HS Observation Day 2

HS Observation Day 2

Katrina Fisher

May 14 2014

Julie Oliver, Choir(Kristin Olsen, Bands)

- I would normally be observing Julie Oliver, the Director of Choirs at North, but she is out again today due to a family emergency. I am observing Kristin Olsen, Director of Bands at North.

Block 1- Music Theory

• Ms. Olsen had them work on their minor scales, as they're having a playing exam on it tomorrow. Once they came back together, she explained what would be on the test. In addition, she began introducing inversions. It's an Early Release today, so periods are shortened and she wasn't really able to get into triads very much, but told the class to not worry and that they'd go into it in more detail tomorrow.

Block 3- Freshman Choir

• This is the other section of freshmen choir students, today with about 20 or so girls. Contrary to yesterday, they were a lot better behaved, and much more receptive to the work I wanted to do. My plan was(and I stuck to this mostly) to run all of their pieces for the trip/upcoming concert. After doing each piece, I would go back to some problem spots and work out some passages that were troubling them. The kids were energetic and relatively focused, and made some good progress with all of the pieces we worked on.

Block 4- Chorale

• This group was about 35 strong, and is an unauditioned group from grades 10-12. I have to admit, it was a lot more difficult in this group to maintain focus and a sense of productivity. They were extremely talkative, and I felt like I hadn't gained a lot of their respect. However, with both groups, I felt as though there was definitely improvement in each of the pieces we worked on and I was glad about that.