Journal 5

This week in class we became very busy preparing for next week as well as getting ready for the test.  We worked on our Lesson Plans and gradually fixed them over time.  Then we prepared for the test by reviewing in the "Kodaly Approach" packet.  Then we basically reviewed a little in class on Friday and practiced playing our recorder again which was fun.  This sums up what we basically learned this week.

When i first wrote my Lesson Plan, I wasn't entirely sure how I was gonna play this out; I had different ideas such as teaching them high and low pitch and rhyming.  Then I talked to Ms. Wang and told me it was too difficult to do, at least for now and the fact that teaching those things to first graders will not work out either, so I changed it around a little.  I made it more focus on dogs and spelling and also implanted a way to keep them interested without getting them distracted by the instruments I originally had planned for them.  Then I practiced and practiced, but it still is kinda hard to transition the part from after teaching them the beat to B-I-N-G-O to getting their own names involved, but I will keep trying.  This is basically what I have been working on the past week for my Lesson Plan.

I feel both excited and nervous about the presentation next week.  It's nerve racking for me cause this will be my first time giving a prepared lesson plan in front of people.  Also, I am not the best public speaker, but I guess the more I practice something like this, the more fun it will become, especially when I imagine doing this in front of children.  I am excited though because like i just said, imagining doing this as if I was a real teacher to my actual students, I would gain a lot more confidence in myself in teaching a lesson in front of a class.  These are my general feelings of what's going on in my mind for the preparation next week.

We also learned more about "Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do."  We learned hand signs for those along with how to relate it rhythmic duration symbols.  We were also given a "How to Teach a Song" packet in order to help us learn how to teach a song better.  Then we had our weekly recorder session, learned the "D" note, and were starting to actually be able to play good music, as a class, we were really improving and sounding very good, it was pretty cool.  This is in general what we learned in class this week and was a lot of fun.