My First "First Lesson" - A Reflection

Today in my secondary methods class we were asked to get up in front of the class and give the first 5 minutes of an instrumental lesson. I was assigned to the Trombone (the instrument I know the least about and would probably have the hardest time teaching). Our professor acted as fifth grader who had never touched an instrument before. I was really nervous to do this in front of my peers and my professor because I felt sure that everything was going to come out wrong and I'd get off track or something disastrous would happen. I actually enjoyed the experience a lot more than I thought I would. It was fun to watch my peers get up and see how everyone approached something that should be so similar, so differently. I liked watching everyone's trials and errors, their laughter a minor mistakes or the power behind then when they did something unique, interesting, resourceful, or skillful that made the lesson come to life in a way that you knew it would be great in real life. For me that was the best part of this experience, not necessarily getting up and doing it myself but getting so many ideas and good tips from my colleagues and professor.

When my time came I was nervous but also a little excited to see in what direction it would naturally go. Overall, I think it went fairly well considering the fact that I don't know how to play the trombone and I have never taught a "first lesson" before in my life. I think the biggest cause of my nerves was just that; I had no idea how to teach something that I myself couldn't do, and I was overwhelmed with trying to make decisions that would control every little aspect of the first five minutes. Even within such a short amount of time, there were so many decisions to make and each one felt huge because the way that you establish yourself, the relationship, and the process as a whole. But once it got going, I found that the time went by quickly and it became easier as I went. If I could go back and redo it, there are certainly things I would change (I would have him open the case differently and on the floor, I would explain and demonstrate the buzzing better, the list goes on...

It's funny, just today at my internship I taught 4 periods of different band and orchestra lessons and not one of them played my instrument (the flute) and yet I wasn't nervous at all. It was just another day at work, and me trying to find problems, resolves them, and give them good guidance. I think the difference is that, I wasn't doing it for anyone else or for a grade. I wasn't over thinking it or trying to analyze every action, I was just being me.

I think everyone did a good job and I learned so much. They incorporated things into that first five minutes that I will definitely use in my own teaching such as:

• Having the student open the instrument case either on the floor or at a table where it cannot fall
• Doing an "ice breaker" with a student to get to know them. For example: If they are 11 then they have to tall you eleven things about themselves, etc.
• Playing a piece of music for a student so that they can hear (and see if it's a video) what they're instrument sounds like and it can motivate them to learn. 
• Putting a sticker on the side of the case that faces up so that they know which side it opens on.
• Explaining the expectations of them and for the class (rules, procedures, etc) right in the beginning
• Letting them explore their instrument safely (because that is likely what they will be most eager to do) 
• Telling them what they need to bring to every lesson

This was a great experience for me. It's amazing how much you can learn from five minutes of teaching.