Logan Blatt

MUED 480 – Block 2

November 2, 2022

Midpoint Self-Assessment Reflection

For my midpoint reflection, I recorded myself teaching my first Music Appreciation class

of the semester. I decided to record this one because I have not taught a lecture-based class

previously, and I am not used to pacing my lessons to account for notetaking. After reviewing

the video, I found it clear that my pace was moving too quickly for students to take clear notes,

and they were likely rushing to write down everything I spoke alongside the material on the

screen.

On a positive note, I believe that my tone of voice was strong, and I attribute most of that

to my experience in the elementary school. Teaching young kids really encouraged me to raise

my pitch while speaking and to avoid using a monotone voice throughout presentation, and it

transferred well to this lesson. I maintained an engaging voice, and the students responded well

to it! In addition, I was happy with my level of targeted engagement toward specific students

that were not as interested in the material; rather than directly calling them out for being

distracted, I would ask them for genuine input on the subject material. They were not punished

for wrong answers or for not knowing how to respond; instead, I led them into a direction of

critical thinking and allowed them to make an informed response after discussing the material a

bit more.

If I were to teach this lesson again, I would slow down my speaking dramatically. This

doesn’t mean I would intentionally speak slow; instead, I would allow more time between

sentences and paragraphs for students to write down material. If there was extra time needed to

jot down information, I would prepare better questions to ask in the downtime so that students

could develop critical thinking skills pertaining to music appreciation. Overall, I can see a lot of

room for improvement, but I recognize which direction I need to move in order to succeed.