Journal # 12

I really enjoyed working in groups for this project. I feel that our group worked really well together and took different jobs on well.
Even though most of us hadn't been 100% health wise while working on this project but we all knew what we had to do and did a great job at it.
We did not do our presentation on the first day but the groups that did go were amazing, you could really tell that they cared about the project and put a lot of time and effort into making the lesson a great one.

I think in the future doing my group projects in this class will be beneficial to the students in the class.

Journal # 11

This week we learned the concept of binary form. We started out on Monday by dancing to the Mariposa song. A song in binary form has two contrasting parts, a chorus and a verse. During the verse, we held hands and walked to the right, and on the chorus, we stopped and clapped our hands to the beat and flapped our arms like beautiful butterflies. On Monday, the concept of binary form was imparted to use by performing to the Mariposa song in class. On Wednesday, we learned how to play percussion instruments with the story, The Sleeping Bed. It was really great hearing all the people playing different instruments and actually making good sounding music!. On Friday we played home made instruments to the story Thunder Cakes and we learned two more notes on the recorder, C & D. It's important for us to learn these concepts because we can understand how to teach them to the kids. Children can benefit from these all-in-one story telling, acting, dramatizing projects because kids learn differently and the different styles of teaching will benefit the different types of learners. Hopefully, playing musical instruments can help some of these kids to become more excited about learning. I think this is something i will really be able to incorporate in my classroom...even as a classroom teacher and not a music teacher, as long as it is well planned out and doesn't take to long to organize and get ready.

Journal # 10

This week we worked on reading books while also incorporating sounds into the story. Through using music while telling the story it keeps the children engaged in the flow of the story as it is read. This is important not only for teh management of a classroom but also to enhance the learning of the children over time. Giving each child a noise or instrument to play for part of the story will keep him/her "tuned in" to the story and the sounds that others in the room make.It is important for us, as students, to learn this information to improve the learning ability of every student in the classroom. It is important for us, as future teachers, to learn that to keep a child engaged in a story, we must use means that we never thought good ideas before. In learning how to animate a story with sounds made not only by instruments but also by the students body parts we have learned that there are many ways to tell any story.It is important for children, especially young children, to learn how to animate a story with sounds to foster their creativity with music and other art forms. It is also important for children to understand the relationship between the words and sounds those words represent that they hear each day. Centering the learning of the story and the sound making around the student will aid in the student retaining the meaning behind the story and keep them engaged in the story itself.

Journal #9

This week we continued talking about creativity. The activities we did with the books we read i think kids would really love, as long as we had the lesson planned out well. We were sometimes confused or weren't sure what to do, but i can see how the kids would be more entertained. I think sometimes children don't have the attention span to listen to a story, but if they are waiting for there part or doing different sounds as the book is read they have more to keep them entertained.
I think that student centered learning is amazing. Helping the children or giving them a path to get them to learn on their own in my mind is a great thing. Atleast for me the lessons i was taught as a kid through student centered or guided learning are the ones that i remember most. it is enhanced in these types of activities buy giving the students each a chance to participate in the story instead of having all of the students just sit and watch the teacher read.

Journal # 8

we learned about creativity in child development. First, there are quite a few benefits to teaching children in a creative way and is important as well. There is a certain way we can help children learn through the creative learning practice we did in class this week. We learned a lot about being creative in class this week that will help for our future in teaching.
Teaching kids in a creative way not only helps increase their imagination, it is a much easier way for kids to be able to understand material when they can relate to it. The basic idea we learned from reading chapter 5 is how to use instruments in a way that could help the children learn. They would learn about the difference in dynamics, pitch, and melody through the music they make from the instruments. Having the children play sounds at a certain time in a certain way, they can use the sounds in their imagination and relate it to the story being told and that should teach them things such as loudness in sounds or softness in sounds in certain situations. This is why teaching children in a creative way helps develop their learning skills a lot better.
The lesson we learned in class can be very helpful with having the kids develop in their creativity levels. To start off with, we started by telling a story. Then we had more people join in by making sound effects that related to the underlined words. When someone said "at the bottom," that person would made really low sounding sound effects because the word "bottom" sounds like it would relate to a really low voice and not a high voice. The same would go for "climbing up the hill"; the other person that makes sounds for this line would make an ascending sound effect because it says "climbing up," so it would be starting off low and becoming a very high sound effect. When we do this, children can start to relate sounds and words together due to this creative way of learning.
As far as my project goes, i think i am going to do Ireland for my culture project. I took celtic dance when i was younger and my mom's side of the family is irish so i am hoping to find out a little bit about my family background in the process.

Journal # 7

This week we had our first test. First we had a review session in class. I then took that review sheet and went through it point by point and broke it down writing down all of the information on note cards. I studied this as much as possible, in between classes, spare time at work, before i went to bed, when i woke up, etc.

The difficult part for me is that i came into this class unaware of anything that had to do with music besides it sounds pretty. Even though i have very good study skills and feel i have gotten the information down i get very bad test anxiety when i take the test.

