Being able to talk to Lesley through Skype was a great experience. I loved being able to ask her questions and get a real time answer. Talking to her just solidified my previous feelings about her teaching style that I had talked about earlier. She is amazingly humble and very honest. I really appreciated how she wouldn't make up an answer if she didn't know what to say to a question. She would say that she didn't know because she too was still learning. I think she truly embodies the idea that as a teacher you are learning with your students. I loved being able to talk to her about her article and her teaching style. It gave even greater insight to what she had said in the article.
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I thought that Dr. Hopkins brought up many very interesting points about the link between language learning and music learning. To be honest I walked into this lecture thinking I wouldn’t agree with anything that Dr. Hopkins said, but after fifteen minutes my mind was blown. I had never thought of teaching music in that way before! Now I can’t get the ideas out of my head! How we don’t teach children to spell before they speak, so why do we do that with musicians and music? I think this is an amazing point of view on teaching music, and making beginner music interesting. While I am a touch skeptical about the form of notation that is drawing lines on a page to mimic pitch, I found that my ideas of teaching beginner music have dramatically changed. I love the idea of making music first, then teaching notation. When I think about it, I just imagine future students faces when the see that the sound they’re making has a physical form. I love the idea of students gain a new love of composing, because suddenly its so much easier then trying to use the abstract lines. I understand that most students will have been exposed to sheet music and modern notation prior to starting, however I think this method of teach creates an open and safe environment for students to learn and experiment, something that is very lacking in most music pedagogy. I think Dr. Hopkins lecture was mind blowing and awe inspiring, and one day I hope to incorporate many of the things he talked about into my own classroom.
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