Mission Accomplished!

I had so much fun today! I'm disappointed senior project is over- these past two weeks have flown by!

Today, the morning classes were 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. The 3rd and 5th grade were doing the same lessons. I stepped in to teach the tone chimes, leading the Memorial Day Songs and trying to keep switches fair. I also started the tableaus (like yesterday) and it was interesting to see how everyone reacted. I had them count off into groups by 3s. One kid said he could not work with another person in his group and that that person "hated him!" I tried to talk him into cooperating, but finally after awhile, I just sat there with him and of course, that's when he got bored and decided to try it out. Go figure! I attempted to intervene in the groups that really needed direction, but other groups were completely independent. I looked for any major differences in the groups that worked well and the groups that didn't work well, but I didn't notice anything in particular. I guess I'll have to leave some questions unanswered to revisit in future teaching opportunities! The other morning class was the fourth grade. They were practicing for their end of the year concert so I worked the stereo and observed. Mrs. Densmore did a really good job of refocusing the students after she had asked for quiet several times. She sat them down and explained that if they didn't catch up to the other classes, they would fall behind and drag the concert down. She was very logical and afterward, they complied and we ended up finishing everything!

The afternoon group was really exciting! There was a slight change to the lesson planned so I observed and helped with the second grade class right after lunch. But then I got a chance to solo teach a first grade class! (Well, not entirely because Mrs. Densmore was right there just in case, but other than that, all eyes were on me!) I started the class by taking attendance, trying to go fast to keep their interest. Then I led them in solfege! (This is what scared me so much before! But it wasn't bad at all and the students all sang really well!) Then I transitioned them into Memorial Day. My goal was to hit home the moment of silence after taps and I think it went really well! They stayed quiet even though there was outside noise as we practiced! Next on the agenda was Memorial Day songs with tone chimes. I'm not sure I did as well on this part. It was difficult to get everyone music and then over to pick out their tone chime without losing focus. After asking them to switch and give their tone chimes to the back row, one kid looked at me and said, "I haven't played yet!" So I said, "Well, we just sang. Why didn't you play?" And he went, "I didn't know I was supposed to!" That was a bit of a misunderstanding, but then I discovered that he didn't know when to play his note anyway so I decided to take a step back and explain the entire thing. The next couple of songs went much smoother. After singing the national anthem, I then retold (in a very animate way) the Francis Scott Key story. The students then had a chance to act it out themselves (a simpler version of the tableaus) as I dictated the story. While we were acting it out, one child started being rambunctious. I quietly asked him to stop because he was being unsafe and the other students couldn't hear. Once he refocused, he became interested in our activity and I didn't have to talk with him again! They were so attentive during class that they had extra time to play musical 'duck duck goose' at the end. During the game, one girl was upset that she had to go in the middle and then, guys on the outside of the circle started to pick on her. I was really upset because she was on the verge of tears and I couldn't let that happen while I was teaching! So I clapped for quiet and explained to the class that this was a safe learning environment where no one should be put down or picked on. I asked them what were nice, encouraging things they could say. I was glad to see the girl smiling on the way out. Overall, I was really excited to truly teach my first class and I think it was a very positive experience!

This is turning into a very long post, but I also wanted to mention the other afternoon class quickly. We were interrupted by the all-school picture and when they returned to class there was only 10 minutes left. I was really pleased when we sped through all the material and they had time to play a game! I'm so happy my senior project went so well and I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to try teaching music!