The reflective approach

An effective teacher is a thoughtful one. One must have the concern to self-assess, the honesty to recognize flaws, and the focus to constantly refine technique. Knowing that there is always more to learn, whenever I teach, I try to analyze the process in real time, and then also review events in more detail afterwards, whether I'm noting which ideas were surprisingly successful or which failures to try to avoid. At times, I find it helpful to organize my thoughts on paper. Below are two varying examples of my reflective process.

Lesson plan with reflection [November 2020]

Following is a lesson plan I created, with my post-teaching reflection included. The detailed plan in the first part of the document became impossible to carry out—the lesson was supposed to be taught in person, and was moved to online without warning. Fortunately, we had technological resources available, and I was able to think on my feet. In the reflective portion I discuss some of the specific changes I had to make, as well as what, in hindsight, could have made the lesson more successful.

Elementary school observation reflection [February 2018]

What follows is an essay written after observing a professional teacher in an elementary music classroom.

Once again, the fieldwork experience was fascinating and informative. Participating in the lesson with the children tended to distract my attention from the myriad things going on that I could observe, but we owed them the fun of having the big people participate in return for impinging on their space. I took notes with a particular emphasis on the sequencing of the lesson and the pedagogical choices Mrs. Duncanson made, her classroom management/behavior management strategies, and how the children seemed to be reacting to the experience.

The main objective of the lesson was familiarity with the concept of theme and variations. What I found particularly interesting about Mrs. Duncancson’s sequencing was that she did not explicitly mention these words until near the end of the lesson. Before that, she (a) had the class sing their “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”/“We’re proud of McDonald School” song, and do various types of non-locomotor and locomotor movements with it; (b) read them a story about “fancy” synonyms; and (c) played a theme and variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and invited the class to suggest the moods connoted by each one. The effect of all of these steps in the lesson plan was to get the kids thinking about variations in a concrete way before actually introducing the concept, so that when she finally did put the words “theme and variations” (and a “Theme → Variation 1→ Variation 2 → Variation 3” flowchart) on the board towards the end of the lesson, everyone (it is to be hoped) got the meaning without trouble. Considering that at the children’s current stage of development they would likely struggle with abstract concepts, giving them extensive opportunities to make sense of it through listening, moving, and talking (and a little bit of thinking when prompted by questions, such as “How did the musician play it differently this time?”) before defining terms was a great idea.

I continued to be impressed by the general management strategies Mrs. Duncanson employed. Many were basically the same as what I had seen the previous time, but I did observe some new ones: she had the children repeat after her each of her three rules for the locomotor activities (“NO bumping, NO following, NO sound”); she had the “clip chart” with tiers of behavior, which I didn’t even notice until the moment that she had somebody move their clip up; and as a final reminder at the end of the lesson, she had everyone recite the five principles that formed the acronym “MUSIC.” (I also noted that her management didn’t start at the beginning of the period; even while walking through the halls, she was putting out fires before they started, as when she asked someone to move their coat from where it could have been a trip hazard.)

The children were mostly successful at the various activities, suggesting that the level was appropriate for them. Most sang the “McDonald School” song enthusiastically, despite the complexity of the words, and vigorously performed the non-locomotor “Hurrah” punch. Several suggested feelings that the “Twinkle” variations evoked to them, and these dovetailed nicely with the movements she had in mind to suggest, such as tiptoeing (which was actually suggested by one of the kids). The class responded well to Mrs. Duncanson’s assessments; in the two review sessions, with verbal questions at the end of the reading and audio-visual questions at the end of the “Twinkle” variations, hands were raised and accurate answers given. It is possible that our presence influenced their reactions, but it is not possible to precisely measure what that effect might have been or adjust for it.

I’m looking forward to more of these visits. I do find the composition of these reflective essay to be a bit tedious, and I question whether it helps to organize my thoughts any more than simply jotting down bulleted lists does, but I understand their importance to you as an assessment. Beyond question, this chance you’re offering us to observe a real general music teacher at work in an elementary school is immensely valuable (you also chose a good teacher for us to observe), and I appreciate it (in both senses of the word) to the fullest.