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S1: E18 Insights From a First Year Teacher with Catherine Patterson

Season One:  Episode 18
Insights From a First Year Teacher with Catherine Patterson


Catherine Patterson is the elementary music teacher at Talley Elementary in Frisco, TX.  She has completed Kodaly Levels I and II at SMU in Dallas.  Catherine graduated from Dallas Baptist University in the Spring of 2018.  She loves anything and everything that is purple and also enjoys thought-provoking discussions, a good nonfiction book, and just about anything related to music.
TRANSCRIPT OF THE SHOW

Jessica: Catherine, thank you so much for being on the podcast today!

Catherine:  Thanks for having me!  I'm really excited.

Jessica:  Me too!  I'd love for our audience to get to know you a little bit better.  Can you share what some of your musical experiences were growing up?

Catherine:  Yeah, um, I was involved in music my entire life.  I've been in piano and violin lessons since I was four.  I was in our church choir since I was also four.  I've been in choir in school... voice lessons all throughout so I love music.

Jessica:  Yes, me too.  Do you still play the piano and violin?

Catherine:  Um, I do.  Not as much.  It's more just for fun now.  I do still take voice lessons, but everything is just mainly for fun.

Jessica:  Have your students heard you play violin?

Catherine:  They haven't yet.  They've been asking so I need to bring it up there and play for them.

Jessica:  And so, with your love of music when did you know that you wanted to pursue music education.

Catherine:  Um, it was actually my junior year in high school.  I had always known I wanted to do something in teaching, but I didn't feel like being a classroom teacher was the right place for me.  So I tried to pinpoint it, but someone suggested music education and it was like a lightbulb went off.  And that was exactly what I was supposed to do! Um, since I had been involved in music my whole life and had spent the previous three years of high school serving as the Assistant Preschool Director at my church choir, I really could see myself doing this long term.

Jessica:  Once you knew that you wanted to pursue music education, where did you choose to go for college?

Catherine:  Dallas Baptist University.  A lot of people recommended it to me and I went and visited.  And met the music education advisor and supervisor and just loved her and loved what she was doing.  And that was where I chose.

Jessica:  And you just recently graduated back in the spring last year?

Catherine:  Yes, back in May.  It feels so long ago now.

Jessica: Yes, it goes so fast after and while you were in college, who encouraged you to do your Kodály levels?


Catherine:  In college we had some alumni come back who had just completed their levels and they talked about the benefits of Kodály training and to be honest, it kind of freaked me out caused I was like, 'Oh my goodness, I don't think I can do that.'  But then a few years later when I was getting closer to graduation and one of my really good friends who is a Fine Arts Director suggested it and explained how much it had helped people in his district and that I should really look into it and so I just did it.  Even though it terrified me, but I did it and I'm so glad I did it.



Jessica:  Yes, cause I know, this episode is about the first year teacher and your experience as a first year teacher.  I'm kind of far removed from that at this point because I've taught for eighteen years which seems like so, so long.  Um...And so I'm, I'm just interested in hearing your experience as a first year teacher and what that's been like.  And I think that one of the benefits that you've had is having that Kodály training going into your first year of teaching.  And so, what do you think has been the most helpful part of having taken both Kodály I and II Levels  prior to starting your first year of teaching?

Catherine: Everything has been so incredibly helpful I can't even narrow it down.  Um, it gave me confidence because I had to teach in front of veteran teachers and that terrified me every single time.  So I learned how to do that.  I learned some much about sequencing that has helped.  My administration still can't believe how I sequence and it's straight from Kodály.  It's amazing.  I gathered a wealth of materials that I use all the time in almost every lesson.  And I've really found a lot of friendships that have helped me.  I still call on people all the time and steal stuff from them when I don't know what to do.

Jessica: I still, even having taught for a while now, a long time. Um, I still find it so helpful to have other colleagues who are able to share what they're doing and then bounce ideas off each other.  It's just so helpful to make you a better teacher and to encourage them as well.  What do you think, and this is kind of the same question, but what were some of your biggest take-aways from the Levels training?

