Journal Two

During this unit, we learned how to write a lesson. We learned that the National Standards were always the place to start. You must have the National Standards at the top of the lesson, followed by concepts, skills, and objectives. We learned that it is important to write our lessons so that if we ever have a substitute teacher, that teacher would be able to teach the lesson. We learned more about rhythm and music form. We learned about tonic solfa and the hand signs to Do Re Mi Fa So La To Do. We learned about Kodaly and his teaching practices. Also, I learned how to play the notes D and C on the recorder. I learned that in the C major scale, you have to start with C and end with C. I learned how to write out the C major scale in order. As for classroom management, we learned how to control a classroom by teaching our lessons to our class group. It was interesting how some of the students our own age would not pay attention and yawn while you were teaching. It was my job to keep my students entertained and on task.

I liked this unit because we actually got to write our own lessons. Writing our own lesson let us feel like the teachers we will be someday soon. We were able to teach what we wanted and our own experience made us learn way more than a textbook could ever teach us. I also did learn through reading about Kodaly and researching his teaching methods. We had our first test; therefore, reading was necessary to understand the material that was going to be on our test. I read the different functions of music and understood when they were used. Discussion is a huge learning process in our class. We have discussions about the music notation on the bored daily, which is a huge part of our class and for sure how I learn most of the material.

It is important for me to learn how to write a lesson plan because one day soon I will be a teacher. I chose to write a lesson plan for Kindergarten because I want to teach Kindergarten and early elementary. It was important for me to realize what the national standards are and what I should set my objectives to be for my Kindergarteners. It is important for me to learn tonic solfa, because when I teach pitch to my students, it will be a useful and fun way for them to learn.

It is important for children to learn how to use tonic solfa and hand signals because the pitch of music is very important for the students to understand. Starting our teaching the students with a song such as Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do can be fun and very educational for the students.

Writing and reading music notation was something that I found difficult in this class. I have never taken any kind of music before; therefore I was completely clueless when it came to writing my own music down on my own staff paper. Everyone around me seemed to be doing very well and have musical backgrounds. I was not discouraged. I am getting better. Slowly but surely! I also had trouble writing symbolic pictures to Mary Had a Little Lamb. In the end, I figured it out. It just took me a while to grasp some of the musical concepts.