Ryoko’s group class
I had the pleasure of observing Ryoko’s Suzuki group class tonight from 6:30-7:10pm. It was short and sweet.  She has a total of 15 kids ranging from 4th to 8th grade.  I was there because I was curious about group classes and how they are run, in case I have to sub or teach group classes in the future.  I guess the main purpose of group class is for ensemble, improve listening skills, and playing songs by ear and memory.  Here’s a rough layout of what they did:

6:30 Tuning, gathering of group, bowing, and opening statements.  One way to get them quiet is raise bow and put frog on top of head.  It looks funny but I kind of remembering doing that when I was little.

6:40 Begin first song (Song of the Wind) - Teacher always plays with group, leading them in sound and tempo.

Work on Gavotte.  Exercises on the middle section for note accuracy.  Listen to individuals.  Play through whole song.

Next concert piece: A Bamba rehearsal.

Graduation: Nick, about age 10, played Bourree from Book 3.  He has a great bow arm!  I need to ask Ryoko how she taught him that. 

a week of cancellations
Sunday was truly a day of rest for me.  No, I didn’t go to church, but it was a day full of enjoyment and excitment.  Both Shashika and John cancelled, and Young-Jin was moved to 6pm.  There were 4 cancellations at FMC and I was annoyed about that, but more time to practice for me!  Young-Jin’s NYSSMA audition is coming up soon, so I wanted to really "test" him on his stuff.  In the lesson, he seemed unfocused and just wanted to talk.  He played everything a bit haphazardly (is this a word?) and seemed not have practiced much this week.  His bow grip was back to the old way and his left hand was extremely deformed and tight.  What am I supposed to do?  I didn’t want to berate him, but I was definitely becoming sarcastic.  Sometimes I think I am too moody to teach. 

Suzuki School Teacher Training at Hartt
Yes I’m thinking about applying for this workshop.  It’s from 7/30-8/6 for a couple hours a day, but I had to make a videotape of me playing the Seitz Concerto and shell out some $500 just to learn how to teach beginners and Book I music. The deadline is June 1 so I should seriously start practicing.