Catherine:  Um, I think the biggest take-aways were probably lesson sequencing, how to really utilize every single second of a lesson to support what you're teaching, and then how to select songs.  Those three things have helped me through every single lesson I've taught.

Jessica:  And what would you say, if - you know - you're talking to another first year teacher, who maybe hasn't taken the Kodály levels and maybe are apprehensive about it.  Like you mentioned that you were nervous about doing it, um.  What would you say to those teachers about going for it?

Catherine:  It really changed the way that I, I think about teaching and my actual teaching.  Of course I hadn't taught before so there really wasn't a lot to change.  It was all a blank slate, but it just completely changed the way I view everything and how I interact with the kids.  And it's just completely changed my perspective on everything and I would highly recommend it.  I would do it again and again and again.  And I'm actually kind of sad that this is our last level coming up.

Jessica:  Let's talk a little bit about the lesson sequencing.  In the Kodaly approach, there's a particular sequence to it.  Can you share a little bit about how you sequence your lessons?

Catherine:  So I've created my own little Year at a Glance for all the topics I'm supposed to be teaching this year.  And I base it off of the Kodály approach of preparation, presentation, and then practicing.  So one week while I'm finishing up another concept, I start to prepare the next concept.  The next week is when I actually present it.  And then the week after that, and weeks following that, we are practicing it. But it's about how I try to really weave it in with other concepts so that there's never this big break between this is one concept and one concept only.  It's trying to include songs that practice this past concept, but also prepare the next one.

Jessica:  What are some of the materials that you've used that have been most helpful?

Catherine:  I've really used a lot of the song materials that I've collected from my classmates and the instructors at the courses.  Those have really - I didn't really have access to them beforehand - and so those have really been incredibly helpful and I include them in almost every single lesson.  At least, one of them.

Jessica:  I think those are all benefits to taking the Kodaly levels or doing some kind of levels training.  So let's talk about your first year.  How often do you see your students?

Catherine:  I see them 50 minutes once per week.

Jessica:  Is it grades K through 5?

Catherine:  Yes, K through 5.

Jessica:  What are things that you feel have gone really well?

Catherine:  Um, I would say that I feel really strong in the younger grades, at least K through 3 because that's as far as our Levels training has gone so far.  And I feel like within those grades, everything Kodály-based has gone really well.  Um, there are some concepts that were not covered in Kodály in our sequencing that the district has me cover that I still kind of struggle with how to teach most effectively.  But everything that was a Kodály concept and that I have materials for has gone really well.

Jessica:  Having only gone through, I believe we've only did up through about third or fourth grade so far, and so those older grades definitely.  So what are some things that you're doing with your older students then?

Catherine:  I still try to pull in the same sequencing and methodology behind it.  I just am struggling with a little bit.  They're older and they're ready to move on and they want to go to middle school and be high and mighty like they think they are.  And so it's just been a little interesting trying to find their sweet spot.  What they like and what will really appeal to them.


Jessica:  Yes.  And I always found my first year at any school, whatever my oldest grade level is, so for you that would be fifth and for me that would be eighth, that oldest group never quite felt like they were mine.  Like I didn't feel as much ownership because I hadn't built that relationship with them up to that point.  So it...I always found that highest grade level to be the most challenging because they were used to the teacher before me.  Or, you know, I was getting used to their grade level and planning for them.  It was, you know, figuring it out.  So, I, I think that's pretty normal.  You know.  Um, and then what are some things that in your first year have been kind of challenging?

Catherine:  I'd say one of the most challenging things has been not having materials or lesson plans to fall back on, except what I made in Kodály.  Although I'm not completely reinventing the wheel because of that, there's just nothing for me to pull out of a box if I need something really quick.  Or if I don't have any idea what to do the next week.  It's all new to me.

Jessica:  And have you had friends that you've bounced ideas off of for that kind of thing or is it just kind of experiencing it?

Catherine: No, um, I do have friends.  One of my roommate, actually, is another teacher in the same district.  She teaches music and so I get to bounce stuff off of her too.  Which is very nice.

