Practicum Reflection 5

This week I had the opportunity to observe a Music Theory class. This was very interesting because most of my observations had been band or general music classes. The first thing the teacher had the class do was play recorder. Since some of the class has never played an instrument, she uses the recorder to teach rhythms and note reading to those students. It also presented something new to learn for those who had already learned an instrument. The teacher allowed us to play along with the class, so we got to learn along with class. After they went through several songs, the teacher had them do a little bit of listening. For every piece, or song they listened to they had to write down the tempo they thought it was, the style, why they liked it, and why they think the audience would like it. I really liked this activity because the students were engaged, and the teacher made sure that they knew that this was their opinion and there was no right answer. The last activity they did involved a chord progression they completed last week. This activity involved putting their chord progression into finale. This helped them learn what chords can go to wear, how to write out major and minor chords, and how to put all of this into Finale. I really enjoyed this class. The students were very respectful. In addition, because of the size of the class, the teacher was able to answer all individual questions, and they were able to have a lot of fun while learning. The instructor did a good job of planning out her class, and sequencing her activities so they built upon each other.