What is my strategy for approaching today’s lesson?
I would like to experiment with Dawna Markova’s theories. Markova says, “it is the match between how the learner learns and how the method teaches that determines who learns what – and how much” (p. 43). Based upon her book, “How Your Child is Smart?,” I have assessed that Jessica is most likely a Visual, Kinesthetic, Auditory learner. If this is true, Jessica’s greatest tendency is to retain information when it is administered visually.
Jessica was ready for her lesson today. She was happy to show me that she remembered to bring the CD that accompanies her Celebration Series. Her actions and attitude demonstrate that she cares about her progress more than she did even a month ago.
She will be performing for all the students in my studio next week. In preparation for that, we started the lesson with the two pieces she will play from memory. First, she played “Arabesque” beautifully except for one issue with controlling the left hand at the beginning of the second section. She decided that she will start with this section before she plays through the entire piece this week. Second, she played “Medieval Sand Castle.” She tried to play it from memory, but was not completely successful. The second section of the piece is not yet in her mind, or under her fingers. I asked her if she could play the piece ‘hands alone’ from memory. She replied in the negative. I zeroed in on the section she had difficulty with, and asked her to take three measures at a time to commit them to memory, hands alone. She was able to memorize them quickly and put hands together. I then asked her to teach me the steps to the dance she made up and then play the piece for me while I danced to it. Her playing was not flawless, but she is moving in the right direction.
“Snoopy” is coming along. She indeed followed my practice suggestions. All but one measure in the first section was under control. We fixed the fingering issue for that particular measure, and moved on to the third section. She quickly realized that this song is within her grasp over the next week.
We then listened to the recording for “Clowns” and threw the ball back and forth on the strong beats. I told her to keep her eye on the ball. She watched it carefully as it flew through the aire. She said that the tempo is too fast on the CD, but said she will try to increase her tempo this week. We worked with the metronome to find her comfort zone. Then, I had her choose a metronome tempo goal for the week.
I introduced Pachelbel’s Canon in D. I performed it for her, then had her look at the music to find the prominent patterns. We talked about and worked on the pattern in the bass line. She is going to learn the first twenty bars this week.
Scales – she is almost comfortable with E flat major. We worked on fingering issues and I asked her to keep her eyes on her left hand. Then, I started her into the C minor scale.
In the realm of doing written theory work, Jessica has been one of my most difficult students. I have her working through the workbook that complements the Celebration Series Repertoire. For three weeks, I have assigned the same pages, and all three weeks they have not been completed. This week, I asked her to complete the pages before she left my studio and feel free to ask me any questions along the way.
Repertoire Drop: At the beginning of the school year, Jessica begged me to let her play “Fur Elise.” She proved that she could play the first section within two weeks, so I let her continue with it. My decision was not a good one. She became extremely disappointed with herself when she could not grasp the second section as quickly. We worked on it over the course of many lessons, but it was only producing in Jessica a sense of failure rather than accomplishment. She is simply not technically ready for this piece. Jane Magrath’s “Pianist Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature” lists “Fur Elise” at level 7. Jessica’s other repertoire is around level 3-4. Clearly, I should have been more careful instead of giving in to Jessica’s desire to play it this year. We will have to come back to this piece when she is ready.
Sensory-Kinesthetic/Visual Strategies: For the second week in a row, we threw the ball back and forth to demonstrate the strong beats in “Clowns.” Not only does this teaching strategy appeal to her sensory, kinesthetic tendencies, it also caters to her visual learning style. In addition to feeling the beat as the ball landed in her hands, she can visualizing the length of each beat as the ball flies through the air.
Idealist Strategies: By teaching me her choreography for Medieval Sand Castle, Jessica feels like she is able to use what she knows about dance for the benefit of someone else. Idealists love to help people, and if she has an outlet for helping me learn the dance she created, perhaps she will be more open to receiving the help I give her.
Interdisciplinary Learning: Jessica loves Music and Dance. By asking her to create her own dance, she is contributing to the lesson in a way that connects two disciplines in a relevant way.