Jessica:  Yes!  Yes.  I always found, too, that sometimes, you know, if a lesson is not quite as long as I thought it had been or I needed to go in a different direction, I always felt like experience is just something you have to experience!  You know, and go through and figure out what works for you.  But I do think that sequencing helps a lot with that.  That part of it.  Is there anything else that you've found challenging?


Catherine:  Yes.  Trying to find a balance between school and home life.  And I'm still working on that.  It's getting better, but that has been a big challenge.

Jessica:  That can be tricky.  Is there anything you've found that's helpful?

Catherine:  Um, over the winter break I decided that I couldn't keep doing it the way that I had been doing it.  Which was school, school, school all the time.  So I made it my goal to leave school at school at least once a week and go home and not do anything work related.  And I've actually been able to do that.  I started making a very detailed list of everything I was going to be doing during each break I had.  I think, I think I actually got it from one of your podcasts.  The idea to do that.  I think.  Um, and that's helped tremendously.  I get my work done and I found that at least half of the week I don't even need to bring work home.

Jessica:  Good.  Good.  That, that timing.  That can be so so tricky.  Because it's easy to do all school all the time.

Catherine:  Yes.

Jessica:  Yeah, yeah.  And is there anything you hadn't anticipated?

Catherine:  So much.  So much.  My school is brand new and so everything and everyone was completely new.  There were so many choices I had to make that I didn't even know were choices that ever had to be made.  Um, I had to write the school song.  I'd never done that before.  That was exciting!  Um, my room was just four blank walls and I had to figure out how to arrange everything with four blank walls.  I had to unpackage all the instruments and put a lot of them together which I'd never done before.  And that was kind of cool.  Um, and then I'm still on the hunt for supplies that we don't have because we just had a start-up budget and trying to establish procedures and traditions that were not in existence before August so there's been so much that I had not anticipated.

Jessica:  Yeah!  I didn't know that you were at a start up school?

Catherine:  Yes, and at this point I'm really glad that I did that.  It's been a lot of fun because I wasn't walking into a school that was already established and had a lot of expectations for the music teacher.  There was no one's shoes I was trying to fill and that was really cool.  But the first few months I was seriously questioning why they put me in a brand new school as a brand new teacher.

Jessica:  So as you're figuring out all these traditions and all these things, how did you determine what your class expectations were?  Did it, I mean, with no one ahead/before you to kind of explain what they had done - which is kind of nice, like you said in a way - but how did you determine what you wanted your class structure to look like?

Catherine:  I modeled it after what I had done in student teaching because the person I student taught with had a wonderful system that worked amazingly.  The problem was that I didn't get to see her start it because I came in at half of the year just for my six or eight weeks of student teaching and so I got to see the benefits of it, but I didn't get to see how it started out.  So I modeled it after that and I also combined it with our school philosophy on expectations and behavior.  And really tried to focus on giving the students an environment to really learn and explore within those fifty minutes, but also for it to be a safe environment.  Sometimes the kids come in and they have little fights with each other or something happened in a different class and I really try to teach them that once they walk in my door, it doesn't have to be what it was like before they walked in.  They can leave all their problems at the door and we can just have a fun, meaningful time together before they have to leave again.

Jessica:  What are those expectations that you have?

Catherine:  I do.  I took something.  I think I saw it on Pinterest or something.  It's an acronym for music.  It's: 


Make good choices
Use kind words
Show respect
Involve yourself
Care for the room and the instruments

Those have been our overarching guidelines and expectations.  And then I sat down with each class and they created their own list of goals and expectations that they wanted for themselves as a class.  Those are all up on my wall and so if we're having a rough day or someone is doing something they know they shouldn't do, I pull it back to what they wanted to do.  And I say that 'You guys said that you really wanted to focus on this and so how can we get back to meeting those goals that you set for yourselves?'  And that's really helped.

Jessica:  Do you have any before or after school ensembles?

