Shawna Ergenbright

Woodwind Techniques

Group Teaching Reflection

Overall, I thought mine and Abby’s teaching went pretty well. Teaching chromatic is

hard just because you’re really just teaching them a bunch of new fingerings all at once. Abby

and I chunked it in octaves because we thought that was the quickest way, but in an actual

classroom I would never do that. I would probably introduce one or two new notes a day

assuming it’s a beginner band level. Looking back, I probably rushed through too much, but

then again, we were struggling to make it through the whole lesson in our ten minutes. I

should’ve allowed for more breathing time between notes instead of having them plow right

through it. It is easy to forget that flutes need to breathe all the time. It was also hard to balance

between allowing them time to get the sound out and moving on in the lesson which I know is a

real problem in every beginning band classroom.

When I was not teaching, I was trying to go around and address problems if there were

any, but I also did not want to distract from Abby’s teaching. I mostly ended up standing in the

back observing what the flutes were doing. In hindsight, I wish we had given the saxophones

something to do as well so that they were not sitting on the other side being bored. We could

have at least taught to both sides instead of just the flutes; that would have made the most sense

especially since flute and saxophone fingerings are similar. If we had had more time, I would

have liked to assess what they learned and retained by calling out notes and asking them to find

the chromatic fingerings on their own instruments. I also think it would have been an even better

idea to address both flute chromatic and saxophone chromatic fingerings that way both sides are

engaged, and Abby and I could have taught the material side-by-side--especially since many of

the fingerings are the same. Overall, what Abby and I did worked for the setting we were in, but
it wasn’t the most efficient way to do it. It also is not the way I would do it in an actual

classroom setting.