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Teaching Observation from Ellen Abrahams

Westminster Choir College

Music Education Department

Name of Teacher Hannah Larson Name of School Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Grade 15 November 14, 2012 Date 9:53 am - 10:37 am Time Lesson/Rehearsal Plan: Conforms to the required forms. Comments: Another great plan. Lesson/Rehearsal Execution: Includes appropriate strategies to meet the objectives and answer the focusing/essential question. Comments: The way you continued to incorporate the warm-ups while working on the music. Julia Childs/Shakespearean actor voice while working the text. Your connection with the students has grown. I like to see you exercising the freedom to add your humor. The way you reversed the problem-solving on to the students was of note. Example: "What can we do to fix this", "Altos, what kind of notes are those?".. These all represent good teaching strategies. There was a dialogue facilitating the process between the singers and the conductor.

 General : Includes classroom management, assessment and standards. The strongest areas of this lesson/rehearsal were: The plan was strong. The use of visuals support focus. I observed the students understanding what SHOULD happen in the solfege exercises. When they were unable to sing the correct pitches you kept them interested by changing up the activity. Nice. The humming helped them audiate the solfege. HOWEVER, as we have discussed, those solfege intervals need to be internalized. Your metaphors/analogies are delightful. The storytelling is also good. Suggestions for the next observation: Continue to incorporate the solfege on a daily basis. Think of it as a daily vitamin. Remind me to pass on the scales sequentials I have used. (Borrowed from the Toronto Children's Choir audition sheet.) I suggest you give the starts and stops of your rehearsal some thought. It is pretty typical for singers to be ready to talk the second they stop singing. That means that YOU are using YOUR energy to refocus them and quiet them down. Think of it as conserving energy. 15 Todays Grade (15 points maximum) _________________