Teaching Reflections- ALL

Reflections 10/8
One of my observations that surprised me the most was that most of the teaching that happened was
during the interactions between teacher and student. I found that instead of having a solid lesson plan
where the lesson was taught very directly, the lesson was a series of activities that led the student to a
discovery which was personal and more effective. I think that this goes along the lines of a very
constructivist approach of learning.
Beside this, I very much enjoyed how the lessons were very fun and interactive for the students. I found
that this kept all the students interested and kept the excitement of the class up constantly.
I loved the lesson with in the hall of the mountain king, but I thought that it was hard to deal with
control of the class, as they got a bit too excited and couldn't understand everything that was going on.
Reflections 10/15
Jordan- I think that overall, you did a wonderful job interacting with your class- you always had control
over their behavior, and they were always within the bounds of what task you set them to do. However,
I think there are two main things that you could work on to make your lessons much more effective in
the future. First, I think you should try to narrow down your objectives in what you're trying to teach. I
remember that you had several great points to teach the children, and several great methods of
teaching them; however, they became very jumbled and mixed up because you had a bit too broad of a
scope. I think something that might help is to try to plan your lessons backwards; start with an overall
result that you desire, such as teaching the kids how to feel pulse with a song. From there, definitely
seek the most effective or creative ways that you can help the kids to learn that concept, maybe using
several games or activities to reinforce the concept. As for adding other objectives or goals, maybe you
want to tackle a second or third that are not far off. This is definitely possible, but make sure they aren't
too far out of the scope of the other objective. Secondly, I think that you should consider being a bit
more "out there" when you're demonstrating a game or during an activity. You seemed very calm and
controlled the entire time, but without showing the kids that it's okay to be expressive and have fun,
they probably won't come to the creative and expressive outlet you're seeking. Ultimately, the kids learn
from out actions more than anything else unfortunately. Now I totally know I'm preaching to myself as
well here, as I'm not really great at all of these things as well, and I totally failed on some of them during
my lesson. But just a couple of things to think about!!
Matt- I liked a lot of things about your lesson; I think you were overall very prepared for your lesson,
especially with having so many notecards to make, as well as preparing the progression on how to
explain all of your terms necessary. I think the most difficulty for you was trying to deal with the class's
behavior. I say this because there were several unexpected issues like Olivia knowing a lot of what you
were saying, and distracting from your teaching, and also other kids that tried to tell their unrelated
stories randomly. I think this may have made focusing on the lesson a bit more difficult for yourself.
Beside that, I think a distinct problem that you faced is that you tried to demonstrate the lion first, and
you don't have a particularly loud speaking or singing voice. Therefore, the children didn't quite
understand what you wanted them to do when you tried to get them to sing the song loudly. I would say

that you could definitely be less afraid to get out there a look a little bit silly and out of your comfort
zone if another situation comes up like this. Also, the silliness of the kids during the "rawr" part became
rather difficult(not your fault however). I do really appreciate how intentional you were in all of your
teaching however, especially when subtly demonstrating loud and soft by speaking loudly and softly
while talking about them, respectively. Overall, awesome job! I'm excited to see your future lesson and
growth as a teacher.
Self-Reflection
I think my strengths in the lesson were the planning of the lesson, concept, and ability to target national
and California state standards. I decided on my lesson by taking a look at the standards first and asking
what I wanted the kids to learn in the very end, then started to decide what avenue I would take in
getting there. In coming up with my concept to use the Four Seasons, i'm not actually sure how I came
to that concept. I was glad to see that using standards as the basis for the lesson helped to make the
planning fall into place before I actually gave the lesson. I think I was well prepared with my musical
examples and pictures in order to present a well-rounded presentation. Also, I attempted to make the
lesson relate-able and personal for each student.
