I follow up on another lesson from Mr. Weil’s 6th grade classes to finish up my second week of student teaching. Instead of continuing on Standard of Excellence Book 1, we are now gradually focusing more attention on two pieces of music entitled “Infinity Concert March” by James Curnow and “Constellation March” by Joseph Compello. This is the first time the students have ever officially seen “sheet music”, or in this case, any other music besides what they have been working on in a book, so all of this is extremely new to them! Take a look at my lesson plan before continuing on any further:

Weil 6th grade 8-26

Thankfully, most of the students grabbed on to the concept of just one sheet of paper in front of them pretty well, with only a few minor questions here and there about what a certain sign means (such as a / sign in a measure). These unexpected moments called for some instant resolution on my end in terms of being able to teach them what they don’t already know. Luckily, I did a great job in succeeding in a spur-of-the-moment lesson right in the middle of class (from what Mr. Weil had said)! Not only did I learn a lot from this small and very minor experience, but it was also a great opportunity to teach something big to the kids in a short amount of time in relation to the music they are playing. Essentially, it pushed me as a “new” teacher into do something that many teachers often experience on a daily basis. Moving forward, throughout class, all the students were doing very well in producing solid notes with the correct fingerings. As soon as something (whether it be a rhythm or fingering problem) happened, we immediately cleared it up. Shockingly, all the students knew what they had done wrong without me having to tell them! By the end of each class, all the students were beginning to get excited about the new music and a new challenge. Needless to say, so am I!