5th Grade Band
God bless this teacher. It takes a very special person to teach elementary band. I had a headache within 5 minutes of being in the room and this teacher does it every day. I again found myself in a school that did not have a band room. We were in a regular classroom, which meant it was small. And there were a lot of loud instruments. The first thing that caught my eye was the two girls playing the oboe. I had no idea that a 5th grader could play oboe! It is a very difficult instrument and the students must have good ears and patience.
The percussion section was having some listening issues this day.... or who knows, it could be most days. Three boys played percussion, and they played as loud as they wanted, whenever they wanted. Somehow the teacher was able to ignore this. She addressed the loudness issue once, and then never said anything again. I have no idea how she put up with it. I'm not sure if she didn't stop and talk to them because of time or because she just wasn't sure how to improve the situation. It is easy to sit in the back of the room and speculate what you would do in the situation, but I have no idea what it would really be like to have her job. At this point in time, I do not know if I have the patience or energy to keep up with an elementary band. In a lot of ways, it seems like a bigger job than high school band!
First thing is that you may very well be teaching beginners in your first job. I recommend ear plugs and/or not starting snare players.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, for the oboist. If you remember, we discuss the philosophy of "starting" students on specialty instruments. Sometimes it is easier to start them on oboe than to try and switch them later. On the other hand, it is a very difficult instrument to start on (as compared to clarinet), so you have to be sure you have the right student.
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