Stress with Hillview Music Teacher

 Date for Entry: (Friday 27th February, 2015)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 23rd June, 2021)

Dear Diary,

    Today at lunchtime in Hillview I went up to the staff room to see Miss Saunders about the CXC music School-Based Assessment (SBA). I showed her an amended scrap copy of the SBA that Mr Bartolome went through with me. I was not sure about the deadline date to hand up the SBA and so I told her that all the other subject teachers were collecting their projects to hand into CXC. 

    She told me that she called Ms. Graham and she said that the deadline was to be submitted a long time ago. So, the two of us went down to the Deans' office. Ms. Saunders was going to ask for some advice from Miss Brooks. The three of us had been in a deep conversation about this same project for about half an hour. While Ms. Brooks left getting angry, Ms. Saunders sat down with me by a small table in the same office and we both went through the project. I didn’t like having to be so unprepared because I didn’t know about the things to do for the SBA and time was now of the essence. Miss Saunders too seem like she didn't want to go through this. 

    We both took the sixth to eighth periods in the deans' office to do this. And then Ms. Lalchan came in to help us print some forms after they called Ms. Graham again over the telephone. She had said that the marks were to be submitted over the computer by midnight that night. 

    Miss Brooks had to beg Ms. Saunders to correct the SBA for me and then I had to promise to bring Miss Brooks a roti by Monday for getting Miss Saunders to correct the SBA. 

    Then Ms. Saunders told us the story about how a student who wanted to do music couldn’t because she was "judging for Panorama and then the time for marking his SBA was done over." I just felt so bad and remembered that morning earlier in the week before assembly when Ifeaye told me he wasn’t bothering to do the Music course for CXC again and I knew that it would be tough for him especially with those labs he had to do. 

    After that was done, Ms. Saunders told me to go and collect my bags from class and to meet her back by the Vice Principal’s office. Ms. Lalchan was acting Vice-Principal at that time of the school term. She had made copies of Music forms for CXC music three different times because both Ms. Saunders and I didn’t know which forms were for which project. There were also the same sets that had to be filled out separate by myself, Miss Saunders and the person to mark the project. 

    On reaching back to Ms. Lalchan’s office, Ms. Saunders came in after and she sat beside Ms. Lalchan. They both went through all the information with me on the side of the Computer table. They put in my name and the Ifeaye’s names into the mark sheet of CXC’s score sheet since we were the only two students who registered to do the music. They had to put an Ungraded (U) for Ifeaye because he didn’t submit the SBA. Ms. Lalchan told us, "If you don’t do the SBA, it comes as if you didn’t give an account of the work you’ve done for the past two years."

    Well, I can understand he couldn’t make it because of the science and had to write up all of those labs. For me, I wish I had all of those labs to write up. They are so enjoyable to me and fun to write up. Thank God he sent Ms. Lalchan to teach us Integrated Science. She was a better teacher in this subject for me than the other three who stepped in to carry on our class. Even that class did not have a teacher. 

    In the end, Ms. Saunders was asked by Ms. Lalchan, what grade she should give me. Then she asked me and I told her a two (II) because Ms. Ramnarine told her class before I left it, that when she put a grade, CXC usually gives you another either above or below. This was my chance to hopefully aim for a one (I) but it will take so much for that Paper one Set Work of which I am definitely not prepared or even ready for. 

    Before I left school, I meet Ms. Saunders back up where we both had this long eventful evening to get the syllabus. I wanted to photocopy it because it had vital information about the whole course and I had to be prepared for what was expected, especially for what was coming and to see if I had to do more things we both did not know about.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Meeting with a new Music Teacher

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 25th February, 2015)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 23rd June, 2021)

Dear Diary,

    Today this afternoon, dad picked me up very early in Honeymoon Ground outside of the school compound. We were both going up to Mr. Lewis’ School in Trincity. He had helped me to get some knowledge about some information about the CXC music from another music teacher.

    Arriving at the school’s compound, I didn’t have an extra notebook to take notes so I took my Information Technology notebook instead and used the back like the Quran. The security made us sign an attendance book and then I met Denisa who played for Panorama with me in Starlift last year. She helped us to get to the correct classroom.

    Shortly after, Mr. Lewis came to check up on us before he left school. Then there were a lot of things to learn but I took it all down. But I knew that Mr. Lewis told me the reason why I shouldn’t have taken this CXC class. It would be extremely difficult to complete a two-year course in one month and that with this Music Programme and there is always more to learn that is required for the examination. I could feel a lot of work needed and in my mind, I was aware of the short space of time remaining for me to do it.

    Mr. Bartolome showed me the difference between polyphonic and monophonic musical textures with the “Hallelujah Chorus” in the Symphony form using only voices. Some other thing I needed to know was done in brief. He also explained how a teacher is expecting to see the assignment upon submission. a copy of the assignment in the draft was emailed before the meeting.

    Meanwhile, he went through the same SBA again and told me that the examiners wants it to be in point form instead of being in essay format because it would be easy for the moderator to mark. He then told me that I was missing most of the things needed for the analysis so he printed out a mark sheet and showed me. He also pointed out that I can try to use commercials with different genres to give a better comparison.