Reflecting on this lesson, it seems like she and I have reached a new level of communication. The improvements I’ve seen over the past couple of weeks have been encouraging to me. Jessica is no longer demonstrating an attitude of resistance, but as a blooming adolescent, she is definitely showing her true need for encouragement at every turn.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Case Study Jessica #3
Let there be laughter! I’m no miracle worker, but something dramatic has happened over the course of the last three lessons. Jessica has gone from being a cynical, resistant, stubborn student to one who is eager to learn and full of life during her lessons.
She has noticed that I have taken a special interest in her by having her fill out all sorts of questionnaires on her personality and by video taping her lessons. In this way, I can understand that she feels special and unique (This would lend itself to an “Idealist” temperament, according to Keith Golay).
Today, Jessica came in saying she practiced Medieval Sand Castle, and almost had it memorized! Wow! What a dramatic change from three weeks ago! She put herself to the test as well because she forgot her music. It was still left out on her piano at home. After playing through it one time, she noted the areas where more attention to memorization was needed. She was genuinely disappointed that she forgot her music because she had also made up a dance to it. I handed her my cell phone and she called her mother to bring the book toward the end of the lesson. She said, “let’s come back to it.”
Next, I had her think about the time signature and rhythm for her “Clowns” piece. We talked about the strong beats being on 1 and 2. I had her stand up and toss a ball back and forth with me to the rhythm of the song. We caught &/or threw the ball on the strong beats. She noticed that the ball was in the air for the sixteenth note pattern and she could sense the strong beats more clearly after this exercise. Jessica’s touch has been quite heavy, so in an effort to get her to think about a light touch, we talked about Clowns at the circus, and what they might be like if they were to juggle balls to entertain people. I mentioned that Clowns could never juggle bowling balls, but they would juggle light, airy balls. With that image in her mind, I asked her to produce a quick and light sound. I turned the metronome on and asked her to think about the metronome click as the ball being thrown back and forth on the strong beats. Next, we worked on a few fingering issues, and I helped her think about how her wrist movement would aid her weakest fingers in moving swiftly across the keys.
The New Song: She came in with the first half of “Snoopy” well rehearsed. It was not perfect by any means, but her performance showed me that she had spent time practicing!! That is the first order of business these days…giving her repertoire that she will actually practice! After hearing her play it, I mentioned that I was thrilled with her work. I also said I would like to hear more of a steady beat throughout the piece. I played it for her so she would understand how the grace notes sound. I also told her to listen to the CD that came with the book. She left it at home, so I told her to bring it next week. Upon my request, she willingly began counting and tapping her foot. The strategy for putting hands together included playing each phrase three times (Right Hand, Left Hand, Hands together) or until she mastered it. She understood the practice tip and demonstrated it for me. She chose a metronome tempo and tried it before we moved to the next piece.
She played through her E flat Major Scale. She still had not practiced to the point of grasping the scale. I had her incorporate her foot tapping and helped her with her fingering. I also reassigned arpeggios and chords on E flat, and asked her to be ready to ace them next week.
She played her Arabesque with strength. She is to have it memorized hands alone for next week’s lesson. We worked on dynamics and two places that needed fingering attention.
Her mother brought in the book with Medieval Sand Castle. She opened it up and began to play it beautifully. Then I sat down and played it for her while she danced. I couldn’t see her dance movements, but I could tell she was moving freely across the hard wood floor.
She left the studio in a cheerful spirit and actually said “thanks, good bye.” She usually walks out with her mother and doesn’t say a word.
Productive lesson, indeed!
'Sensory' strategies: Throwing a ball, tapping her foot/heel, dancing.
'Feeling' Strategies: Encouragement. Her playing wasn’t great on the new piece, but her effort was brilliant!
'Idealist' strategies: I let her know her uniqueness is recognized. She knows I am taking a special interest in her because her lessons are being video taped and I am having her fill out questionnaires about her personality.
She has noticed that I have taken a special interest in her by having her fill out all sorts of questionnaires on her personality and by video taping her lessons. In this way, I can understand that she feels special and unique (This would lend itself to an “Idealist” temperament, according to Keith Golay).
Today, Jessica came in saying she practiced Medieval Sand Castle, and almost had it memorized! Wow! What a dramatic change from three weeks ago! She put herself to the test as well because she forgot her music. It was still left out on her piano at home. After playing through it one time, she noted the areas where more attention to memorization was needed. She was genuinely disappointed that she forgot her music because she had also made up a dance to it. I handed her my cell phone and she called her mother to bring the book toward the end of the lesson. She said, “let’s come back to it.”
