Abby McBroom, music education senior, splits her student teaching between four schools.
Per degree requirements, education seniors spend their final semester teaching at their assigned schools around the area.
McBroom said she mostly observed and helped with sectional rehearsals at the beginning of the semester but gained more responsibilities as the year continued.
McBroom begins the week by teaching fourth and fifth graders at 7:15 a.m. Mondays at Will Rogers Elementary, 8201 NW 122nd St., in Oklahoma City, and Tuesdays at Ralph Downs Elementary, 7501 W. Hefner Road., in Oklahoma City.
Jeremy Scott, Putnam City North High School orchestra director, is McBroom’s main cooperating teacher. Every weekday, they travel to Hefner Middle School and begin classes at 8:30 a.m. McBroom conducts at least one piece for the seventh and eighth grade orchestras every day.
McBroom departs the middle school and drives to Putnam City North High School, 11800 N Rockwell Ave. at 11:15 a.m., eating lunch on the way. She is in charge of the philharmonic orchestra, the middle orchestra for grades 10-12 at the high school and helps conduct the freshman concert orchestra until about 1:30 p.m. The next hour is McBroom’s planning period, and then she teaches and assists the AP music theory course.
The hardest part of the day is switching between age groups so quickly, McBroom said.
“It’s completely different, teaching fourth graders and seniors,” she said. “It’s a completely different experience. On my way from school to school, I think about what to do with each age group.”
After the school day, McBroom works at El Sistema Oklahoma, a nonprofit organization that provides after-school music education for third through sixth grade students. She teaches two bass classes, and her day ends at 6:15 p.m.
McBroom said she is grateful that her cooperating teacher works at multiple types of schools.
“Everywhere is so different,” she said. “At the beginning of my career, this would be a really hard job to take. I understand the importance of being active in the feeder middle school program as a high school teacher, but my ideal job would be a middle or high school teacher, not both.”
Caroline Harrist, music education senior, said McBroom is a great teacher because she cares about her students.
“They connect with her fun personality and love being in her class,” Harrist said. “Her lessons are always engaging, and sometimes she says things like ‘listen to how this pits into your fart,’ instead of ‘fits into your part.’”
McBroom said her summer plans are not solidified, but she probably will teach at a summer enrichment camp in Dallas. She will return to OCU in the fall to get her masters degree in bass performance.
“When I’m an established teacher, I’d like to play in a part-time symphony in the evenings,” she said.
McBroom said her schedule is exhausting, but she loves being at the front of the room and watching concepts click in the students’ heads.
“When you’re having a rough day and struggling with what to say, the students are still supportive,” she said. “They struggle with things too and most of the time don’t even notice. One day, I was getting my stuff up on the podium for concert orchestra when a student came up and said, ‘Aw, you have lesson plans, you’re like a little teacher.’”
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