Catherine:  I do.  I have a choir that meets before school on Tuesdays.  There's about 70 kids involved and they're crammed into my little tiny classroom.  And they love it.  I love it.  It's a lot of fun and we make a lot of music.

Jessica:  Is it grades four and five or just five?

Catherine: It's grades four and five.  Yes.  It's actually predominantly fourth grade, but fifth grade still joins and likes it too.

Jessica:  And how long is your choir rehearsal?

Catherine:  Um - hee - this has not been fun.  It is currently only 25 minutes long - that just with everything else that was going on with our school and since it's been a new school, all of the clubs and activities starting up have been just kind of crazy.  And so what I was given this year was 25 minutes.  Next year I'm gonna push for longer, but I only have 25 minutes this year.

Jessica:  What kinds of music are you doing with them?

Catherine:  Right now we are preparing for our district's big spring event.  It's where music, art, really all of the fine arts come together for a big event.  And half of the elementary schools perform for this so we're on rotation to perform this year so we have about fifteen minutes of music we're planning.  And the theme of our little section is building character.  And so I've pulled songs about character traits that the kids have really been working on in other areas of school and they seem to really like it.  They're excited about it.

Jessica:  That's great.  Wow - so first year teacher, first brand new opening of school, and they put you on rotation to be part of the fine arts performance?


Catherine:  Yes, well there's also a winter version of the same event and I was not on rotation for that.  So thankfully I had a little bit more time to figure my life out before our big debut.

Jessica:  Yes!  Because what a great opportunity.  Just that...that's a lot to throw at someone their first year, but I bet the kids love it.

Catherine:  Yes, they're really excited.  My kids really love performing.  They came in loving to perform.  I did not give them that love of performing, but they love it so that's really helpful.

Jessica:  Being that you're a newer school, what kinds of technology do you have at your disposal?

Catherine: We have chromebooks and iPads that I'm allowed to reserve.  So if I'm looking at lessons and I want to reserve a whole cart, there's about 15 in each cart.  I personally was given four chrome - four iPads, sorry, to use in my classroom.  So combined I have about 19 iPads I can use.  And I've mainly used the chromebooks so far.  We've done a few things with Google Classroom, especially with recorders with fourth and fifth grade.  And then this past week I used iPads with third grade.  We've been working on our own compositions and the kids have been doing this whole unit on composition so they started with rhythm.  Then they actually learned how to notate it on staff paper and then this week they used an iPad to notate it on music software.  And it was really cool and they had a lot of fun with it.

Jessica:  I'm curious because I love the google platform.  What did you do in Google Classroom?

Catherine:  So for fourth and fifth grade they each have their own Google Classroom and I upload all of the Recorder Karate materials for fifth grade and other recorder materials for fourth grade.  And so they're allowed to go on and practice at home.  This was my way of not having to print out copies for every single person like I've seen in the past.  So they log on and for fifth grade it's all uploaded and they can do it at their own pace.  For fourth grade I've scheduled the uploads so they don't have access to all of the materials until I'm ready for them to so that they can't get too far ahead or confuse themselves.  They have to stick with my timeline.  But fifth grade has been really cool.  And they come and they're all ready to test the next week.  Eventually I know you can record yourself and post videos on Google Classroom so I think my next task for next year is going to be figuring out how to get fifth graders to record themselves playing their recorder tests and then upload it that way.  That's my goal.

Jessica:  Yeah. Oh that's nice.  What a good place to start.  You know, cause, yeah, that's cool.  When do you have your students start recorders?

Catherine:  This year I had fifth grade start in the fall, but it was more Novemberish and then fourth grade started in the spring.  I think next year I'm going to try to start them both earlier, but this year with all the craziness that's when it happened.

Jessica:  You mentioned Recorder Karate.  Do you have other things that you're using with them too?

Catherine:  Fifth grade right now we're just doing Recorder Karate, for the time being.  Fourth grade I've done a combination of Gameplan and Quaver.  I still haven't quite figure out what I really like for them.  We're kind of experimenting with lots of different things, but fifth grade really likes Recorder Karate.  It's given them the ability to set goals for themselves and they kind of have competitions between themselves to see who can get the next belt, but it makes them practice all on their own and they, they really want to achieve so that's helps motivate them.