Next, I had her think about the time signature and rhythm for her “Clowns” piece. We talked about the strong beats being on 1 and 2. I had her stand up and toss a ball back and forth with me to the rhythm of the song. We caught &/or threw the ball on the strong beats. She noticed that the ball was in the air for the sixteenth note pattern and she could sense the strong beats more clearly after this exercise. Jessica’s touch has been quite heavy, so in an effort to get her to think about a light touch, we talked about Clowns at the circus, and what they might be like if they were to juggle balls to entertain people. I mentioned that Clowns could never juggle bowling balls, but they would juggle light, airy balls. With that image in her mind, I asked her to produce a quick and light sound. I turned the metronome on and asked her to think about the metronome click as the ball being thrown back and forth on the strong beats. Next, we worked on a few fingering issues, and I helped her think about how her wrist movement would aid her weakest fingers in moving swiftly across the keys.
The New Song: She came in with the first half of “Snoopy” well rehearsed. It was not perfect by any means, but her performance showed me that she had spent time practicing!! That is the first order of business these days…giving her repertoire that she will actually practice! After hearing her play it, I mentioned that I was thrilled with her work. I also said I would like to hear more of a steady beat throughout the piece. I played it for her so she would understand how the grace notes sound. I also told her to listen to the CD that came with the book. She left it at home, so I told her to bring it next week. Upon my request, she willingly began counting and tapping her foot. The strategy for putting hands together included playing each phrase three times (Right Hand, Left Hand, Hands together) or until she mastered it. She understood the practice tip and demonstrated it for me. She chose a metronome tempo and tried it before we moved to the next piece.
She played through her E flat Major Scale. She still had not practiced to the point of grasping the scale. I had her incorporate her foot tapping and helped her with her fingering. I also reassigned arpeggios and chords on E flat, and asked her to be ready to ace them next week.
She played her Arabesque with strength. She is to have it memorized hands alone for next week’s lesson. We worked on dynamics and two places that needed fingering attention.
Her mother brought in the book with Medieval Sand Castle. She opened it up and began to play it beautifully. Then I sat down and played it for her while she danced. I couldn’t see her dance movements, but I could tell she was moving freely across the hard wood floor.
She left the studio in a cheerful spirit and actually said “thanks, good bye.” She usually walks out with her mother and doesn’t say a word.
Productive lesson, indeed!
'Sensory' strategies: Throwing a ball, tapping her foot/heel, dancing.
'Feeling' Strategies: Encouragement. Her playing wasn’t great on the new piece, but her effort was brilliant!
'Idealist' strategies: I let her know her uniqueness is recognized. She knows I am taking a special interest in her because her lessons are being video taped and I am having her fill out questionnaires about her personality.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Case Study Jessica #2
I was surprised to see a smile on Jessica’s face when she walked in the door. It was a smile that indicated she was not going to be difficult to work with today. As she sat down to begin, I did not sense the usual attitude of resistance from her. I wasn’t sure why, but the push and pull tension was not present. She did not show an explicit excitement about being here for her lesson, but she demonstrated a sense of contentment in being here to do the best she could in the time we had. Overall, she was quite responsive to my teaching today.
Last week, Jessica was not interested in making her own decisions for choosing the pieces she would play for me. This week, I asked her for her input, but I ultimately made the decisions for which exercise or piece to work on next, etc. As I did, she jumped right in and began to play.
She warmed up with scales, chords, and arpeggios in G minor. I helped her adjust her fingering, and gave her pointers on how to relax as she played her arpeggios. Moving to the next key, I asked her to try her scales, chords, and arpeggios in E flat Major, and it became obvious that she had not practiced them. So, I re-introduced her to the key of E flat Major. After spending two minutes on it, however, I noticed her attention wavering. In order not to push her into her resistant territory, I said, “let’s come back to this.” Then, we jumped into Clowns to work on putting hands together and speeding up the tempo. Her attitude was great. She had practiced hands alone during the week, and while her tempo needed much work, we isolated a few sections of the piece to work on coordinating rhythm for hands together. Upon my recommendation, she agreed upon the spots she will isolate in her practice for the coming week.
