Qualitative Assessment

Hildegard is considering having her lessons with the Maestro be part of her degree somehow. We aren't really sure yet what role they will play, mostly because she isn't sure herself. Her advisor is quite interested in where prodigies come from. As we call the Maestro the Maestro, we seem to qualify as a prodigy, at least in our own estimation. She figures that this will involve "Qualitative Assessments", and provided us with a sample, which you find below. As she pointed out, most of the assessment is of herself, as the Teacher.

9-13-06: Lesson 4

The Maestro came in “ready to learn.” I told him I would teach him the cello handshake after he and Carolyn got warmed up. He took out the cello, talked with me about the ebony on the bottom of Chester. The opening bow took only two tries! Beautiful! We reviewed a few parts of the cello, including the saddle, tailpiece, “spike,” and bridge. I asked him how big his cello was. He told me “this big” and put his hands on each side of the cello. Duh, teacher… I changed my question and asked him if it was a quarter size. He said, “No, an eighth.”

Call and response activity: I asked him to play what he heard. I plucked a few strings and was delighted at his accuracy in answering. Pitches seem much easier for him to detect than quantities of repetition. In other words, he could pick out a G from an A with no problem, but could not repeat three notes in a row with the same accuracy. I will have to remember this – usually I have had students who do better at repeating than they do at guessing pitches. I think this is due to the extra-sensitive hearing I wrote about yesterday.

I then had him put down the cello so he could learn the cello handshake. He knew his right from his left, but since I had planned beforehand to have to teach him this, I neglected his readiness and instead stayed with my original plan. I tried to teach him a singing song based on “do as I’m doing.” I got excited, sang too loud, and also got off track from the cello handshake that he was apparently ready for without all the “to-do.” Not only was my voice too loud, but it’s possible that a simple little cello handshake appeared too complicated for him because I added unnecessary steps. Focus, Hildegard. Sing softly, Hildegard. Too late – he scampered out of the room. The kitty was back. Riley was quick to observe that the volume of my voice was too much for him. She pointed this out to me ever so sweetly, demonstrating her trust that I would learn from her advice rather than get offended. Her kindness motivated me to do just that. I’ll have to remember this in future lessons, or any time I’m around The Maestro. Years of training as a von Bingen, a loud singer, just won’t do here…

Note: I wonder when the “kitty” came into being. During the lesson today I found myself talking about a kitty sitting on the back of The Maestro’s chair – something I always do with beginners. Did The Maestro turn into a kitty before his first lesson, or was he impressed by that image?

The lesson was over. We asked him if he was through and he said yes. We asked him to come back and finish the bow. Fortunately, the kitty disappeared and The Maestro came back in. He bowed brilliantly, saying “thank you for teaching me” very clearly and audibly. We talked a little bit more about our cellos and I resisted the urge to try and teach him the cello handshake. We had declared the lesson over, and I shouldn’t push him just because I wanted him to keep going. He had told me he was through for the day. One point for my self-control. Two things to remember for next time: (a) let The Maestro’s needs determine the lesson plan, and (b) keep my voice soft.

Elwood wrote in his blog that The Maestro isn’t as interested in stickers as are most children. ; I thought of that today when the intrinsic motivation of getting the notes right in the call and response far outshadowed the need to get another sticker. In fact, I didn’t even bring the stickers up. Riley has made a great picture chart for him that helps him recognize his progress. I think that’s much better for The Maestro.

For the record, today The Maestro accomplished the following in his lesson (numbers correspond to activities on his chart):
A (general preparation): 1,2,3,4*, 5,8,10,13.
C (cello hand preparation): 1 (with mini cello)

*not presented officially, but done in parts throughout the lesson