My weaknesses then came out mainly in the presentation of the lesson itself, along with classroom
management. I think the root of this was in the way I presented myself, and how I talked to the
students. I found that as I made my presentation, I chose a tone that was more on the friendly, nice side
of my voice, without emphasizing much authority as an instructor. I did not realize how much verbal
affirmation or control was needed to keep the class focused and attentive at times. I think because of
these reasons, the students started the lesson much more focused and behaved, but as I continually did
not address behavioral issues, the behavior continued to snowball toward wildness and lack of
attention.
I also feel that problems were created in my planning of the lesson in that I did not incorporate much
student creativity or original thought during the lesson. While I asked for specific opinions on the
seasons and different ideas on activities during the seasons, all-in-all the students ended up following
whatever example or thought I set for the seasons when they acted them out. In planning, I thought
that the students would have been more creative in choosing to act out the different scenes in different
ways. This was a bad assumption on my part.
One thing I realized is how much the kids enjoy singing, and how excited they were to sing at the very
end, having not sung for the duration of the lesson. This is something I will need to incorporate into my
next lesson, also remembering that singing and being active musically is important in reinforcing
information and concepts.
Despite my weaknesses, I do still realize that the kids enjoyed the lesson, and learned a little bit more
about music and emotion (I'm hoping, anyway!).
Reflections 10/22
Isaiah- I think you have a lot of skills and tools that help you to teach very effectively! I think that you did
a great job balancing student involvement, classroom management, and teaching your concept. I think it
was very effective that you used your signal to help the kids stay quiet, and took the time to explain that
they needed to all use it and be quiet during the lesson. You also had a good concept with a creative and

exciting idea. I think the most difficult parts of the lesson for you could be a blessing and a curse; you do
a very good job explaining many details and talking about the importance of everything you were
teaching. However, I think that there might have been too many extraneous details at times. This
becomes a problem, because it starts to lose the point of the lesson that you were teaching for the kids.
The other main difficulty I noticed is that you were trying to explain about the music and slideshow
while the music was playing and the pictures were showing. I think this becomes a bit of an overload for
the kids, and it can become unclear what they are supposed to focus on during the lesson. Also, they
might possibly become too excited and lose focus or forget what the main lesson is. I think it also might
have been helpful to keep connecting back to the main point you were trying to explain. Overall,
awesome job, you did very well! I think another strong suit of yours is being very personable and
friendly. Also, great incorporation of different languages and different cultures.
Matt- Great job being friendly and "getting down on their level! I remember talking to you last week
and you seeming a bit worried about how you were going to interact with the children; however, I think
you did a very good job being fun, authentic, and friendly throughout. I think trying to teach the concept
of time signatures is quite a large feat; I was a bit worried that the kids might not be able to understand.
However, I think you did a very good job by using the clapping, large signs, and student involvement to
get your concept across. You did a really good job keeping the children focused throughout, asking
them to raise their hands. It seemed that the children had a lot of fun during the lesson. You seemed to
use a good amount of phrases to encourage and praise the children throughout; these are usually
helpful to the children- be careful that you don't overuse these phrases or let them become less
authentic throughout the lesson. If used too frequently, this could be a danger. I don't think it became a
problem, but it's something to keep aware of if you teach smaller children in the future. Good job
making all of your visuals very large and easy to understand! I feel that was very helpful for the kids. I
also love that you incorporated the instruments near the end of the lesson to make it exciting and more
fun. Smooth with the folding the hands and putting them in their lap!
Ellyn- I loved your concept and lesson plan! I think it's very special that you incorporated music from a
different culture that is unfamiliar to us usually. I think the difficulties that you faced during your lesson
are mainly lack of time, and technical difficulties, both not your fault. I was glad to see that you worked
well despite the challenges that popped up. I think the things to work on the most would probably be to
try to involve the kids more frequently throughout your lesson. As it was with my lesson, it got a bit
"wordy. This became easier when you got to the guessing part of the lesson of course, but it's just
something to think about throughout your entire lesson. I think another thing you faced that I also faced
is that because we both played music from our computer, it became an issue when the kids were all very
interested in what was on the computer and broke the circle, coming very close to us. I loved the
incorporation of the airplane and flying, and of the passports as well. This kept it very fun and
imaginative throughout! Overall very good job!
