First Day teaching in the School

After hearing the director speak about the many challenges facing the students in the school, especially from an economic perspective, and seeing some of the classes of the students, I was worried about my first teaching experience. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm and motivation of the students.

The students I taught were all very excited about trumpet and passionate about playing the songs correctly. There could be some chatter or goofing off, but most of the students really wanted to play, and they were eager to correct each other and figure out the correct rhythms. The lesson went smoothly overall, although there are ways in which I can improve. The students, however, were able to play the song as a group with mostly accurate pitch and rhythm.

Obviously I have an advantage due to being a new person in keeping student attention, but I was left wondering if there was more to be done to harness the student energy and excitement on a regular basis. It seems like the regular teacher uses a mostly static routine and tries to settle down the class when they get too rowdy. Might changing up the routine and trying to channel the energy into something positive be a worthwhile endeavor to attempt? The students love testing, where they play individually through a song. Could we find a way to incorporate this into the very necessary but more boring parts of the lesson?

The other Case student in the class with me did a great job commanding the attention of the class. I was impressed by the naturalness of his demeanor and the way in which he was able to fluidly move around the class and from activity to activity, things I need to improve in my own teaching. He also got some of the students excited with a great baseball analogy.