    I asked him for some tips about the compositions and arrangement and for on the set works. He could not believe me when I told him the problem with Ms Saunders and me not having a Music Room in school and didn’t start the two-year Course for CXC Music. So, then he told me that I can ask Mr. Lewis for some help with the set works. 

    We left the school soon after. The lesson spent had given me some confidence and more encouragement to keep going on forward with the CXC music. That night I took out and rearranged the things in the advertisement analysis’ I did for the SBA. I went to search for advertisements on YouTube for better comparison that night. I had the mark sheet that Mr. Bartolome gave to find easy ones I might be able to do. 

    It ended the day which was a really tough day at school with one of the most heartbreaking conversations I had to go through. I hope that this person could forgive me for all the wrong I have done even though I do not deserve it. The problem is rising and I'm still in all this hurt. Jesus, please help me. Maybe more rain can come to assist with this situation.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Visitor & Big Trouble

Date for Entry: (Unknown/ Forgotten)

[2015: Form 5 West; Friday]

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 23rd June, 2021)

Dear Diary,

    Today during my last two periods of school in Spanish class with Mrs. Naidoo-Paul, a student came by to send a message. He said that Ms. Saunders wanted to see me and Ifeaye in the school’s office. But when Mrs. Paul was giving me permission to go, she called me to her desk and said that she didn’t see Ms. Saunders all day so she let me go down to the office.

    While leaving class, I met up with Ifeaye in the corridors and we both walked down together. We both didn’t know what was happening but it must have been something t do with music. And that being about music, I felt happy. I thought may there was some type of challenge or special assignment we might get to work on? I really wished it was that way, lolz.

    At last, we arrived up in the office. This lady was standing up by the doorway talking to Ms. Saunders and then Miss called us over. She took us and the lady into the conference room. It was more of a small dining room looking are with various trophies in a wide glass cabinet above on the walls. It looked like millions of them in there.   

    While the conversation was going on, Miss Saunders looked like if she could have caught an instant heart attack. As for me, I had sharp chest pain and headache from the lady. She said that I look like the one getting the heart attack this evening. 

    Firstly, Ms. Graham (the lady) gave us a copy of the Music Syllabus to look through and she went through the objectives of the School-Based Assessment (SBA) – Paper 3, as well as the Paper 2 – Composition and Arrangement. I had a big fear about the performance art in Paper 2 because she said that we would have to do a group performance and arrange it ourselves. I didn’t even know how to arrange it as yet. 

    Ms. Graham was completely shocked when she found out that there was no work done for the past two years to get the CXC Course. This was by music classes and included no work done at all towards our SBAs and other individual projects that were expected to be submitted. 

    Miss Saunders, Ifeaye and I knew that we had no Music Room in the school and the timetable the school design would never permit it. Even if we did try to make it work, a certain teacher would give us trouble and say that we're not allowed to have a free period. 

    Ms. Graham gave both Ifeaye and me a short but quiet message as well to Ms Saunders that Ms Saunders should have been checking our SBA work along the time, while we were not doing so. More trouble came with this. 

    As all that was over, she gave Ms. Saunders the Syllabus to keep, some forms (mark sheets, the Music Declaration forms and some others for the SBA). She then showed us some other things about music compositions about finding out motifs, and tips on how Beethoven did with his fifth Symphony.  

    My issue was the length and how we should begin to start arranging and composing. With that question asked, she did a short activity with us in front of Ms. Saunders and Ms. Ramnarine who was my Principles of Accounts teacher. She was cutting tickets for the School’s Annual Walk-a-thon on the side of the same table we were at. I was glad to drop her class eventually after some time. I don't know if she really did hate me.

    Experiencing this activity doing improvisation and singing, I knew that I would have to learn arranging skills from Ifeaye and he might get an idea of composition for me. Because he always said that I was a good composer and I know that he is a good arranger. 

    Ms Graham told one of us to start a beat. Any kind of our liking and then the other should come in with a piece of melody to suit the background beat. While the two of us were trying to find a beat, she wanted us to start immediately when she said, “Anytime today would be fine” so I began to sing a bass piece in the same rhythm of “Sugar Bum” that I did for Pan Minors. After repeating two times, I started to solo but Ms. Graham wanted me to continue the same thing while she put Ifeaye to do the Improvisation. Ms. Saunders told me to start again and Ms. Graham told Ifeaye to join in. Then she cut Ifeaye out and then I finished it with the same thing twice. 

    That activity was fun and then she told us it was about more than fifteen bars made in singing already. Ms. Graham said that the piece we were to compose should match our current grade in performance. She said that the composition should be about sixty bars and above because anything less might have been too short. 

    At the end of this conversation, it gave me and Ifeaye worries about dropping the subject. This was our little conversation during the last few minutes of the eighth period in the corridors by the Form four-block. There was just so many things to do and will not be that easy to do in such a short space of time before the CXC Examinations begin. Even if I can do music as normal, it felt impossible to do all the coursework for the two-year program in three weeks. 

Link(s):

1. CXC Music Syllabus - May/June 2011.

Daryl Zion M. Ali