This week, there was a test for both an evaluation for the end of the semester and also for an effective rehearsal. Unlike the smaller choral class and theory class, it was difficult to spend the time to evaluate each student in the larger sized classes; especially with the concert coming up soon and also the teacher needed to spend time rehearsing all the parts. In concert choir, which we have been singing ‘Messiah’, my cooperating teacher used a form of quartet to test them. Since the music was written in a contrapuntal form, it really needed the exact pitch and rhythm. There were many parts that needed to be studied with the exception of fixing incorrect notes when rehearsing. The students promised that they would go over their part every night, however the next day when we sang together, it didn’t get any better. The students could have accessed the website, to listen to each part of Messiah. However in the class, their lack of practice obviously could be seen during the rehearsal.
On the day of the test, I could see a lot of the students being concerned about the test and looking at the score while singing along. Even though we had to spend a whole period for the test, the test made the students spend their time practicing music. Sometimes there was one student who kept singing the part with wrong pitch, the other students had trouble finding their notes. My cooperating teacher has been reinforcing the importance of the students’ preparation before each rehearsal and told the students to not expect every single stuff to be fixed by the teacher. I definitely agree with her because the learning process comes from the cooperation of both students and the teacher. What they learn would reflect the improvement on their performance. I could see many students depended on the other students when singing and how they had neglected their assignments. Often they did not look at the score and they just sang whatever they remembered. I believe that the students should have a responsibility as members of the choir and try to be more professional every time when they deal with music.
Students in general seemed, as they did not prepare well for the evaluation tests. They depended more on what they had learned so far and did not really consider much about studying the score for their parts. Observing this, I realized that there are many students who lack the motivation to do well in the test. I started thinking of many different strategies that might help students be more engaged in class. However I can see how difficult it is for a teacher to try to focus to each student individually while trying to teach the whole class. It is hard to accommodate each student, I guess as a teacher it is important to find a way to deal with the class individually and as a whole group. The students understood that they were getting tested, and still they did not prepare well, which was very surprising for me to see. I thought that they would spend some time to get ready. The more I experience in teaching, I realize that there are many challenges that a teacher needs to face to educate students.
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