Blast to the past

Today was my first day on site! It was weird pulling into the school parking lot like I was in elementary school again, except this time I was driving my own car and not riding in a big, yellow school bus. I signed in at the office and went over to the music classroom. The 'new' classroom (actually part of the old middle school) is a really good set-up. There's so much space and there aren't any worries about disturbing other classes! It should be a fun two weeks.
My first class today was a 5th grade class with a lesson on Memorial Day and dulcimers. The first part of class was mostly listening and learning the ropes on how class was run. I was surprised by how old the 5th graders seemed. Perhaps I was imaging elementary schoolers as 1/2 grade or perhaps I just think that was such a long time ago(!) but it was definitely a challenging experience for me. When they broke up into groups to play the dulcimers (a simple guitar-like instrument) I tried to connect individually. Some of the encounters went really well: one talented player strummed out a very fast pace 'happy birthday' tune for me. However, another kid was not confident about his playing. I was trying to convince him otherwise and then he had me tried to guess the song he was playing. I got it the first time, but then I couldn't guess the second one! It was a challenging situation. I really wanted to help him and I saw the opportunity to raise his confidence through a musical aspect, but although this situation didn't work out so well, I will be better prepared for any similar situations.
The second class went well. The fourth graders were preparing for their spring concert and I got to listen to a more chorus-styled class. They also auditioned for certain solos in the songs and I got to hear them sing individually. It was really heartening to see so many of them get up to audition! It's a big risk to get up and sing in front of your classmates so I was really pleased to see that a great majority of the class felt comfortable and safe in the classroom. It was a great first start to my senior project and I'm excited for the up-coming two weeks!