Westminster Choir College of Rider University
Music Education Department
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES FINAL REFLECTION
NAME
E Mail
Allison Ritter
Phone (856)562-6629
rittera@rider.edu
Semester and Year
Sophomore, Fall 2014
PDA Hours__16.5 hours in total_
Summarize what you learned from your 15 PDA hours and/or describe how the experiences will
contribute to you becoming a better teacher.
Kemp Symposium, October 11th (7 hours)Used this for PDA midterm
I attended the Helen Kemp Symposium featuring Dr. C. Michael Hawn. Dr. Hawn
compared the subject of his lecture to streams: highlighting how different cultures
express religion. Even though the words of worship are the same, the number of
variations that a single hymn can be performed is astounding. As an example, he chose a
well-known hymn that I knew from my attendance of the Catholic church since I was
young. He talked about African Americans’ way of worship and performed a gospel spin
on the hymn I knew so well. None of these different ways of worshipping are right or
wrong, or superior or inferior to another, and Dr. Hawn states how exploring these
differences and incorporating them into everyday praise and prayer is the only way to
push people toward the future.
Dr. Hawn mentioned that, “Diversity does not take away the ethos.” In other
words, if one were to worship in a way they’re not used to, the power of the message
remains the same. Spoken or sung, danced or stationary, the expression is the same, and
in order to get the most out of it, a music lover must be open-minded to differences in
expression.
Something that Dr. Hawn also mentioned was that “rule breakers often get the
attention, but you have to be careful.” If you want to stray from the norm as a music
director of any sort of worship center, you must take careful precautions. I can relate to
this. The Roman Catholic church I attend at home once performed a choral acapella
arrangement of This Little Light of Mine with a tambourine, and was scolded for such a
different take on the classic hymn. Although the meaning was the same as it would be
had the choir been accompanied by the organ or piano, some congregations are not
willing to embrace diversity. So it is important that one is familiar with their parish in
order to keep their position and keep the congregation happy.
I learned a lot from the workshop with Dr. Shaw and the performance that
occurred at the end, which we learned through rote and repetition, was a unique one. I
enjoyed the experience and believe that diversity in music is something that is necessary
to celebrate in the musical classroom.
Singing in the Rafters Reading Session, November 1st (3 hours)
As a member of Westminster Jubilee Singers, I was given the opportunity to
attend a reading session at White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia, in honor of the
release of a new Baptist hymnal and was lead by James Abbington. I was seated among
many women who were not educated in music, but who liked to sing, had good voices,
and who enjoyed improvising their own alto part. It showed me that notation is not
necessary to have as a teaching tool in order to create beautiful music. Those women
cared about the music and believed in the message, and sometimes all you need is the
passion and the drive. Besides singing from the hymnal, we sang several pieces and
arrangements by African American composers. One piece, “Ride Up in the Chariot,” was
arranged by our very own Brandon Waddles, who walked the singers through the piece
and explained why some things were arranged the way they were.
Nafme Student Lecture Series, November 5th (1.5 hours)
The student lecture series, presented by J. Eric Roper, Kate Dunn, Jessica Kerler,
and Ryan Manni provided a lot of helpful information, ranging from technology that can
be used in the classroom to hearing impairments, to musical theatre. All presentations
were relevant and concise.
I learned a lot about kinesthetic learning, and although I put kinesthetics to use in
choir and voice lessons, etc., I was able to learn much more as to how movement affects
the brain. There are three modalities of learning: aural, visual, and kinesthetic. Something
I didn’t know is that many students who are kinesthetic learners are sometimes
misdiagnosed as having ADD or ADHD. Although you don’t want to cater simply to
kinesthetic learners, keep in mind that students respond to different teaching methods and
modalities. Kinesthetics are good for engaging students in classroom activities and allows
more opportunity for expression. Myelination plays a big part in kinesthetic learning
because myelin is built by the repetition of physical activities and the more myelin that is
created, the faster the communication is with the brain. Kinesthetic and movement can be
applied through warm-ups, games, and with dynamics, technique, and phrasing.
