Another String to your Bow

What?
The ‘What’ refers to my roles and responsibilities within JAM and
how I carry them out effectively. As a TA, my main role is to
support the lead tutor in activities and help with classroom
management of large numbers of young children. As I soon found
out, this really meant I spent a lot of time shepherding children
to and from the bathroom. Another part of my role is making
sure every child is actively involved. I noticed there were several
children who lacked confidence in speaking across a whole group
but were happy to interact with the child beside them. To address
this, I moved around and spoke to these children individually to
initiate conversation about the activity. In contrast,
my role as a violin tutor is very different. My focus is solely on
their 1-1 lessons which are tailored to the individual child’s
needs depending on their ability level. The first day meeting my
students was mainly about building a rapport with them and
assessing their skill level so far. I made notes on their progress to
help me make a better lesson plan for the following week. A small
setback I encountered is that the student’s previous teacher had
used terms and exercises I wasn’t familiar with. Our teaching
styles were slightly different, so I had to adapt my lesson to
involve terminology the children were familiar with so as not to
overwhelm or confuse them with information.

So What?
The ‘So What’ allows me to evaluate the importance of my roles at
JAM and assess the takeaways of my performance. As a TA, my
first day taught me the most important role I can play is
demonstrating enthusiasm towards what the main tutor is doing.
A class of 4-year-olds can easily get distracted, but redirecting
their attention to the main tutor and actively participating in the
musical games with them can quickly fix the situation.
Throughout the class, I try to maintain a positive and fun tone so
the children don’t feel as if they’re being ‘told off’. I watched how
one of the other TA’s refocused a child’s attention on the activity
in a gentle and caring way and began to practice some of her
mannerisms. In terms of children not reacting well to group
activities, I realise they may just need to be eased into the
situation. Talking to one person first may help them be more
open to conversing in a group activity. In my role as a violin
tutor, I have to take more of an authoritative position as the
session is time-managed to my schedule. I’ve learnt so far that
there is a fine balance to be struck between letting a child talk with you about matters outside the lesson as this can lead to timewasting. To have better control of this situation I could phrase my
questions more accordingly. Instead of asking ‘how was your
week? I should instead narrow it to ‘what was the most exciting
part of your week?’. This allows the child to open up about
themselves more, without me having to abruptly cut them off.

Now What?
The ‘Now What?’ helps me understand how these actions may
affect future interactions. As a TA, I have to be a supportive
presence in the class for the children to allow them to develop
and grow in confidence. One thing I can do is encourage the child
to choose their own instrument to play with from the box as this
helps them become more independent. One consequence from
the child only being able to talk on an individual level instead of a
group is that an attachment may be formed between only one
person. This requires good communication across future sessions
between me, the other TAs, and the main tutor so we can all help
to involve the child. As a violin tutor,
I need to gently encourage the child to continue playing if they
are distracted. I can achieve this in future lessons by briefly
outlining exactly what I want to focus on in their lesson so they
know what to expect from the beginning. Paul Harris talks about
a teaching process called ‘Simultaneous Learning’ which he
describes as ‘an attitude of the mind’ in order to teach musicality
to students inclusively. This approach is something I want to
take on in the future so as to help my students develop
individually.

Bibliography
Snyder, Martha M. (2019) “DESIGNING SOCIALLY-MEDIATED REFLECTION IN
ONLINE DISCUSSIONS,” FDLA Journal: Vol. 4, Article 3.
Vong, S. (2017). Observe, Reflect, Action! Transformation through Reflective
Practice in Librarianship.

Paul Harris. (n.d.). Linking it altogether – making practice purposeful. [online] Available at: Linking it altogether – making practice purposeful — Paul Harris (paulharristeaching.co.uk) [Accessed 22 Nov. 2022].

Brock University. (2018). Role of Reflection. [online] Available at: Role of Reflection – Centre for Pedagogical Innovation (brocku.ca)

Harris, P. (2017). Simultaneous Learning: The definitive guide. [online] Google
Books. Faber Music Ltd. Available at: Simultaneous Learning: The definitive guide – Paul Harris – Google Books