Reading and Music

I know it is hard to remember every body's specialties, so as a reminder for the rest of the class, I thought I would say again that I am a math and music major, but I am only observing a music classroom this semester. One point I noticed in the beginning band was that there were some students who had to change instruments for various reasons and these students were the ones struggling most to stay focused and keep up with the rest of the class. For example the percussion students had recently changed from other instruments and were struggling with the different rhythms and techniques that the percussion book required. The teacher had me help and explain some of the rhythms and techniques because I am a percussionist. I used some of the same techniques that the teacher was using, such as teacher demonstration. I found that these worked really well, but the effect was not immediate. All of the children enjoyed this because it was like the teacher was at their level. The students were also very enthusiastic to have a teacher who is "really good at trumpet!" The teacher even shares his faults with them, such as the fact that he is not so good at woodwind instruments such as saxophone. This helps the students to realize that no one is perfect, but with lots of time and practice, anyone can get really good at any instrument. This is similar to reading because, with any subject, having the teacher put themselves on the same level as the students encourages them to continue learning, even when they aren't in school.