Unfortunatly i didn't do very well on this test, however i am planning on getting help from some of my other friends in class in preparing for the next test. Until then i plan on doing the best i can to understand and use the materials we cover in class.

So far i do believe i have learned alot of useful information that i will be able to use in my teachings, i am definetly getting better at playing the recorder, and i don't think i will ever forget what steady beat is! I also really like the format we used for our lesson plan, i think it is one of the most straight forward ones i have used thus far at NIU. I have saved a copy to hopefully use when i start teaching!

Journal/ Assignment # 6

This week we did our first teaching presentations. I felt that we all did very well. I was with linda and she told us that she was very impressed that we all used our "head voice". I was really worried when i did my lesson because i had lost my voice the day before due to all the weather changes so i sounded like a frog. I think i talked way to fast and my lesson seemed a little short, but all and all i felt like it went ok.

Here is my evaluation i did on myself. I always feel the need to be harder on myself so that i can leave A LOT of room for improvement!!

Evaluation Form for In-Class Teaching Assignment

Name: __Lauren_____________
Lesson: ___The hokey Pokey___________

Musicianship (5 pts) _______5______
In tune, accurate pitch
Accurate rhythm
Appropriate tempo
Phrasing
Expression

Leadership (10 pts) ______9__________
Body language
Facial expression
Voice tone and volume
Eye contact
Intensity (energy)

Preparation (15 pts) ________14_________
Knowledge of music
Knowledge of plan
Written plan
Instruments/equipment ready
Recordings/charts/materials ready

Delivery of Instruction (20 pts) _______18______
Motivation, capturing attention
Sequencing of steps
Verbal instructions
Questioning
Pace of lesson, flow, transition
Flexibility (ability to diagnose and adjust)
Feedback to the learners
Continuity/focus of lesson
Closure

Total Points ________46______ Date _2/24/09 (Date i did evaluation)____________

Journal # 5

This week we learned about lesson plans. In preparation for us teaching our first lesson next week. We turned in a first draft, then we had a chance to work with classmates to help us on making our lesson plan the best it could be.
Friday we practiced with our same group so that we would be prepared for teaching our lesson. I think many of us are nervous because we aren't really singers. But hopefully we will have fun with our lessons and learn a lot from each other as we go!

Journal #4

This week we learned how to create a lesson plan by using the song Tideo, we had learned the song the week before. Using Tideo gave us a better idea of how we should fill the lesson plan out.
It's important for us to learn how to write a lesson plan because a plan will help us to organize the lesson step by step. This will help us to be more confident when we are teaching. It's important for kids because they will learn better if we are well organized. The more confident we are the more comfortable the students will be learning new songs and concepts.This week we learned how to write a lesson plan. We talked about the different components that make up the plan like making sure that the song is appropriate for the grade level. We learned that there are National Standards that educators follow when teaching. We learned rest symbols for the different notes and we learned the C note on the recorder. I am still having some trouble on the recorder but will hopefully start to grasp in more in weeks to come.

Journal # 2

This week we learned about rhythm and steady beat. We did a activity with our names (which is also posted for you to see) and then we talked about rhythm being a combination of long, short, and silent sounds.

I found this all very intresting since i know NOTHING about music. This is all very foreign to me except for the little instuments we used, and the only thing i remember aboiut them is that i used them in grade school!

It is important that learn about all of this so that i can intigrate it in my class lessons when i become a teacher. Also if a student ever has a question about a musical instument or a certain type of rhythm excetra i should be able to answer there question, and not just make up a answer.

Music is very important in childrens lives. and because of all of the budget cuts sometimes classroom teachers are the only exposure these students are getting to music.

My fav kids songs are: Baby Baluga, Farmer in the dell, Abc's, itsy bitsy spider, you are my sunshine, Cinderella, Ring around the rosey...that is all i can think of..

Well thats all for now. See ya next time!

name Rhyme

My name is Laur-en
I don't speak fore-ign
I am not bor-in
Don't forget i'm Lau-en

Journal #1

Well week 1 has come and gone and i have been asking to tell about my musical history etc. I really have NO musical talent. I have been a preschool teacher for 2 years so i am pretty good at being goofy but i can't really sing...and i have even had my kids say "Miss Lauren can you please stop singing" haha so i must be pretty bad. Most of the time i remember listening to music when driving with my parents when i was little, or at my dance classes. I did ballet for 13 years and that is where i heard most classical music. My parents always listened to country music which is why i think i like it today. Now i listen to music alot. I have a pretty long drive to work which is -4 times a week so i listen to a variety of music.

I do have a ipod and it has well over 1000 songs on it. But since i have a old car i don't use my Ipod in my car much, usually just when i travel or when i am working out.

Since i only attended class on monday (due to the weather on wednesday and my car wouldn't start :(. ) I thought that this class is going to be a lot of fun as long as none of us mind being goofy around each other! I thought the hello song we sang was intresting and reminded me of one i use to sing to my pre schoolers every morning. All and all i think i will learn alot and have alot of fun!

Well i think that is all for me this time!

~Lauren~