In this weeks music seminar we were given a fantastic opportunity to learn how to play a string instrument. A group of pupils from a school in Ayrshire came to teach us all how to play a string instrument. These pupils were part of a string project, the only school in Scotland, where they are given the chance to learn a string instrument from primary 4 to primary 7. They are given the opportunity to take part in a 45 minute music session in school every week where they learn how to use their string instrument and how to progress with it. A project like this helps children to develop so many skills such as team working, confidence, self-esteem, creativity and many more. This ties in with the Curriculum for Excellence in aiding children to become a successful learner, confident individual, responsible citizen and an effective contributor (Curriculum for Excellence, 2004).
During the lesson, we were shown the correct way to hold a string instrument, how to hold the bow, learning notes and the two different ways of playing: pizzicato and spiccato. We were all told to partner up with a pupil and their instrument and so I was given the violin. I have never played the violin before so i was slightly nervous before the class began. I think the violin looks like such a beautiful instrument and after playing it i realized it also had such an incredible, soft sound to it.
We also got to play a range of games to help with the technique of holding the bow in the correct position. These games were a lot of fun and is a great way of teaching beginners all about the bow and the balance you need whilst holding it.
Overall, this input was so much fun and a great learning experience. It was so interesting and enjoyable having pupils in to teach us instead of the other way about. It was an excellent opportunity to be able to be taught the basics of learning how to play the violin and i thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the string project should be introduced into many more schools around Scotland, as i think its a brilliant initiative that many children would benefit from as they are able learn and develop a range of skills in order for them to flourish into young individuals.
This weeks drama workshop focused on micro teaching. Prior to this lesson, we had to get into groups and create our own lesson plan focusing on a story that involved the drama conventions we had been learning and then teach this to the class. Our lesson should be around 15-20 minutes long and everyone in the class had to get involved. This task was quite challenging especially in the time aspect. It was hard for our team to all work together when we all have different schedules and the time we had to do create the lesson wasn’t very long. However, we managed to make it work by each team member taking a different convention and fitting it into the story in a way in which we can teach and explain to the class. From creating the lesson i developed a range of skills such as: time management, team working, organisational skills, creativity and research skills.
I was very nervous for when it came to teaching the lesson and found the thought of it all quite daunting. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t come across as patronizing as they weren’t a primary class, they were a class of students similar ages to me, if not older. In the end, it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be it was actually a lot of fun. Each member of the team took a part to say and presented it very well. We got some great feedback mainly about how it was really good that we came up with our own story instead of taking an original storybook. We were all very happy with this feedback as this was something that we were originally worried about as we were unsure about how people would take to a made up story. Although in the end it was very effective and it meant that each group had their own idea of where the story could go and how it could end.
We also had to take part in the other students micro teaching task. I think I am starting to become a little bit more confident in performing, however I still get very shy and nervous but I am trying to overcome this fear as I want to have fun and be able to implement enjoyable lessons like this into the classroom.
I think this micro teaching lesson was so interesting and was a very effective, fun task for us all to take part in. It was a great opportunity to see how we can implement these conventions into a lesson plan and how we would carry them out in the classroom. From doing a task like this, you develop a range of skills and learn a lot from the people around you. This can be an important lesson for children as they can learn a lot from working with other children and can develop a variety of skills that might not always develop when being taught by a teacher.
References:
Education Scotland, (2017). What is Curriculum for Excellence. [Online] [Available: https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/What%20is%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence?] [Accessed: 13th November 2017]