Jessica:  That's great. And what kinds of belts.  How do you do the belts?

Catherine:  I ordered off of Amazon.  I think they're like loom bands or something.  Apparently it's the big craze.  And they're just like a little rubber band that fits perfectly on the recorder so I don't have to mess with string cause I spent most of my student teaching cutting string for the Recorder Karate belts and I didn't like that so now I use these little rubber bands and they come and they test for me.  And if.  And at the beginning I model what a good test would look like or a passing test.  And then I also modeled what a non-passing test would look like.  And so if they pass the test I give them a belt and I give them the next piece of paper and they go on.  And if they don't, I give them things that they can work on and improve.

Jessica:  Yeah, I like the idea of not having to cut string.  The loom bands - that's a great idea.  And so, along the lines of instruments...you said you unpackaged instruments at the beginning of the year.  What - did you have tubano drums or barred instruments or kind of a wide range?

Catherine:  I have a range.  I think I have about 14 barred instruments, um several bass bars, 6 tubanos, about 6 hand drums, and then a small selection of unpitched percussion.


Jessica:  That's a good start!  Like a good - yeah, that's nice.  What has been most helpful for you as you've gone through the first year?

Catherine:  I think, looking at the entire year as a whole, the most helpful thing was a little piece of advice someone gave me back probably in August.  Um, a lot of people throughout college cautioned me not to say yes to everything a school asked of me.  And that it was okay to say no, but this one person that I really trust and who was in a place of authority advised me to say yes to everything my administration asked, even when it was hard.  And I took his advice.  I said yes to everything.  And I'm so glad I did.  It helped me build strong relationships and credibility that has helped me in some sticky situations and it's, it's really helped me the whole year.


Jessica:  Have you had any additional duties besides just your classroom duties like lunch duty or morning duty?  Have you had any of those?

Catherine:  I do.  I have morning and afternoon carpool duty.


Jessica:  Yeah, and do you do the morning and afternoon carpool duty every day?

Catherine:  Yes, except for Tuesdays when I have choir.

Jessica:  And you mentioned like saying - so you said yes to everything your administrator asked of you.  And was that things like the carpool duties or is it even small requests or what kinds of things were asked of you?

Catherine: Um, at the very beginning it was to write the school song and to make the school song sound contemporary which was really out of my comfort zone, but I said yes.  I also didn't even know how to do it, but I figured it out.  Um then they wanted an instrumental track of the school song.  Had to figure out how to do that.  Then for our school's dedication ceremony they wanted the choir to perform and I had two rehearsals before that.  And we pulled it off.  And they wanted a live band to perform at the dedication ceremony.  Figured that.  So there were a lot of big things at the beginning that I had no idea how to make work, but figured it out.  And then after that it's been more small requests like duties and filling in for things and smaller things that are a little bit easier.

Jessica:  Yeah.  How did you build kind of a rapport with your team?  Do you get time with them to talk about the needs of your team or do you meet together at all?

Catherine:  We do. Um, we meet about once every two weeks.  We meet with us as a team and then our administration.  We look at needs of the school and how things are going and if we have any behavior issues across the board and how we can help them and other ways that we can support the school.

Jessica:  For someone who, like me, has forgotten what it's like to be a first year teacher or for other teachers who are just starting out, what would you say has been the most helpful to know before starting?

Catherine:  That's a tough question.  I think the most helpful thing was to know that I wasn't going to know everything and that's okay.  And that it was okay to ask for help.  And it was okay to be figuring things out as you go because there was so much I didn't know I didn't know.  Going into it and yeah.

Jessica:  That's good advice I think. 

Final Questions:
1) Tea, Coffee or Something else that suits your fancy - any type of tea
2) Song Artist Genre - Phantom of the Opera
3) What you do every day (or try to do) - something unrelated to school 
4) Get in touch with you - ce.patterson@icloud.com





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