Reflections 10/29
Joel- I think the first thing I noticed is that when you asked the children to do something, like taking
steps back, moving to the piano, asking them to say different things, it is more helpful to be more exact

in your instructions. For example, rather than asking them to walk to the piano and expecting them to
understand, it might be easier on them and yourself to make step by step instructions("Okay, everyone
stop holding hands. And now let's follow me and walk over toward the piano!) This way, it makes it
easier for them to process what they are supposed to do step by step. While you were singing with
them, the children were not singing very loudly or confidently; I'm not sure if the larger problem was
that they were being shy, or if the melody was too high for them to sing comfortably. With your activity
with the egg shaker, the children obviously had a hard time figuring out what the activity was. I think
maybe the instructions might have needed to be broken down into more simple instructions to make
the activity easier. When you pass out instruments, make sure you set the precedent of not playing with
the instruments so that they aren't distracted from what you're trying to tell them. I think my largest
worry with the lesson was that I wasn't completely sure what the objective of the lesson was, or what
the children were supposed to be learning. Of course, I don't know what you planned beforehand, or if
your objective was a more subtle one; however, the kids definitely did have fun and did get to
experience different aspects of music, including singing, playing with instruments, and different cultures
than their own.
Virginia- Good job with the "hands on top exercise! I think this was pretty fun, interactive, and exciting
for the children, whether or not they knew that it was to make them quiet. I think this class in particular
is more squirrely than the others, and on this day in particular, they were even more energetic. I think
this made it difficult for you when they weren't very focused. Despite this, you did a good job keeping
them on-task and engaged in the activity. When you were playing the music, I think choosing the
elephant piece was a bit confusing, because it had both high and low parts. This was the same for the
cukoo; there were definitely both high and low parts, so to try to get the kids to pick one answer might
be why there were different answers. I think it was smart to use different colors to associate with the
pitches; this made it easier for the kids to see the difference, whether they were proficient at spelling or
not. I think it also became difficult that you had more of a time constraint than anyone else- the lesson
got cut short, and you would have been able to re-enforce the concepts you were teaching . However,
this was also not your fault. Well done!
Mack- I think it was smart to sit cross-legged. It definitely makes things a lot easier for them to connect
to you! Also, I think it was good that you talked in a sing-song-like voice throughout, so that it gave you a
friendly or playful tone throughout. I like that you used familiar and colorful pictures in your slideshow
to help explain the different words. I think it might have been helpful to test the kids on the words that
you had just taught, even though a couple of kids were making that connection already. This would've
helped the kids to think of it on their own. I think it was very good of you to be willing to take the time
to manage your classroom and make sure they were behaving before you moved on in your lesson. With
the scarves, I think you should specify to your helpers and think for yourself that you should set them in
front of the children before you tell them to put them on the ground, so they don't get mixed signals.
Also, since the scarves seemed to be pretty big, it might've been more helpful to ask to put the scarves
behind them. This also makes them less of a distraction since they are out of their line of vision.
