Peer Teaching Assessment and Placement Preparation
This week saw me working towards my assessment task of developing and delivering my own peer teaching lesson inspired by Kodály and Orff philosophies, as well as mentally preparing for my first placement experience the week after.
The song I chose to deliver in my lesson was a traditional sea shanty- Leave Her Johnny. I chose this song as its folk song origins meant it adapted well to being taught through Kodály methods, and the melody mostly follows the pentatonic scale (with a few additional passing tones) which allowed for sofla integration. I found myself singing it all week to ensure I had the melody completely embodied! I judged the delivery to be a success, in no small part because I had practiced the night before with my mostly ‘unmusical’ family.
In preparation for placement, I did some reflecting on both the environment I would be stepping into, as well as what I wished to gain from the experience. All I knew was that the school was a public high school and in South West Sydney, and so I wondered if my experience in conducting and concert bands would prove to be useful, or if my skills in composition could come into play. I also pondered on the worry which most pre-service teachers have the most: how was I going to manage the behaviours in my classroom?
Listen to the rendition of Leave Her Johnny from the fabulous Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag soundtrack below:
And here is my score for Leave Her Johnny, which includes body percussion as well as non-pitched and pitched percussion adaptations to the rhythms.
