I did it!
Today I write to say that I have successfully completed the first 60 hours of my ESL Certification with the certificate to prove it! (photo above)
It was very interesting for me to be back in a classroom as a student and to interact with other students as a student, not as the teacher! Quite valuable for my approach back in my own rehearsals!
This week will bring a start in both ensemble classes to “filling in the gaps”. On Friday, I gave my grade 9-10 Chorale girls a pre-assessment on note names on treble and bass clef, ledger lines and rhythm numbers and there are extreme levels of knowledge and understanding throughout the class. When I observed the videos of my concert choir members at the keyboard trying to play starting pitches for their scales and solo assignment, I was amused (and I shouldn’t be amused by something like that!) by their inability to identify single notes on a piano. So, today I distributed those light blue testing-type booklets to every member of the two classes and told them that they represented communication between them and me. The Concert Choir was asked to draw a two-octave keyboard in their booklets and place the letters on the keys as well as add F#, C# and G# so they can now spell an A Major Scale. Chorale reviewed the letter names on the Grand Staff and learned how they all connect through middle C. I am a maniac about musical literacy and tell them as often as I can that I can’t walk their musical journey for them…this they have to do themselves; and, I need for them to be able to “talk the talk” in choir land. It’s my job to fill in the gaps, however cavernous they may be!
Onward!
Barbara
Comments