kids who didn't want to be in her music class. At the beginning of the year, she would have students write little letters to her. This is similar to something my own high school teacher did, where she asked "what do you want to accomplish by the end of the year?" I think this was a great tool for her to use, and I definitely want to incorporate that kind of activity in my classroom. She remarked that when looking back at what they had written, students often said what they wrote was hilarious or that they "weren't like that anymore". I think that seeing something palpable that shows how much a student has changed can be really encouraging for students. It gives them an idea as to how far they've come and how much progress they've made and still can make. Anyhow, it seems to be a common theme in the classroom lately that teachers are faced with students who don't want to learn, or don't engage with "classical" music. After all, many students in Kelly's class voiced not being interested in music class at all, yet in their ever day lives they were creating complex, beautiful rhythms with just pens and soda cans. The students assumed that music class wouldn't focus on "their" music, just the teacher's idea of what music is. However, that couldn't be more from the truth! The students said that the music they learn in school lacks a story, so Kelly made up an activity that taught that music learned in school can in fact do just that. We mimicked that activity she used in her classroom in ours, which was giving us a book that was written based on music. My group had the book "Giant Steps" by Chris Raschka. We didn't get to go through the whole activity since we were pressed for time, but having never heard that song, it was interesting to go through the book and try to imagine what it would sound like based solely on the illustrations of the novel. I think it would have been a lot of fun to create a composition based on what we could see, and compare it to how the actual piece sounded. Overall, I think it was really eye opening to see that not every student will come into class bursting with excitement to take music in school like so many of us were. I actually commend Kelly for taking those negative comments she received from students and using them to further better her classroom. I think that if a teacher is willing to put in the effort to engage the student, someway somehow the student will reciprocate. I truly hope that teachers who try to engage their students will be able to reach those who are at first unwilling to try, and hopefully they will learn skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.
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Carole PalattaoI'm an 18 year old studying classical voice at Western University. I'm also a hardcore mental health advocate, and I do creative writing on the side for fun!
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