Reflections 11/5

Alec- You had a word mix-up on your good afternoon song- I believe it's "good afternoon to you then
"and how do you do for each last line. Not a huge issue because it didn't affect your lesson, but
something to think about in preparation, making sure you know your song really well. I'm glad you took
your good afternoon song to go straight into your concept- this was very helpful to get the kids involved
right from the start. I'm sorry that you were facing technical difficulties- this caused a lot of problems
with the kids becoming impatient and unfocused. I think you might have been able to address some of
the behavior issues right from the start of the problems, asking the kids to remain very quiet while
waiting for the computer to work. I think overall you could have been a bit more involved in keeping the
kids' attention and managing the classroom. Something that could have helped you to avoid all the
technical issues was trying to have sound or video files that were not reliant on the internet, especially
given the situation at the school. While I think you kept a very calm a nice disposition throughout the
lesson, I think it would've been much more effective to the kids' learning overall to be more assertive
and attentive to their behavior. As Professor Lily has pointed out, it makes more sense conceptually to
not talk while playing music, so the kids stay focused on it. For the accent demonstration, I think it
would have been helpful to the kids to ask them to sing the good afternoon song and accent a particular
word in the song. I think it was fun and exciting to bring out your saxophone. I was excited to see that
the kids understood the concept you were teaching when you asked them to teach. It might've also
been helpful to have your instrument out and ready so you didn't have to talk from a distance. Also, that
would've sped things up a bit. Thanks for encouraging them to dance; I think they really needed it! It
seemed like it was strange for them to dance and be very involved after not being involved for a very
long time. I don't think they quite got the concept of an accent; I think playing something more slow but
very accented might have been helpful.
Sal- I think the open-ended question about stories was certainly risky to start off with(though it didn't
end up badly. It's just dangerous with little kids!). I think when you asked them to sing "AH they didn't
fully achieve what you asked them to do; instead, only about a third or half of them sang confidently
and loudly- I think you should've had everyone on the same page before telling them they did a good
job. This just makes sure that every student is singing well and properly before moving on. I love that
you asked Emma to choose the song and let her help lead the activity; this was very well planned! Good
use of hand motions to show when the kids should clap or not during your clapping activity. I really
loved your classroom management- you did a very good job keeping in control while not seeming like
you were being mean or harsh at all. This let the kids have fun and enjoy the lesson without being
unfocused or unruly. I'm not completely sure what your exact objective or goal was, though I know that
you definitely taught steady beat very well. I like that you started to teach them another rhythm, and
see a lot of potential for follow-up lessons on rhythm and steady beat!
Sam- The kids seemed very un-enthusiastic when they walked in. I'm not sure how you could've done
much to combat it, as they just seemed rather gloomy. Of course, this isn't your fault at all. I think trying
to explain while passing out papers is very difficult, as the kids were very distracted by the different
colors. I like the concept of having the kids be creative by drawing what they think! I think the problem
with the folding could have been avoided by having the papers all folded or cut in half beforehand. With
drawing, I think it might be harder to see what the kids are thinking or know if the kids are really

understanding what to do. The takeaway for this style of lesson is very different for each child, so if you
are in a classroom and trying to have a long-term goal of growing creativity this would be an ideal type
of lesson. Of course, this is much more difficult for a one-time lesson. I'm not sure how to feel about
having a slide show going as they are drawing, because it takes away the ability for the kids to have
original ideas. Also, trying to tell the kids that it sounded like horses and storms was very good to help
the kids hear it in the music and identify the sounds within the music. However, this concept clashed a
bit with having a drawing and personal creativity portion and listening specifically for concepts. Also,
make sure you use the nametags! It can help a lot! Lastly, I think it would have been much more helpful
to set the instruments in front of the kids before handing them to them, so you can help to manage the
classroom. Things just became a bit too chaotic and unfocused for the kids to continue learning
effectively during the end of the lesson. The only other critique I have would be that at the end, the kids
could not hear the music at all because there were too many instruments playing along with it. This was
hard to see the kids overshadowing the music, so they really couldn't listen at all.
