On Tuesdays and Thursdays I hop on my bike and head over to Floyd Dryden Middle School. Here’s my little secret: before experiencing the warm, welcoming environment of Ms. Smyth’s 6th grade orchestra class I was terrified to spend part of my student teaching in a middle school. My hometown does not have middle schools. So, to me Middle Schools were like this scary thing that exist only in movies, like snakes and big tropical bugs.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a classroom of friendly faces, students who remember my name, and smile in the hallway; students who say “please,” “thank you” and “nice to meet you.”
Right then and there I realized...oh wait! I love being around young people! Why had I been brainwashed to believe that middle school would be so different? I so often hear a disgruntled, “kids these days.” But what does that even mean?
In fact, I was just discussing this with a new friend last weekend. Kids these days, they carry so much weight on their shoulders. They are subject to unprecedented amounts of stress and neglect, not to mention the pressures of media, and social networking. Between the four schools I visit on a regular basis, I see students whose parents are nonexistent due to high-powered careers, and others whose parents must work night shifts just to make ends meet. We have students in homeless shelters, foster care systems, split between homes, living in situations of violence or substance abuse, and all the while we live in this community where to cost of living is impossibly high, and the weather is extreme. Those are the things that kids these days are faced with. To see cooperation and team work taking place here in the orchestra classroom, it’s a real treat.
There are many aspects that Ms. Smyth employs to create a community like environment in the Floyd Dryden Middle School orchestra room. She makes use of routines, which allow the students to feel comfortable and trusted at the same time. For an example, the instructions, lesson and I can statements are always clearly written on the board, thus, the students are trusted to get themselves prepared for class.
Secondly, the pacing and scaffolding sets the students up for success. With a balance of fun activities, practical theory studies, and various strings pedagogies the students master the skills and techniques in an order that creates a deeper understanding. For the simple but essential skill of tuning, the students first learn to develop their ears by singing the open strings, then they learn to distinguish whether the note is high, low or just right. Finally, they practice bowing technique to produce a clear tone for tuning. The students are lastly asked to raise their hands if their string sounds out of tune. By learning to tune and self adjust, the students are learning a transferable skill that applies not only to string playing, but to all music.
Finally, the students in Ms. Smyth’s class know that she holds them to standards that are rigorous yet achievable. The class follows a Karate belt system where the students test out of playing tests to receive new belts. She works with students before school, during lunch and during any available preps. I was talking with a student before orchestra class who stated that she surprised herself by passing off on a belt that she thought would be too hard. As Ms. Smyth explained to the class; the things that seem hard won’t be once you learn how to do them!
Ms. Smyth has provided me with so many ideas and resources for string methods and teaching orchestra. I’m currently reading a book she recommended “Young Strings in Action,” by influential American violin teacher Paul Rolland. Coming from a Suzuki background it is really interesting drawing parallels and finding the differences. I would very much enjoy a future as an orchestra teacher, and I have learned that I have much to learn!