Next, I brought out Medieval Sand Castle. I knew it might have been a sore spot in our teacher-student relationship, but I wanted to see how she responded to the assignment to make up a dance for the piece. Even though she loves dancing, last week she was closed, unresponsive and hesitant to move across the floor to the music. I was very curious to see if she might have loosened up this week.
First, I had her play through the piece. We identified the single area needing the most work. In one of the difficult measures, she needed to pay attention to fingering details. I asked her to look at the spot where the fingering changed and play it a few times to feel the switch. Thinking about her interests and her sensory learning style, I asked her to stand up and create a dance movement for that measure by changing feet or changing her body movement on the beat that the fingering changed. Then as I continued to play, she choreographed her own ballet dance to the whole song. Afterward, I had her teach the dance to me. Then, she played the song and I did the dance she taught me.
There is a new sense of excitement in her for this song. Now, I hope that she will make the connection to work on the technical improvements necessary for polishing the piece. Hopefully, there will no longer be a recurring resistance to learning it! We’ll see if she will be willing to memorize it within the next couple of weeks?
I started her on a new song this week: “Snoopy,” from the Celebration Series Curriculum, Book 3. She took interest in it from the start.
Fur Elise: her tempo has improved and she is more aware of the 3/8 meter as she plays.
Last week, Jessica was not interested in making her own decisions for choosing the pieces she would play for me. This week, I asked her for her input, but I ultimately made the decisions for which exercise or piece to work on next, etc. As I did, she jumped right in and began to play.
She warmed up with scales, chords, and arpeggios in G minor. I helped her adjust her fingering, and gave her pointers on how to relax as she played her arpeggios. Moving to the next key, I asked her to try her scales, chords, and arpeggios in E flat Major, and it became obvious that she had not practiced them. So, I re-introduced her to the key of E flat Major. After spending two minutes on it, however, I noticed her attention wavering. In order not to push her into her resistant territory, I said, “let’s come back to this.” Then, we jumped into Clowns to work on putting hands together and speeding up the tempo. Her attitude was great. She had practiced hands alone during the week, and while her tempo needed much work, we isolated a few sections of the piece to work on coordinating rhythm for hands together. Upon my recommendation, she agreed upon the spots she will isolate in her practice for the coming week.
Next, I brought out Medieval Sand Castle. I knew it might have been a sore spot in our teacher-student relationship, but I wanted to see how she responded to the assignment to make up a dance for the piece. Even though she loves dancing, last week she was closed, unresponsive and hesitant to move across the floor to the music. I was very curious to see if she might have loosened up this week.
First, I had her play through the piece. We identified the single area needing the most work. In one of the difficult measures, she needed to pay attention to fingering details. I asked her to look at the spot where the fingering changed and play it a few times to feel the switch. Thinking about her interests and her sensory learning style, I asked her to stand up and create a dance movement for that measure by changing feet or changing her body movement on the beat that the fingering changed. Then as I continued to play, she choreographed her own ballet dance to the whole song. Afterward, I had her teach the dance to me. Then, she played the song and I did the dance she taught me.
There is a new sense of excitement in her for this song. Now, I hope that she will make the connection to work on the technical improvements necessary for polishing the piece. Hopefully, there will no longer be a recurring resistance to learning it! We’ll see if she will be willing to memorize it within the next couple of weeks?
I started her on a new song this week: “Snoopy,” from the Celebration Series Curriculum, Book 3. She took interest in it from the start.
Fur Elise: her tempo has improved and she is more aware of the 3/8 meter as she plays.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Using the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator
Jessica filled out a Myers-Briggs Questionnaire. It tells me that Jessica is an ISTJ (Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging). Based upon my observations of her personality, this assessment may be on target. I think the "S" is correct, but I would think that Jessica may have stronger "Feeling" tendencies than "thinking" tendencies. In any case, if she truly is an ISTJ, her dominant mental process for taking in information is sensing clear tangible data that fits in with her here-and-now experience. With this in mind, how do I make her lesson more sensory focused as a means of intriguing her to learn?
