Teaching Hey Betty Martin

Muscianship - 4
I didn't stay in my head voice while singing everytime.

Leadership - 10
Everything was great!

Preparation - 14
I didn't address the fact that that there were two different endings. I also didn't fore that we sing the correct notes.

Delivery - 20
Great energy throughout. If my lesson was really taught to 1st graders they would have really enjoyed it.

Total - 48

Presentations are over!

Some may say that the worst is over, but for me I think this week was just the beginning. This week we had to present our lessons to our fellow classmates. After turning in our lesson plan I was slighty axious to present. One reason being, becuase I wanted to get it over with, and the other reason was because I wanted to see my work come to life! On the first day I must say that I was nervous, for a fear that I might have had to present on the first day. After the first day of presentations I wasn't nervous anymore because I had gotten a chance to see how others put their lessons together.

I ended up presenting on the last day which was good and bad. It was good because I had the whole week to prepare, and bad because it built too much anticipation for me to handle almost. When I look at the evaluation sheet, my musicianship was okay, if i had to give it a score Iwould say 4 becuase when I first began singing the song, I had the right notes, but towards the middle and end of the several times that I had to sing the song, I wasn't always singin the right notes. My leadership was great! I had good intensity, and I knew when to get loud and soft so that I didn't scare them. There was hardly any flaw in my preparations so in that part, I give myself all 15 points. As soon as I began to "teach" everything flowed as planned. It felt like my lesson plan was memorized. For the delivery portion of the presentation I think I deserve a 17 because although everything went well and I had a lot of energy, direction, and focus, I think I may have been talking to fast.

The most difficult part of the whole thing was presenting to my peers becuase the grade level of my lesson plan was kindergarten/1st grade. And although my peers were suppose to act as if they were in those grades, it would have been better if I taught to real k-5/1st grade students. I wish that i could have been more mindful of the notes as the class and I sang so that way my musicianship could have been better. And I had a secong chance i wouldn't really change anything in my presentation for the simpla fact that I think i did very well.

I know its a little late, but journal 5

So last week we talked about how to write out lesson plans. We were told to be specific as possible, addressing every step we took in our lesson. I also found out that we shouldn't consider our students as materials since they are the ones we are giving the lesson to, they aren't considered materials. In this lesson we had to pick a song either out of our music book or the music packet and teach it to the students. What was particularly difficult in this lesson plan was identifying the difference between a music an non-music concept and skill. After turning our rough draft lesson plan in, I found out what the difference was and now I'm able to identify the too. Now with presentations this week I'm excited to present but nervous at the same time, because I don't wanna mess up or miss parts of my lesson.

My first lesson plan (journal 4)

This past week in MUSC 373 we began talking about preparing a lesson plan. I must say that I'm really excited. In the past I have created slight lesson plans where I would just give ideas to the teacher, but nothing major that I would have to later teach. When I read the intructions that don't appear to be difficult but when its actually time to put them together an formulate the lesson, sometimes the creative juices don't always flow. But for the most part I'm not worried about it. We also learned a new note for the recorder. Every new note we learn reminds me of a note from the clarinet fingering. It makes me think that learning how to play the recorder and then the clarinet are almost one in the same. Well I hope I get a good grade for my lesson plan.

Concepts Used This Week

This past week we presented our rhymes to the rest of class. We also learned terms to what we were doing. We identified what steady beat and rhythm was. Learning these terms help us so that when we teach a class we know what we're talking about and can give a title to what the students are learning.

These skills and concepts affected me because in life everyone moves, walks, and even talks to a beat or rhythm. Identifying what it is, is the fun part. Because now that you know, you can switch, change, or play with your own beat. It is also something that makes you different from everyone else. No one else can have your rhythm.

Its important that we know these things so that if a student in our class is struggling with following a particular beat we can know how to address the issue. This also helps students because once they leave your classroom, they can follow steady beat and in the end, they're grateful because you've given them a life long lesson that they can always use.

10 songs that i remember as a child are:

Little Sally Walker
Miss Mary Mac
London Bridge is Falling Down
Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
If All the Rain Drop
Please and Thank You
Hello Everybody

Whitley's Rhyme

My name is Whitley

I like tea with honey

When its really chilly

Won't you have some with me!

Music in my life...

I've always been around or have had incorporated music in my life. In my younger years my dad was a DJ, so often times I would sit next to the big speakers and feel the air blow in my face, or feel the bass travel through different parts of my body. Sometimes I would just sit next to the speakers to just hear the music so loudly. With the music playing I would also feel the need to dance. it was quite funny to think about the move I came up with. as I got older I began to take an interest in musical instruments. I'll never forget the day I tried out for the band. The first instrument I picked up was the trumpet. It always looked so appealing to me. When I look back I realize that trumpets are loud and so am I and thats the connection we had. The instuctor told me how to buzz my lips and then gave me the trumpet. I began to play, and although I didn't know what I was doing, I sounded good. The instructor told that I sounded good and I should try joinging the band, but I didn't. But that wasn't the end of the musical song in my life. My love began to grow even bigger. All songs that came on radio I had to learn and sing them well. I guess I considered myself to be my own vocal coach. lol. When I got to high school I stayed loving music and everytime I wanted to sing, I did, even hallways. I didn't let anyones critisism stop me or slow down. In my sophmore year I joined a band class and played, that rights, the trumpet. Then I joined the marching and jazz band. Then in my senoir year, my vocals finally paid off, I joined the choir. When I came to NIU I then joined their marching band, but later quit becuase it took up too much time. And now I'm currently in the Northern Black Choir. I don't believe that music will ever stop appearing in my life. I even think about being a music teacher, but I'm not too sure.

In class we did an exercise where we sang a pretty catchy song and if the song ended on you, you then had to say your name and then it became your turn to walk around. The exercise was nice because at the end of the class, I noticed I was singing the song on th way home. But the it was used because once i begin teaching there may be students that are shy and this helps them break out of their shell and becom active. It also helps you learn your fellow classmates names and faces.