Reflections 11/12
Jordan- I like that you incorporated singing throughout your lesson; it was nice to see that you could get
them excited about singing and all participating together in the song. I also like that you used a song that
they liked and all knew. I think you lost a bit of an opportunity in this choice though, where you didn't
get a chance to demonstrate singing in tune, in time, in rhythm, and with musicality. I would've liked to
see you help them learn to sing with a good tone and specifically with a lot of air, as you seemed to be
focusing on it. During the entire rhythm game, I wasn't exactly sure how you were aiming to connect the
first part of the lesson, and second part of the lesson. It's okay to have different concepts of course, but
it's always helpful when both parts of the lesson support each other. While giving different directions, I
think it's pretty important to remember that if you'd like the kids to do something, you need to set a
precedent before giving the instruction. For example, rather than saying to scoot back, then asking to
stay in a line, saying something to the extent of: "Okay, now we're going to stay in our line, but let's take
one step back! Or with the egg shakers, emphasizing heavily that they aren't allowed to touch the egg
shakers before starting the activity. Also, don't put the egg shakers in their hands if you don't want them
to play with it! It's much easier to put it in front of them before they even get to touch it. Then if the kids
touch them and play with them, you need to be much stronger in enforcing the rule that you've already
set of not playing with the egg shakers. When playing the game with the egg shakers and the music, I
think you needed to keep insisting that the kids follow you and shake it when you shake it; otherwise,
they aren't really accomplishing the task you've set out for them. Fortunately, I think a few of the kids
still understood the concept you were trying to teach, but many of them were lost.
Mack- I think you did a pretty good job keeping the kids engaged while singing, but I think turning away
to look at your computer makes it a bit less engaging, but maybe I'm just being nit-picky. I loved the
presentation on the instruments, with the pictures and the different sound files! This kept the kids
engaged and excited throughout the presentation. I was a bit worried when you finished going through
all the instruments that you wouldn't have anywhere to go with your lesson. However, I was glad to be
proven wrong. I think your concept for the game was very unique and special! Good job using a unique
game to support your lesson. I think it might have been helpful to only let the kids choose one side and

stick with it, or maybe if you made them wait for about 10 or fifteen seconds before they could choose.
This would have kept them from abusing the ability to move around and just running around for fun. I
think you could've been a bit more firm with the kids on walking versus running. I'm glad the kids had
fun, but it definitely became a distraction when the kids couldn't focus because of running or because of
touching each other/distracting each other. I think overall your concept and classroom management
were very good, but maybe just refining a few things.
Joel- I think when you asked the kids to all sing one note, then didn't really sing all on the same pitch,
but you decided to keep going anyway. I think it's definitely worthwhile to spend the time and make
sure they're all singing near the note and with a good tone and such, so you set a good precedent and
get to set a good example for them to follow later. When you were doing the head, shoulders, knees,
and toes song, I noticed that you were having a bit of trouble keeping the key while singing all of it. I
think it might be something you should keep trying to work on before your lesson, making sure that
you're in a key that is nice and comfortable for you, and you can have more confidence while singing.
Keep using the kids' nametags! You used them at a few times in your lesson, but they can definitely be
used throughout and it is much more personal for the children. I think the projector might have been
blocking the screen for many of the kids, so it might be practical to have the kids sit elsewhere or maybe
move the projector to the side. This could just be a logistical way to make use of the projector a bit more
helpful. I like that you engaged their imaginations to have them pretend they were dressing up for the
Carnival. This was fun and exciting for the children it seemed. `Also, another nit-picky thing is that the
circle was quite small- this isn't really a large problem, beside the kids not having enough room maybe?
I'm not sure how it was from your perspective. The advantage I think that helped you a lot was that you
were very close to all of the kids, so there were fewer problems with behavior overall. This helped the
kids be less distracted during your lesson, which ending up greatly helping you and your plans greatly.
Reflections 12/1
Matt V- (Many of my comments are going to be with the knowledge that you didn't get as much time for
your lesson; I know this isn't your fault!) I liked that you started with us singing with them; this was good
for getting the kids to sing more loudly and confidently, and it helped to show proper singing technique
and such. When you started with the call and response exercise, I think you could've used more time to
explain that you were going to clap it, and then they were going to clap it separately. I really liked your
idea to use the different family members for the different note values. I think something that could have
helped a lot to count while you clapped, so that you could better solidify solid tempo, and making sure
the kids clapped the correct number of notes. Something that was a little difficult(and I'm not sure of
the solution to) is that the kids were bit distracted by the cards being right in front of them; they tended
to just play with them when they didn't have anything else to do. I liked the exercise you used with the
white board and the magnets; this was good for volunteers being active in choosing what they wanted
to do, as well as testing the kids on what they had learned.
