Music BT Course (28 Sep)

Went for the Music BT workshop this past Thursday at STAR, and was very pleasantly surprised to receive several very thoughtful gifts for our introductory pack! In particular, seeing Michael Linsin’s “Classroom Management for PAM Teachers” really got me excited (ikr, nerdy much but idc) as it’s been a book that I’ve been wanting to read but couldn’t find at MOERead, and I was actually waiting for opentrolley.sg to have a sale so I could buy it.

Essentially, we had a mock lesson of “First P1 Music Class” led by Su, afterwhich we sat down to review (a) what happened during the lesson, (b) why Su did what she did and (c) what are some of the key concepts that Su carried out which we can learn from.

Following that, we watched some videos of how actual teachers carried out their music lessons (e.g. musical routines to get students to form groups and rows alternatingly), and then a teacher currently involved in pedagogy research came to share her experiences as a teacher thus far. We also had a short speech by the President of STAR.

Personally, I found the management routines most useful to learn- for example, making routines like a game rather than enforcing it with a stern tone of voice (e.g. for stick instruments, getting students to practice ‘ready’ and ‘rest’ positions by using ‘caterpillar down / caterpillar up’ !)

Because I can be quite stern, sometimes I “get away” with “enforcing” my rules on the students. However, it would make the classroom a lot more fun and engaging for the students (not to mention increase my rapport with them!) if I consciously, consistently transform my routines into games.

I felt that certain parts of the lesson were rather draggy- e.g. the sample P1 lesson was slow. Understandably, it is meant for P1s, and Su was trying to show us how P1s need to take it slow... but I did feel that the time taken could have been better used to teach us more things rather than have us slowly go through every single component of the lesson (e.g. all 30+ teachers having to say their name and game).

I would have preferred to be provided with sample lesson plans for each level (or at least more levels), and then demonstrations for a certain portion of each lesson that might be difficult to translate into writing.

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Things I Can Improve On:

1. Buddy System (also for think-pair-share... I could use the FT's help on that!)

• Helps to facilitate more effective Student-To-Student (S-S) interaction

• Builds a supportive and communicative environment

• Allows for students to learn how to give feedback

2. Develop Class-set Expectations

• Provides a greater sense of autonomy --> greater intrinsic motivation

• Allows students to be clear about the expectations (since they came up with it) --> increased self-monitoring

3. Develop ROUTINES ***

• Use of songs and signalling to get students' attention

• Establish a SIMPLE system in class (slowly introduce routines- don't be too ambitious!)

• Ensure consistency by PRACTICING (Practice Makes Permanent!)

• Be OBSERVANT and reinforce positive behaviour

4. EMPOWER students (give responsibility) **

• Provide them with the freedom to explore & make own choices

• Inspire and challenge them

• Sense of Ownership --> Intrinsic motivation --> Engaged and involved

However, I’m definitely grateful and appreciative towards all the teachers etc who came down to teach us what they know as best as they can!