Emilee Smith

EDUC 450
6 October 2018
All-State Choir Audition Reflection

On Friday, October 5, I went to Fort Collins High School to watch some students from

Thompson Valley High School audition for All-State Choir. This was interesting for me because

the audition process here is very different than the one in Alaska. In Colorado, students are

expected to prepare a solo song, sing major and minor scales and chords, identify intervals that

are played on a piano, and sight sing, both melodically and rhythmically, all live and in front of

judges. Comparatively, in Alaska, we had to sing two major scales, major chords, and America

the Beautiful, and submit it via recording so we had as many tries as we wanted.

One of the best things I observed was how supportive all the teachers were of their

students. Obviously, all of the students were at least a little nervous, and Bryan did a great job

of calming them down. Instead of saying, “it’s going to be fine” or “you’ll do great,” Bryan asked

them what part of the audition they were most confident about, and what part they were least

confident about. Then, for the least confident part, he asked them how much they thought they

had improved in that skill over the last three/four years. Having the students self evaluate like

that stopped them from over thinking or over worrying about things, and helped them see that

even if things didn’t go the way they hoped in the audition room, they still had improved and that

was what mattered.

Observing how this audition process worked was really beneficial for me, because it

allowed me to build relationships more with the students who were there. It also gave me a

chance to talk to them one on one and get to know them more outside of the classroom.

Additionally, going to All-State auditions was beneficial for me because it allowed me to meet

and network with other Colorado teachers, rather than just those in Fort Collins.