Teacher Interview
Teacher Interview: Mrs. Amy Abbott
- Do you enjoy being a music educator? Yes!
- Why? What do you achieve from teaching? I have taught in other departments at Blakelock and there is not such rewarding experiences for myself than in the Music Department. I truly get a sense of accomplishment when students have their “aha” moment and finally understand what we have been discussing.
- How long have you been a music educator?
- I taught elementary music for 4 years and this is my 7th year teaching high school (Crazy!)
- Have your teaching methods changed over the years? Absolutely! I feel that every time I teach a course that my methods change.
- Why? Every group of students is very different and we have to accommodate their learning styles/interests/timeline to ensure everyone is the most successful they are capable of.
- Are you implementing any new teaching methods this year? Yes - I am intentionally teaching about Transferrable Skills (Gabe, I literally say it 10 times a class and it's a joke now… it's hilarious). Having students understand what a Transferrable Skill is is irreplacable. Students have seen connections not only within class but also other classes and within band.
- What are they? I have also changed how I have taught over the course of the semester. In the past, I have given a lot more freedom and time to do their work during class time. Instead this year, I’ve given them less time in class but we have been doing more playing. I’m finding this is far more advantageous as there are far more transferrable skills available during performance. We are talking about ear training, sight reading, theory and the creative process. Its fascinating to see how much better it is!
- Do your teaching methods work? I think so!
- Work at what? Students are seeing the connections between the skills I am pointing out to them. We are no longer teaching a piece of music, but rather the skills it takes to learn ANY piece of music.
- Do you consider yourself a good or bad teacher? Good...
- Why? I feel as though the success we achieve (as a department) and the response from students who come back, as well as their parents proves that I’m a good teacher.
- How do you describe a good teacher? This is SO IMPORTANT!!!! I’ve spoken with colleagues about this and having your own personality and your own “schtick” is so important. If you try to emulate another person in their role as a teacher, it will come off as disingenuous. Students are really smart and they can smell a bad teacher like lions out on the hunt for prey. They will eat you alive!
- How would you describe a bad teacher? On the contrary to good, I think someone who tries to do something they are not makes for a bad teacher. Plus being inflexible is really the core of it all. There is stuff that comes up all the time - field trips, illness, injuries, assemblies - which can rattle you if you’re not flexible. You always need to have a plan B and not get upset when it needs to be set in place. I find the teachers who are less “popular” are the ones who are not willing to give (obviously within reason).
- Do you follow the school curriculum? Yes, but I don’t let it guide my teaching
- Why? We were provided with a new curriculum a few years ago and it’s very good. I find that it gives extreme flexibility to our own interpretation to accommodate for your own students’ needs. In the past, it has told us which scales students need to know. Ultimately, scales are less important in music than a lot of BIG IDEAS - they are a transferrable skill that needs to follow from the big ideas being presented to students.
- Have you ever had to deviate from the school curriculum and why? I find there’s a lot of fluidity within the curriculum and I've been able to adjust my interpretation of the curriculum to fit the needs of my students. If I’m teaching something so outrageous that it doesn’t fit within the guidelines, maybe I should reconsider what I’m teaching!
- Where did you study music and/or get your teaching degree? Queen’s B.Mus, University of Wollongong for my Graduate Diploma in Education
- What are your thoughts on teacher’s college? DO DO DO! You can’t learn within trying. I’m finding that my teaching gets better each time that I PRACTICE it. Without practice, self reflection and FLEXIBILITY, you will not improve. Teacher’s College gives you the opportunity (with guidance) to do all of these things. Learning from the source is the best way!
- Is there a difference in teaching in a band setting versus a classroom setting? What are they? Yes and no. I find I deviate a lot from the music in class - theory, context, etc. and I’m instructing about MUSIC a lot more. Band (jazz band for me at least) is more about play play play. There’s of course instruction involved but far less. Its about finding connections between what we’ve done in class and the music that I try to make obvious… but you have to be careful because not everyone in band is in class. This should be mandatory but is difficult, logistically.