Ellyn- When you sang the hello song, it was really difficult for the kids to sing back to you just because it
was too low for many of them; careful! I like your slideshow! It was pretty. That's always nice. It was
smart to have Virginia take care of your slide show so that you didn't need to worry about it while you

had the kids in a circle and had a guitar in hand. I like that you had the kids answering questions, and
had them involved. The quiet coyote became a little difficult after just asking them to hold hands in a
circle, I think. It wasn't a very large problem, but just something to keep in mind. I like that you had the
kids interacting with the music without actually creating the music. This was a well-balanced lesson in
that it emphasized learning about instruments, learning beat, and singing. You did much better this time
seeming very genuine, but still happy and engaging. You were certainly not high-energy or anything, but
I think it was okay for the lesson you were teaching. It was good to have Nina and Virginia singing along
with you for the call and response so that the kids weren't holding all the responsibility, and still had an
example to look forward to.
Matt T.- I think you were a bit out of tune when going down the scale on the warmups- just be a bit
careful! Also, the kids led your sense of pitch off a bit while they were singing the good afternoon song
with you. I think having the kids pick the numbers was a good idea! I like that you improvised to
incorporate the melody into music that they could hear on the spot! Also, it was fun to have them
pronounce im-pro-vi-sa-tion. I think it was difficult to use improvisation at this age simply because they
might not have been able to understand what you were describing. Also, it required quite a bit of talking
which becomes difficult to keep the students interested throughout. I wasn't sure how the
improvisation exercise would go with the kids; I think it took a while to get them to understand the
opportunity to be creative. This is probably harder to teach in a one-time lesson with kids, rather than
having a class with which you can give many creative opportunities over many days and weeks and such.
It was interesting to see how the kids all started moving around and such after you started the
improvisation exercise. This seemed to me that they were starting to get in a creative mood. I like that
you showed them different aspects of improvisation, not only with melody and beat, but also dynamics.
I think the kids reacted very well to the dynamics and really got that concept.
Reflections 12/3
Sam- I think it might have been helpful to start with some sort of song or good morning activity, but I'm
glad that you started with a song pretty soon off the bat. I like the song you chose, but it seemed really
difficult for the children to hear and to sing, especially because their voices are still developing. I think it
became a little bit difficult when you had a large amount of talking in the lesson, and the kids got a bit
bored. I know that this is hard to do with a lesson on film music because not much of it is choral, but
trying to keep them involved by singing or participating would help them keep focused. I like that you
had them acting out and having fun, but I think it probably was hard for you to continue to focus the
kids' attention on your topic when there were many distractions. It became a bit unclear what your
purpose of the lesson was near the end, so I'm not sure exactly what the children were learning, though
they were definitely having fun.
Myself- I was glad to see that I did much better than last time, in my own opinion. Comparing to my last
time teaching, I found that this time, I had really planned every aspect of my lesson, including how I
would respond to varied behavioral problems. I had planned beforehand how I would help kids to sing
with proper technique, and keeping them focused and away from distractions, using different
techniques. I think the strongest part of my lesson was that they truly enjoyed the body percussion, and

really loved the idea that they had an instrument with them wherever they went. This seemed to get
them excited, and even imaginative and creative during the lesson. I was sad when I found that I was cut
about ten minutes short, because there was a student who even asked if we could do body percussion
to her own song that she would teach to the class; however, we didn't have enough time to get to her
song, and I sadly had to let her down and say that we weren't able to. However, if I had more time in the
lesson, I would've been happy to take one of their songs, and have them teach it to the class, and even
have the same or a different student add their own percussive noises to it. I think the weakest part of
my lesson was trying to get the kids to sing with me- when I trying to sing the pitch for them to get it in
their heads, they thought I was already starting the song, so I had to stop them and ask to start over,
using counting to lead them in. This worked, but I would've been much more effective at keeping the
pace of the learning if I could've given the pitch, then had a clear starting point to the song.
