For the internship reflection, we were asked to discuss ways that help our students develop instrument specific playing skills through warm ups and repertoire.

    I believe this is a very tough topic to approach on any end of the education spectrum! Tying what I’ve read in the article interview from Douglas Ackey (Article: Interview w/ Douglas Akey) and what I have observed and talked about in the classroom with my IMT (Mr. DuPlessis), a lot of great points were made in relation to this topic as a whole. To begin with, I could not agree more with what Mr. Ackey stated in his interview, “If you had a math teacher who says to a class, here is how you do long division, but I can’t show you with a problem on the board, that teacher would be fired. A band teacher who cannot demonstrate a characteristic tone on clarinet is just as unprofessional.” With this statement alone, Mr.Ackey opens up a dozen more doors into stating the basic reasons why music educators should be able to do as they preach. If you (as an educator) cannot demonstrate whatever it is that you want from your students, how do you ecpect them to do the same in return? Tying this into developing skills through warm ups and repertoire, not only does Mr. Ackey state in his interview that knowledge and use of other instruments (besides his primary instrument) has become a daily habitual use with his students, I also see this aspect done at my internship with Mr. DuPlessis as well! Having a teacher who is willing to pull out any instrument needed and play along with their students can make such a dramatic difference to the players one is teaching. Alongside Mr. Ackey in being a horn player as well, woodwind instruments have always been a complete foreign experience to me, and every single chance I get, I always choose picking up a woodwind instrument aside from a brass instrument only due to the opposite nature they compose instead of choosing something that is decently familiar to me. In these aspects, I completely agree with both Mr. Ackey and my IMT.

    One thing that I especially liked in Mr. Ackey’s interview was his reasoning behind his sightreading procedures. Looking back to when I was in high school, sightreading had always been done at one specific part of the year: a few weeks before UIL competition. I remember the feeling we all use to get whenever we would see a sightreading piece on our stands coming into class, as if rehearsal that day was never going to end. In Mr. Ackey’s interview, he brought up a great reason as to why he only used sightreading as choral or technical pieces instead of reading through main pieces meant for concerts. In my opinion, I agree with him! Not only could his methods be used at younger grade levels like he is doing, but it could also be used at any higher level as well. High school or above, sightreading on scale studies for technical purposes or chorals for intonation purposes is a great way to really solidify those basic concepts many of us lack on a daily basis. In return, the effort used in these studies will (or at least in my opinion SHOULD) eventually transfer over to any main repertoire piece one (the director/teacher) is working on with the students. Once again, looking back into high school, whenever we would be working on a difficult concert piece during the Spring semester for UIL competition, our band director would have use work on specific scales in relation to the piece. Although that was a very handy tool, I believe that his approach in terms of using that method could have been handled much better. He had the right tools, but could’ve used them as a better learning guide than just giving them to his students., just as Mr. Ackey has done.

    My last point I would like to discuss is Mr.Ackey’s approach to keeping his students busy as he works with other groups. As he mentioned in his interview, whenever he is working with a specific group (such as flutes, saxes, etc.), he alway makes it a habit to keep his students busy and following along. Not only do I see this in my current school that I am located at, but I have also seen this in my elementary placement in the past as well. Students, especially at a younger age, have to be preoccupied in order to keep the astray from trouble. Mr. Ackey made a very great point in how he approaches these types of situation. I believe that in any school setting, regardless if you have 5 high school students for a sectional or if you have 50 middle students in a band class, the only way to keep their attention focused is by constantly giving them something to focus on. Last semester when I was with Mrs. Amy Ruth at Longfellow Elementary,I learned quickly that if my students were not engaged, they were constantly talking, dozing off, or messing with their instruments (and not in a good way!). Always having their attention, knowing what you want to focus on for the day and staying on a fast track in keeping them all engaged is the way to go with any student. As hard as that sounds, I truly believe that that is the best way to achieve success. Have a solid, concrete plan of focus for the day and constantly grabbing their attention is what results not only in a productive class, but also a fast one!