HAT Journal 14

H
 This chapter mentions how to teach a class effectively while being inclusive to students with ADHD and
dyslexia, however it raises the question about how to plan for a lesson with students with other
disabilities such as autism. In the music field, many students with these sorts of disabilities tend to be
attracted to it and sometimes can perform very well in comparison to their peers. How might class be
handled differently in this case?
 I am personally not convinced about doing announcements toward the end of rehearsal. This may be
because I have never seen it done this way, however I feel like students would be more focused at the
beginning of class.
 Especially for a piece that has a lot of entrances and things that would need to be conducted, how
would the teacher practice proximity. In other words, when is it appropriate for the director to leave
the podium to assess students or for classroom management?
 I have heard the argument that for younger string player (elementary age), tuning does not always
have to be completely perfect. If this is true, when should the teacher hold more value over tuning
instruments as mentioned in this chapter?
 I ran into this problem when rehearsing the lab band for MUSP 390, at what point should a teacher
move on from trying to find a solution to a problem that just is not working?

A
 Of course, we talked about stretches with a previous Hat journal, however I liked the added mention of
breathing exercises in this chapter. As a string teacher, I think that it is easy to forget breathing
exercises considering that string instrument don’t exactly require breathing to play. However, these
exercises can make breathing together to help come in on time a regular and habitual occurrence.
 Something very specific that I need to work on as mentioned under the section titled director
presentation, is not stopping the group for a problem they know how to fix. I had never really given
this much thought before.
 I had not given much thought to telling students what they can and cannot do for their warm up before
the bell rings. My high school teacher limited this to just scales (and solo and ensemble rep during
contest time), but I had not given much thought to it in the context of my own classroom.
 I had not thought about needing to assign section leaders things to rehearse for sectionals. This
somewhat puts students responsibility into the factors that goes into choosing section leaders, not just
playing ability.
 Typically, ensembles write the general plan for the day on the board, however the reading mentions
also including warm up material on the board as well to prevent students from “playing their highest,
fastest, or loudest musical excerpts”.

T
 In regard to stretching, It is important not to cause more harm than good. Personally, I have tried yoga
stretches to help with relaxing, however I did not know the guidelines mentioned in this chapter to
avoid damage, such as stretching too far. I will be aware of this, not only for myself but for warm ups
for my future instrumental ensembles.
 When doing off the instrument exercises or techniques, the reading reminds us that we need to tell
students to set their instruments in a safe place. After observing at Burris, this is something that I
realize is an absolute necessity, especially for elementary students.
 This chapter discusses a lot about how much time should be dedicated to each part of the rehearsal.
While I am not sure I quite agree with the times given in this chapter, the last peer teaching we did
made me realize how valuable knowing how much time is spent on each part of the lesson. The lesson
plan template for that peer teaching was the first time I had ever had a lesson plan with specific times
for specific parts of the lesson. While I may or may not continue to use that template, I will for sure
begin to assign times to each part of my lessons.
 I am very glad that this chapter mentions students with ADHD and dyslexia. As a student with ADHD,
this is something I can strongly relate to. The idea of providing “state changes” throughout the lesson is
something that I have heard from my Adolescent Development class, but never in the context of a
music class. The sequence provided on page 228 helps to give us an idea of what this would look like in
an instrumental context.
 I like the concept of telling students specifically why they are rehearsing a section instead of just telling
them to rehearse a section. I believe I mentioned this before in other hat journals, but I really stand by
making sure students know why we work on certain things.