Uniqueness focus: What does she want to do when she grows up? She said that last year, she wanted to be a Rockette and be on Broadway. This year, she has decided that she would like to have her own CD, and go to Hollywood to be in movies so she’ll be famous.
I thought this was rather revealing! Jessica actually wants to be a performer. If I let her back out of performance opportunities, I will not be acting in her own best interest.
Listening together:
We evaluated her performance together by watching the digital video her performance from the group lesson. I tried to reinforce positive comments, letting her know that I am confident in her ability to perform these pieces well. She noticed that she paid little attention to dynamic contrast. Consequently, we went to the piano and worked on her musical expression in “Medieval Sand Castle” and “Arabesque.”
Her own Compostion:
“Circus Rider:” She was excited to work on this today. She played it for me, and I was enthusiastic about the sound she created. Her song truly sounded like the circus. I helped her think through her time signature and note values. She will rewrite the song on a full sheet of staff paper for next week.
Repertoire:
After taking time to evaluate her performance on the video, there was little time to address the concerns in the following pieces, but we touched very briefly on them.
“Clowns:” She seems to enjoy playing this piece. She needs to work on a few transitions, which we noted.
“Snoopy:” This piece has fallen out of her fingers. She said she will pick it back up this week.
“Canon in D:” She hasn’t touched it.
Scales: we worked on C minor and D major scales in three octaves, chords, and arpeggios.
Learning Style Observations from the digital video of this lesson:
Behavior: Jessica moves constantly, fixing her clothes. It’s as if she feels she is always on stage.
Eye Contact: She is not able to connect with her eyes unless she knows she is being valued by the person speaking to her.
Listening: She does not seem to remember words. I asked her to repeat the practice technique we talked about while viewing her performance only moments before, and she could not remember it. I had her do it, and then she could remember it.
She is most likely a Kinesthetic, Visual, Auditory learner.
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1 comment:
Clever idea using the blog as a journal. I hope I can figure out how to get these comments saved and to you - zapped first time out.
The idea of performance will be a key element to look into with Jessica. Good that she noticed her lack of dynamics when viewing the video. Working on her own Çircus piece is a real plus and getting dynamics into this piece will help her transfer the idea to others - she has more ownership of this one. adding written dynamic details will her her see and hear them better in the other pieces.
Be sure to include strengths and weaknesses in the reflection part of the journal. You are observing her behavior with detail - good for you.
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