Case Study Jessica #1
Jessica came in with an attitude once again. She was standoffish today. Nothing mattered to her. She had no thought or care about which piece she wanted to play for me first. As an eleven year old, she is coming into her teenage years with little respect for those who care for her education. Her mother home-schools her, and I know from speaking with her mother that Jessica often rejects her mother’s instruction. She does not go to bed when she is told. She does not get out of bed when she is told. Practicing the piano doesn’t happen when she is told. Submitting to instruction is difficult for her.
Last week she told me that she has no interest in doing the festival this year. She is a talented student who does not apply herself. She doesn’t take the time to think about all the things she knows when she practices.
My time with Jessica is a push and pull game. She rebels against learning a new piece, but after spending weeks on it, she eventually comes to a point where she enjoys playing it.
She is a creative young lady, but is only willing to open up to a certain extent. A stubborn streak is evident in her from time to time. For example, she is unwilling to sing for her family at home even though they love her voice and encourage her, but she will sing for me in my studio where she also gets encouragement. Right now, she has it in her mind that she does not want to participate in the piano festival this year. This kind of thinking is affecting her practicing on every level. Should I let her quit and not participate in the festival, or should I push her to go through with the pieces she has already begun learning? If I let her quit, then I am giving into her whim, which is an unhealthy whim. Is she trying to control her piano teacher the way she tries to influence her mother’s decisions?
Today she played Burgmuller’s Arabesque beautifully.
She played her G minor and E flat major scales today: one octave of steady quarter notes, two octaves of eighth notes, and three octaves of triplets.
One particular piece, Medieval Sand Castle, has been difficult for Jessica this year. She has not been motivated to learn it because it is tied to the festival. She plays it beautifully and sensitively, but is unwilling to go the extra mile to put the finishing touches on the piece. I know she loves dancing, so today I turned the piece into a dance. We tried a few dance steps in the studio, and I gave her the assignment to make up a dance for the rest of the song. When she comes in for her lesson next week, I will play it for her while she dances and she will play the song for me while I dance.
Last, we worked on Beethoven’s Fur Elise, and Kabalevsky’s Clowns. Fur Elise is technically challenging for Jessica. Unless she disciplines herself to work through the difficult passages, it will be better if we save this piece for later.
We’ll see what happens in next week’s lesson! How can I take what I know of her unique personality and creatively motivate her toward expressing herself in music?
Last week she told me that she has no interest in doing the festival this year. She is a talented student who does not apply herself. She doesn’t take the time to think about all the things she knows when she practices.
My time with Jessica is a push and pull game. She rebels against learning a new piece, but after spending weeks on it, she eventually comes to a point where she enjoys playing it.
She is a creative young lady, but is only willing to open up to a certain extent. A stubborn streak is evident in her from time to time. For example, she is unwilling to sing for her family at home even though they love her voice and encourage her, but she will sing for me in my studio where she also gets encouragement. Right now, she has it in her mind that she does not want to participate in the piano festival this year. This kind of thinking is affecting her practicing on every level. Should I let her quit and not participate in the festival, or should I push her to go through with the pieces she has already begun learning? If I let her quit, then I am giving into her whim, which is an unhealthy whim. Is she trying to control her piano teacher the way she tries to influence her mother’s decisions?
Today she played Burgmuller’s Arabesque beautifully.
She played her G minor and E flat major scales today: one octave of steady quarter notes, two octaves of eighth notes, and three octaves of triplets.
One particular piece, Medieval Sand Castle, has been difficult for Jessica this year. She has not been motivated to learn it because it is tied to the festival. She plays it beautifully and sensitively, but is unwilling to go the extra mile to put the finishing touches on the piece. I know she loves dancing, so today I turned the piece into a dance. We tried a few dance steps in the studio, and I gave her the assignment to make up a dance for the rest of the song. When she comes in for her lesson next week, I will play it for her while she dances and she will play the song for me while I dance.
Last, we worked on Beethoven’s Fur Elise, and Kabalevsky’s Clowns. Fur Elise is technically challenging for Jessica. Unless she disciplines herself to work through the difficult passages, it will be better if we save this piece for later.
We’ll see what happens in next week’s lesson! How can I take what I know of her unique personality and creatively motivate her toward expressing herself in music?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)