CEP 800 Interview Project: Marching Band 2010

CEP 800 Interview Project MP3 (link)

Abstract: 
This project was created for CEP800.  For the assignment I interviewed 3 of my marching band students.  The goal was to assess their learning and what they were getting out of being in marching band.

Reflection: 
I was surprised as how difficult it would be to create the questions for this assignment.  It also took me a surprisingly long time to select a topic to focus on.   I never really thought about the creative process that was involved in creating an interview that had meaning.  It’s made me really appreciate this craft.

I was glad to learn that once I had those pieces in place though, the rest of the project was relatively easy and enjoyable.  Most of this I think was due to the student responses.  They all gave incredible responses to the questions.

I learned from them how much the program means to them, but more how much our band family means to them.  They all mentioned the idea of teamwork and how that was so important to them. 

This was very different from what I was expecting.  I thought most of them would talk about technical aspects such as things that didn’t go so well in the music or areas we would need to focus on visually.  Only one of them even mentioned the music and marching and that was in passing. 

The process of creating the podcast was relatively easy as well.  I got to learn how to use Audacity a little bit better and ended up using Garageband as well.  I now feel much more versed in using both of these programs and really felt accomplished in finishing this assignment.

It really recharged my teaching batteries to hear them share their ideas and their love for each other.  It is those types of teaching moments that makes it all worthwhile.