Haslett Internship - Visit 2

This week's visit allowed me to see class period that included content that isn't always present in every choral rehearsal, and it allowed me to focus on Mr. Boyce's rehearsing and teaching techniques in a unique way.  The night before my observation was their pre-festival concert, so Mr. Boyce started off rehearsal and got the students' attention by playing a recording of their performance.  Most students sat and listened with some talking here and there, while others were on their phones and others even seemed completely oblivious to what was going on, carrying on loud conversations in groups.  At the end of the piece, Mr. Boyce gave the students one minute to discuss positive comments and constructive comments with a small group before they shared the comments as a class. This brought some of the same, with some students clearly engaged in the activity and some getting distracted with other things.  However, when Mr. Boyce called on individuals to share their thoughts, it was the distracted students that surprised me most with their responses.  One student who I had written off as thinking he was "too cool" for choir actually had a super insiteful comment about the way they sounded in their fall concert and how far they had come this concert. I'm not sure I can pinpoint and how Mr. Boyce instills a sense of ownership in these students yet, but he does and it becomes evident when they are invited to participate in the conversation about what they are doing.  It seems so simple, yet something that is often missing in classrooms that I have been a part of.

Because of this interaction and many more, it is clear that Mr. Boyce has great rapport with his students.  He is always so genuine.  While he doesn't sugarcoat, he is always supportive and not only helping his students to grow, but helping them want to grow. They trust him and are encouraged by him, and therefore they trust and encourage each other.

In rehearsing the repertoire in the second half of the rehearsal, Mr. Boyce's gesture always reflected the style and was attentive to what the boys needed, such as cut-off gestures that reflected different consonant releases.  He also would have reminders that he could throw into his gesture, such as his "North and South" sound (represented by his forearm straight up and down) rather than is "East and West" sound.  He modeled this consept often, planing out his vowels for East and West and lengthening and rounding them for the preferred North and South sound.  In fact, modeling was used often in his rehearsal and the student's sound was always changed.  Even from last week, I thought their balance had greatly improved, which was one of their big goals.