This week I spent time in the elementary school music classroom (since I'm studying music education) and had the opportunity to observe 2nd grade, 4th grade, kindergarten, and 6th grade classes under the direction of the music teacher.
Immediately my first observation was that this teacher has a commanding presence in the classroom, not in an intimidating way, but in a way that keeps children engaged and focused on the lesson. The learning theory this teacher used most was cognitivism. She used a wide variety of engaging tools to keep kids immersed in the lesson material, including hand and arm movements, tapping and clapping, changing her location in the room, using her hand as a visual representation of the music staff, memory games, mnemonic devices, and singing nearly everything she communicated to her students. As a musician of over 25 years, even I learned some great ways to teach children music! It made me wish I had the experience of being in class like hers as a child.
Another thing that impressed me was her use of behaviorism to manage the classroom dynamic. She has a table with bowls, one for each teacher in the school, and hands out glass beads to the students whenever they participate, follow instructions, or try something new that they're nervous about. The students fill their class bowls with these beads and then earn a reward when the bowl is full. While these types of systems can often be less meaningful to kids, the way she incorporates the beads into the lesson is really amazing. She doesn't place a lot of emphasis on earning beads. She hands them out freely and openly praises each child as they do something well, but within the context of the lesson so she's not taking time away from the other children.
Overall, these first service learning hours were very enlightening! I not only took notes on her teaching style, but I also took notes on the activities and methods she was using to teach the students for my own use in teaching children music!
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