Juan Rivera

Mus 110A
L.Chen-Hafteck

Teaching Reflection #2; 11/12/15

What was good and not good about this lesson? Why?
What was good:
For the most part, I felt I kept the class engaged and interested throughout my lesson. There were
a few times where I felt that I was losing their attention but was able to pull through and keep
them focused. Aside from one or two students who were a little reluctant at first to participate,
the class seemed engaged with the activities like the dancing of the Mexican hat dance and the
grito.
What was bad:
I did not manage my time very well and was unable to incorporate the singing part of my lesson
and had to shorten a few of the things I was originally going to show the class. I also took more
time than I should have for the dancing. From what was discussed last Thursday, I failed to
acknowledge my students when they began dancing to the music being played. However, I did
encourage them to dance if they wanted to and was very positive about it. I also failed to take
advantage of things like showing them how to hold the guitar. Instead, I just handed my guitar to
each student and left them to figure it out which was bad to do. I also felt like I was rushing my
lesson and being too energetic. I could have toned it down a bit in my opinion. I could have also
been better at managing the class as there were a few instances where some of the students told
stories not completely related to what we were talking about. That definitely took up time from
my lesson which could have been used to do other things.
Did the children enjoy the lesson? Did they learn something from it? How and why?
Overall, I felt that the children did learn something from this lesson. At the end when we were
reviewing, they were very responsive and I got some positive feedback from them. They were
able to identify some of the instruments presented. They also seemed very eager to dance for as
soon as I finished demonstrating; they all got up to join in. They also wanted to repeat the
activity two more times.

Did you use student-centered approach effectively and provide opportunities for expressing
childrens creativity? Explain how.
I did provide the opportunity to my students to express themselves when we did the activity of
El Grito. In this activity, I demonstrated my own interpretation of what a grito should be and
then I asked students to demonstrate for the whole class their own version. Though it was a short
activity, this provided them a chance to be creative. Unfortunately, my lesson was not very
student centered as I talked too much and didnt include activities that let them explore more
about mariachi. For instance, I could have given students some instruments and have them get
into groups to come up with a song in the style of mariachi.
What have you learned about teaching and learning from this experience?
Time management:
I definitely got a better sense of time management by teaching this lesson. I now know where I
could have taken more time for an activity and where I could have shortened it.
Relax and dont rush into lesson:
It felt like I was going slow which is probably why I was acting rushed on everything. I also felt
I took my time on certain things where it wasnt needed and not enough where it would have
been good take my time on. For instance, I could have taken less time on the PowerPoint and on
dancing which would have allowed me to do the singing activity.
Structuring my lesson plan better:
This lesson was substantially better both structurally and sequential than my previous one.
Everything was more related to the next and didnt feel abrupt or out of context. I could have
done an activity in the middle of my PowerPoint which would have kept the class more engaged
as I began noticing I was losing their attention. Though there is still a lot I need to work on, it
was a definite improvement and I am starting to feel a little more comfortable and able to
communicate with students.