Alec- I think something in general that could help you out a lot is just lighter and happier facial
expressions. It's important to set the mood of the class by singing and talking with a smile(as genuine as
possible!). I think a larger and sturdier display could've been more effective, so that all of the kids could
see it at the same time. While trying to demonstrate the different rhythms, it might've been more
helpful to articulate more sharply so that they all could hear it clearly. With the kid who was really
difficult and wouldn't participate at all, In think you needed to get on his case more, honestly. It
might've seemed harsh, but he wasn't learning anything or caring about anything at all. He needed to be
talked to directly and addressed, especially since his teacher was not there immediately. He was being
stubborn and only getting his way because you let him keep pushing the boundaries of being rebellious.
While having them repeat after you, it could've been helpful to point at them when you wanted to start
clapping, rather than going on their own. This mainly would just help them by making sure everyone is
on the same page. I like that you kept saying whatever action you were doing while doing it, so they
could also say it and understand it more easily.
Reflections 12/8
Isaiah- I found it interesting that you decided to use your higher range for the good morning song; it was
a bit experimental, considering that nobody in our own class had used falsetto for singing. I think it
worked very well, and the kids were able to hear and match your pitch (for the most part) without being
confused. When you were teaching the different time signatures, I think it would have been helpful to
be more dynamic with the difference in your down beats and following beats, showing a larger
difference. I like the incorporation of the map that was already in the classroom, in order to help the
kids understand where Peru is. I think maybe you should have listened to the music separately before
trying to talk about it or clap over it. I liked the dancing activity, but it probably became a bit difficult to
manage behavior while dancing. While doing the next exercise when you asked whether it was 3 or 4, I
think the choice of song could've been better because of the large emphasis on syncopation, and
confusion between which was a beat and which was an offbeat. Also, I don't think they were playing
strictly in time at all points, or might've been playing with the time a bit, which could be confusing to the
kids.

Sal- The circle they started in was really tight; it might've been a bit better to have them start a couple
steps back, especially when starting with movement. I like the talking about the power of music; that
was nice, especially talking about friendship. The different activities with their eyes closed seemed a bit
difficult because they became much more silly throughout. I don't think it was too effective to say if they
liked it or felt happy for one song, or If they felt scared or didn't like it for the other, because liking a
song or not or feeling happy or scared are two completely different ways of describing music. I think it
didn't exactly hurt the overall point of the lesson, where you were just trying to show that there were
different opinions about music. However, it was certainly a bit misleading to have multiple definitions to
the cards' meanings. Your dance moved were funny. No offense. Just kidding; I like that you
incorporated freestyle dancing into the lesson, though I feel like it could've been a separate lesson on its
own. Also, maybe ending with adagio for strings might've been more on a low note than anything else.
But that's more preference of how you leave the class together.
Virginia- The tree part was funny! Irrelevant, my bad. However, I like that you described the musical
using frozen because all the kids know it, but I think that you might have needed to describe more about
why frozen is like a musical. While I think the lesson was really good for teaching them about musicals, I
think that it was a very talking-heavy lesson; I would've loved to see more involvement with the kids
while singing or being directly involved in the music in general. I think also in general, it might've been
helpful to try to sound more excited or engaged throughout. Also, try to keep watching the circle, and
how the kids move around throughout the lesson; the circle became really cramped. A good way to get
it back to a better shape is to ask the kids to take 2 or 3 steps back all together. Also, I think that the
song you chose was quite difficult for the kids to learn because of the more abnormal intervals.