A lot of the same

I find it really interesting to see how we all have had basically the same types of experiences in schools. We've seen the good, we've seen the bad, and we've seen the really really bad. Most of us also tend to be agreeing on the same concepts: planning and organization are key, keep your curriculum relevant, engage with and care about the students, have clear expectations etc.....

I don't know if I'm just being cynical here, but I don't think I've been as excited about observations as many of us seem to have been....I mean, I just started to find them really redundant, really quickly. I think I've done 30-35 observations in my degree, and I sort of felt like they stopped being helpful after about 10 or 15. The tough thing, though, is if we tell the next generation of mus ed kids to just do 10 or 15, they may get the 10-15 awful ones. I'm really torn on the value of observations, and it really bothers me that I'm so torn! I think that for me, observations would have been more useful/valuable if after doing 10-15 (to get some good variety!) then we were able to do all the other ones focusing on a teacher or school who we felt was particularly inspiring. I totally understand the value of observing the bad to make sure we don't do the bad, but I think that if we observe more and more of the good, we'll be more likely to follow that......we follow examples!

I also feel as though the very short nature of observations (really...a "45 minute class" observation? which will take 3 hrs out of my day with bussing and make me miss 2 other classes that day?) didn't really make them as useful as they could have been. Maybe if we were able to do longer portions in the classroom (half days? or a short practicum type thing?) after we'd done some regular ones, then we could maximize the learning possibilities and minimize frustrating busses! I know I learned the most about being in a classroom during ME 307 where we were actually in the middle school jazz band class each day........just having that consistency taught me as much as all my previous observations combined. maybe the music kids could have a format that incorporated some of what the PE kids have too? so jealous of your mini practicum!