Teaching Notes, K, 20140618

So, an interesting thing happened - I couldn’t make my normally scheduled class on 6/4. On top of that, that class would have been the last class before the Spring Sing, and since I was going to be out of town during the Spring Sing, it was better for the other docents to be leading the class. The following week was of course the Spring Sing, which meant that we weren’t going to have a music class (and I was out of town anyway). This meant that the next class for me to teach, and the last class for the year, would be on the 18th, basically 4 weeks since my last class.

Similar to the last class last year, I split time with the other docent.

Fine Friends Are Here	Warm up students
This was one of the first mini-songs I taught the students, and so it was fitting to use it to kick off the very last class. There were only a few students who remembered the hand signs, but most remembered the response. We only went through this one time through.
Do Re Mi	Talk about the story, sing the song
Do Re Mi was a staple song used by the other docent, and while the students had sung it multiple times, the backstory of the song wasn’t made known to the students until now. We talked about the characters in the movie, and then we showed clips of Maria singing Do Re Mi to the children in the movie. As the song began, a few of the students sang along but most were fighting to get a glimpse of the video. After the video was over, we sang through Do Re Mi one more time.
The Freedom Bird	Story time!
I like to end the school year with a musical story, and this time I chose the Freedom Bird. It’s a pretty easy to follow story, with the opportunity for the students to respond over and over in the song. I like to model my rendition off of Bill Harley’s recording, which involves having the bird call as amusingly annoying as possible, which plays to the students’ delight. They of course loved the story.
Tomorrow	Teach chorus via echo
The remake of Annie is due to hit theaters later this year, and so I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea to give them an introduction to this song. Plus, I talked a bit about how this was the end of the school year, and sometimes we all need something to cheer us up if we’re missing our friends from school. This song is a bit on the complex side for kindergarteners even at the end of the school year, so I simply had them practice the chorus (“Tomorrow, tomorrow, …”). We went over the chorus several times, in pieces and then together. I then sang the first stanza (“The sun will come out…”), and then I had the students come in with the chorus. Now, to keep things simple I eliminated the part in minor that is in between the stanza and the chorus (“When I’m stuck in the day….”), and I don’t think any of the students who had heard the song previously noticed. I think the students did pretty well with the song; certainly they seemed like they picked it up more quickly compared to how they would have done at the beginning of the school year.
Razzamatazzama	Review
With the little bit of time left, we did Razzamatazzama one more time. I don’t think a lot of students really remembered it all that well, but it didn’t matter. And, just like the previous time we did this, I started with getting the students following my clap/tap pattern, followed by the song itself. And also just like the previous time, the students had a lot of fun with this.

Remember how challenging that first class was at the start of the year? I have to say, as the year progressed, and especially after spring break, the challenges that I faced with the students not being focused seemed to go away. I do feel that that is sometimes pretty typical of kindergarten in general - all of the children are going to be pretty unpredictable in their ability to focus and follow directions, and it definitely takes many months in order to get the students really school ready. Kindergarten to me really is an exercise in prepping the students for 1st grade, and a lot of that is learning how to be a student. I think I saw that evolution in the first class (and to some degree, the 2nd class, although they were always a little more focused).

That wraps up one more year. After this year, I can now say that I’ve taught every grade from K through 4 inclusive, and that’s a pretty good feeling. This year was also the first time I was asked by former students to sign their yearbook, and I got to do exactly that, adding a few notes to the signature. That certainly gave me a good feeling. I also had a few parents near the end of the year ask me about maintaining the love of music in their children, and usually I tell them the same thing - keep it fun, and keep singing with them. Music after all is something that one plays.

See you in a month.