I learned a bit about hearing impairments also. This interested me particularly
because I myself have hearing lost from early complications with my ears. The three
most likely causes for hearing impairments is damage to the auditory nerve, damage to
the eardrum, or damage to the cochlea. Some people are born with this damage while
some people develop it. Whether a student suffers from a hearing impairment or does not,
this shouldn’t affect the student’s ability to make music. Everyone deserves an equal
opportunity to create.
Another highlighted subject was musical theatre. As a music educator, you may
find yourself in a position to music direct a theatre production. Therefore, it was helpful
to learn the ins and outs of what it takes to put on a successful show. Ryan Manni talked
about the three main steps of putting on a production. The first step is advocacy, and the
importance of advertisement and getting support for your program. Step two is the
rehearsal process. And the final step is preparation. I learned about how to apply for the
rights of a show (the average cost per production is approximately $30,000), and about
the importance of a detailed budget. Knowing how much additional behind the scenes
work goes into productions makes me appreciate my high school drama experience so
much more.
Professor Shelton’s Children’s Chorus Observation, November 10th (1 hour)
I observed the Westminster Neighborhood Children’s Choir conducted by
Professor Shelton that rehearses every Monday at Christ Congregation Church. The
student conductors showed how knowledgeable they were during warm ups and through
the teaching of their own individual pieces. They started off rehearsal with silent body
warm ups, used body solfege, and used a “firefly” approach to warm up the voice, and
keep it tall (and put the firefly in their mouth). Since these students were third to fifth
graders, the music was mostly taught through rote, by having students echo and through
repetition.
A technique I had never seen before was using colored cards. The song was a
more advanced arrangement of the classic “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” The cards
were colored pictures that represented different words for each different section of the
song. The students had to guess which section the cards represented and then put them in
order. This is a great tool to assist the students in understanding/remembering the
sequence of a piece. It’s fun and interactive, unique, and gives them a break from singing.
If I ever teach young children, I would like to incorporate this into my lessons.
ACDA Growing a Music Community, November 13th (1 hour)
At this ACDA event, we were visited by the creators and masterminds of the
Somerset Hills Community Chorus, and they provided much information about filling a
musical need in a community. The key is to find something you’re passionate about, what
the community lacks, and then fill that void with your expertise. Their programs were not
started out of their personal pocket money, so they explained the importance of
fundraising when starting your own program. They compared the fundraising world to a
treadmill: “You’re always on it, you can occasionally get off, but you have to get back
on.” It’s also important to have someone other than yourself handling the money of the
group.
Sometimes in a group of singers that are not trained and are simply singing for
fun, you may get some people off key or too loud, etc. This is true for school ensembles
as well. So what do you do? They address this situation by teaching their members to
listen harder than they sing. That helps a lot with balancing issues, and may then be able
to detect their volume and how their pitch fits harmonically, etc.
New Jersey Youth Chorus with Trish Joyce, November 24th (3 hours)
This is by far the greatest PDA opportunity I’ve attended this year, and it was
reminded me why I’m here. Being able to participate in warm-ups with this choir, hear
them sing, and watch their passion really affected me. At a certain point in the rehearsal,
the students were asked to paint the music while singing, and after that, dance the music
that they were singing. And the students really took it to heart. They were internalizing
the music and not caring what the others were doing or thinking. It was an amazing
experience.
Trish Joyce talked about the power of experimentation and how helpful it can be.
She would try an activity, ask who liked it and who didn’t and always had them explain
why they felt that way. We were given different repertoire choral ideas for different age
levels and grades (mostly from third grade to high school). She also talked about how in
choir, the members are also taught life lessons. Students who may not be learning these
things elsewhere are learning them in a comfortable environment. I was even able to
answer some questions for a couple girls about the academic program here; so many were
interested in pursuing music as a career. I was so impressed by the sound, the dedication,
and the obvious passion of both the chorus and Trish Joyce. I learned so much and it
brought me a little bit of home.