STP Reflection

As I look back on my project it is great to see the different things that my students were
able to learn. They were able to assess by listening to recordings of the blues and discussing
things that they heard and noticed. They were also able to assess by listening deeply to the
melody and trying to figure out how to play it by ear. My students spent time creating their own
licks and improvising over the blues. They also learned how to perform different licks and
melodies over the 12 bar blues progression.
Some of the most effective techniques I used when teaching was modeling with my
voice or instrument. I found that students seemed to be more engaged or at the very least
listened more when I was demonstrating something as opposed to just talking to them. One
goal I had for this series of lessons was to get these students to use their ears more. This is
another reason why I tried to model a lot so that they could hear what something sounded like
before actually playing it. Along with this it was nice that I was able to accompany the group at
times with the blues progression. This gave more flexibility than there would be if I used a
recording to accompany the group.
I tried to set the room up in a way that promotes student learning. One way I did this was
by having students that read the same notes sit together. I tried not to have the saxes too far
away from each other or the flutes too far away from the mallet player so that it was easier to
give comments about the notes they were playing. I also tried to set the chairs up in a way that
allowed the students to see me the best that they could. Looking back if I were to change
something about the setup, I would have made sure the stands were low enough that the
students could see me. There were times where the back row was talkative and I couldn’t even
see their face when I was sitting down at the piano.
Reflecting on the overall effectiveness of my lesson plans, if I were to change something
it would be to pack less into more time. I felt rushed with three twenty minute lessons, and I felt
like I was trying to teach too many different things in such a short amount of time. Instead I think
I would go into more depth on some of the concepts and assignments to deepen students'
understanding. A specific example of this would be when I had the students compose their own
licks. They had time to write a lick but not very many of them actually got to try it. It would have
been great to have the students try it and then possibly make adjustments to it based on
feedback that I give them. Overall I feel I was able to grow as an educator through this project. I
hope to be able to implement an improved version of this series of lessons into my future
teaching.