Reflection 1: LEAD

For the lead portion of this project, I chose to give a brief lesson on instruments by reading a children's book, "My Family Plays Music," and by playing a song for the students on my guitar. I began by reading, "My Family Plays Music," which was a perfect book that I found in the library. It dealt with a little girl of an African American family and her story about all of the different instruments that her family can play. By reading this book, I was able to define what an instrument is and show the students a variety of different instruments that they can play. The students were engaged and listened very well because I told them I would show them my guitar if they listened-- it motivated them more than I expected it to! When I brought out my guitar, I told them you need to press down on the strings on the neck and strum on the strings at the bigger part of the guitar, and then I played If You're Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands. Then, I had them form a line so they could each get a turn to play (strum) the same song-- they LOVED this! I sang and pressed down on the chords while they strummed the guitar and it seemed like they were actually playing the instrument. Lacey then suggested that they get their own instruments out that the preschool has available so we could all play together-- this was also a great success. Ms. Nancy even had the students keep the beat of the song and they actually sounded pretty good!

I learned a few things by teaching this lesson to the kids. First, I talked about instruments in the beginning of the lesson and Ms. Nancy had to interlude by asking, "What are instruments?" I was reminded that preschool kids have a much lower level of knowledge than I am used to and it helped me to better categorize where preschoolers are at in their learning. I also saw firsthand that positive reinforcement in order to motivate the students works wonders! I did not have one bit of trouble after I asked them to be quiet because I said I would let them play my guitar if they listened well. I am not sure how well that will translate for older kids, but it definitely worked for preschoolers! One last thing I learned is to be prepared for having extra time. The kids loved it so much that Ms. Nancy wanted me to play more songs but I had not had any more prepared that were not Christian songs (which are not allowed in that YWCA). If I would have been more prepared with other songs, I could have included more variety in the lesson than I already had.

Altogether, the lesson went better than I could have hoped. I had so much fun, that it almost made me want to teach preschool instead of high school-- almost.