Teaching Debuts

This past week has been quite hectic with a lot of stuff happening, so excuse the long delay; I've been very busy.

I got involved again with the Christchurch Cadet Corps (Army is not used in any corps titles), located near the now decommissioned Wigram Airfield. The officers were surprised/pleased to see me again after my 8 month absence. The corps ranks were slightly bigger this year, hovering around 45 on paper. It was quite amusing to see the NZ style of drill, which is much different than Canadian. At the moment, I've been helping out with the administration, as well as showing potential new recruits what to expect should they choose to join.

After a week & a half of observing & assisting, I was given the opportunity to instruct my Y13 Music class about the musical characteristics of the Baroque Era. Overall, the lesson turned out quite well in my mind. I first introduced myself as Mr. D, said every student's name as a review & proceeded with the main topic. After identifying & explaining the different characteristics, I instructed the class to analyse a Baroque vocal piece and an instrumental one. I had planned to introduce the musical forms but I ran out of time. The musical forms will be for Monday's lesson. After that it's on to the Fugue.

I've also gotten heavily involved with the extra-curricular music program, devoting my time across three bands during lunchtime. The first is the jazz band on Monday where I advised & assisted the percussion section. The band is currently tackling the classics like 'Satin Doll'. On Wednesday, it's the newly formed ukulele band. Yes, that's right, I'm now the proud owner of a dark blue ukulele. And it only cost $40NZD! A ukulele fad seems to have swept through the school, with the band having close to 50 players, including 8 teachers. The main music classroom was filled with students & teachers with ukuleles of different colours: red, light & dark blue, brown, yellow, pink, purple, orange, yellow, and black. There even was a yellow Spongebob Squarepants ukulele. What have I got myself into?

And finally, on Friday, it's the orchestra. The string section includes first/second violins, violas, and cellos. When it was time to play the Cirque du Soleil compilation piece, my associate, Shane Morrow, had to answer an important phone call. After Theresa, the other music teacher, tried to conduct the piece (she's mostly vocal based), she handed the task over to me. Without hesitation, I was up at the podium, my own wand in hand, conducting, advising, and fixing the parts that sounded sloppy. It was also difficult for me at one part of the piece because the time signatures kept alternating. After some trial & error, I realized that it would be easier to conduct the section in 1. The resulting sound was favourable. From what I could, the students & music teachers were impressed by my conducting abilities, and that I also paid attention to the details.

Students got to sleep in on Tuesday & Friday because the first two periods were needed by the teaching faculty. On Tuesday, there was a teacher's union meeting at Town Hall, and Friday morning was a Professional Development morning for teachers. For the PD morning, I sat in on a class that taught teachers how to create an effective PowerPoint presentation. Despite my previous knowledge of Microsoft's PowerPoint software, it didn't hurt to get a refresher and some advice. Bottom line, keep the presentation simple & use many slides if you have to. Don't cram everything onto one slide.

Wednesday's (24th) junior & senior assemblies were more energetic this week because of Pasifika Culture Week. Around this time in New Zealand, festivals are held to celebrate the culture of Pasifika countries, such as Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. So after the announcement about the upcoming Earth Hour was made, the principal announced the Pasifika student group to perform their 15 minute routine for the juniors & seniors, the same routine they were going to perform at the town hall celebration. I sat in for both assemblies, and watched the performance twice. It was quite an impressive mix of song & dance. Using my digital camera, I filmed the second performance given in the Assembly Hall, packed with senior students.

Unfortunately, due to the uploading size restrictions with BlogSpot, I can't upload the entire 15 minute video as one. I'll have to do it in segments. Please excuse the slight blurriness of the vids; I was standing at the back of the Assembly Hall with my camera on full zoom. Enjoy.

And lastly, the theme for Friday's after school teacher's party was Hawaii. Joyous Hawaiian music filled the teacher's lounge, as teachers brought out trays of tropical fruits, and Hawaiian pizza. I spoke chatted with many teachers, as I munched on the finger food & sipped Chardonnay. Later on, delicious BBQ'd pork loin was served. What a way to finish the work week & begin the weekend!