This past week in class we created various rhymes to help teach the class a little bit about ourselves while also learning how to be able to keep a beat. First we performed our rhyme to the class by means of a steady beat which we learned was a constant repetition of sound... Later we were taught how to play our rhymes using a rhythmic pattern which is a combination of short, long, and silent sounds put together. We were given even more practice with these concepts but using our hands to clap the beats of songs such as, "Hey Hey Who's in Town," as well as, "Three Blind Mice." On Friday we switched gears and began learning how to play the recorder. At first it was very hard to play together as a class because not everyone had the same sound but later on we were able to figure it out. We were taught how to play "Three Blind Mice," by using the B, A, & G notes. It was great to begin playing the recorder again because it as been so long since I last played one. I knew how to place my fingers but I was still rusty on which of the notes was what.
There were a few different ways that we gained this knowledge this past week. The past week we were shown what a steady beat was and therefore knew what to play our rhyme to. This week we were mainly taught by demonstration and discussion. The teacher would show us the beat that she wanted us to play and then we would mimic that back using our own rhyme. One student had a very interesting and unique beat to his which led us in to the discussion of what a rhythmic beat is. While we were learning to play the recorder we were shown the different positions that our fingers had to take in order to create the correct sound. Later on we were taught the song that she wanted us to play and the teacher made it very interesting by having the circle play different notes at a time. This gave a chance to see how we could come together while being given different tasks. This really also gave us a chance to get to play each note and see how they all come together.
I think that it is important for us to learn these different get to know you songs because it teaches us how to attempt to make the kids feel comfortable when they walk into the classroom. It allows us to learn how to be more diverse in keeping the kids entertained. The key concepts that we learned such as steady beat and rhythmic pattern are two of the most important when learning the fundamentals of music and serve as the basis to many things that we may need to learn later on. I believe that these ideas help to teach us different ways to expand the elementary education classroom.
I think that it is important for students to be able to learn these concepts and ideas for many different reasons... Music is something that kids will be exposed to for the rest of their lives. Without knowing these simple ideas it will be very hard to continue their music education. Many kids realize that music is something that has a great effect on them and as they get older they like to create their own music as a way to express themselves. I also feel that after seeing how our classroom interacted, I think that this would be great to have the kids be able to work together. They can help each other come up with a rhyme just as we did while also learning how to keep a beat for someone else so that person doesn't feel uncomfortable. However, they would not be able to do this if they didn't learn these concepts early on. I am a little bit confused when it comes to the recorder. Although I do believe that the recorder is a very fun instrument to learn I am not exactly sure why this would be important to have in the classroom unless you were an elementary ed music teacher.

10 Children's Songs:
1) "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
2) "Row Row Row Your Boat"
3) "ABC's"
4) "I've Been Working on a Railroad"
5) "The Ants Go Marching"
6) "Baby Beluga"
7) "Yankee Doodle"
8) "Bingo"
9) "Down by the Bay"
10)"Wheels on the Bus"

Name Rhyme

My-Name- is-Mich-elle
I-Love -Taco-Bell
There's a-song named-after-me-
Love the-Beat-les-Can't you-see

My Music History

My name is Michelle Zlatkin and I am sophomore. I have a brother and sister-in-law in the army. As far as I can remember music has always been a part of my life. I have enjoyed it since I was a child and always wanted it to be a part of me. One of my greatest achievements I have in relation to music was that I began playing the piano when I was 5years old and I continued to play for about 10 or 11 years. Still today whenever I find the time at home I sit down and just play. It's something that is really relaxing to me. I was always able to hear a song and sit down on the piano and figure it out. Although it often took a lot of time and I became increasingly more frustrated, I felt great when I didn't give up. In middle school as well as high school I was apart of both choir and show choir. It was always really fun for me and I felt great when in high school I tried out and got into the advanced choir. Really for me, music was somehow involved in everything that I did. For my entire high school career I was in a theater group, known as Reality Theater. The unique thing about this group was that the entire show was put together by us and our real stories. For that reason we were allowed to experiment with things so during transitions we would have music playing and as time grew we started having complete music pieces. One of my favorite ones was that we replicated the Cell Block Tango for Chicago and did the Teenage Tango and turned into problems that teenagers have like worrying about getting their license, graduating, where to sit at lunch, etc. It was just so much fun because it was real to us. Like most people I have an ipod that I listen to all the time that has all my favorite music on there. I must say I am a very diverse person in my music preference. I like anything from oldies to rap. Some of my favorites include The Beatles who I am completely obsessed with, David Cook, Lady Antebellum, Toby Keith, Carrie Underwood, Jeniffer Lopez, and Akon. I enjoy listening to different things depending on what mood I am in. I think part of the reason I love the Beatles is because I grew up with my dad always singing "Michelle My Bell" to me so it always had an emotional keep on me. I have about 1,000 songs on my ipod and I try to update it often to keep up with the new music that I hear. I listen to it often, sometimes walking to class, when I'm getting ready, doing homework, but most often I listen to it when I am working out. It helps me stay motivated and releases energy. I even have a play list dedicated to working out so I never lose focus. That is most of my music history.

I really didn't know what to expect when I walked into this class. I never really thought about being a music teacher so I wasn't sure how I was going to incorporate it into my class. In any class when you are with people that you don't know it is hard to feel comfortable with them right away which is why I think the exercises that we did like saying hello, different people picking movements for the whole class to do, introducing ourselves gave people a chance to open up with one another, at least know that we are all in the same position and it is new to all of us. I think that the exercise we did with the drum would be a really good way for the kids in your class to get to know each other while learning a fun thing to say so that it does not get boring to them. I do think however, at times the exercises did seem to get a little bit lengthy. For instance the drum exercise might have been adapted to standing up and walking around in a circle or something to keep the kids moving. I think that is especially important when you have a large class and need to keep the kids entertained. I am really looking forward to the different music concepts that we are going to learn because I look back and see how important music was in my life and hope that I to can give that to kids.