|
|
This blog post will cover teaching and events occurring between 1/16/20-1/17/20 as they are somewhat similar. We were asked to teach their Kindergarteners music and literacy, so Dr. Renzoni, Tanner, Lauren, Lindsey and I all separate from our groups and worked together on 1/16 to teach three classes of music and literacy. Below is a picture from the day. Taken by a teacher at Emilio Ricci, it is the only photo I could find with each teacher included. We taught in this large room where we sang a variety of songs with the children and performed both non-locomotor and locomotor movements. I lead a Hello Song, If Your Happy and You Know It, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and Elephants have Wrinkles which all focused on teaching the English words for body parts to our students. Each of the classes followed the same format and it really seemed as if the students were retaining the words we taught them. There was unfortunately really no time to check retention levels and assess our students, but, from observation they seemed more excited to learn the words with music than in classes I saw without music. Instead of working with our large group on 1/17, we split up and I operated as the lead teacher for the Italian Kindergarten classes. I sang the same repertoire as 1/16 and achieved similar results (observed seemingly higher retention/vocab understanding rates). When done teaching the four classes of music, the students lined up in the hallway with Italian flags and sang the Italian National Anthem for us. Then, they played the American National Anthem and we sang for them while they waved American flags. It was adorable! Some more students for the singing of the anthems. Two letters from the students in my 5th grade classes. This one is from a boy I always tricked during hi-fives with the turkey move (close your fist at the last second). He drew himself getting me with the turkey instead! This letter is from another student who spoke very good English (she was originally from Albania). Do note that most students could not understand why my name was spelled Nick or did not try to learn it, so almost everyone spelled it as "Nek" or "Neck" or "Nech" ! Very funny stuff. Picture with Senior Grassi (owner of the bnb we stayed at), Tanner, and Alex at our final meal. Before this day, we asked him what his favorite song was, to which he answered without hesitation "Sweet Caroline." So, we sang him and his wife Sweet Caroline and they both cried. He is a very sweet person and it was so nice staying at his BnB. I really fell in love with Torremaggiore and its people. My students were all incredibly sweet, well-behaved, and grateful. The citizens of Torremaggiore were also very grateful of our presence and made a real effort to talk to us when we were walking by. I am so lucky to have spent as long as I did with them and I truly hope to make it back someday.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHello and welcome to my blog page! My name is Nicholas and I am a music education major with a minor in philosophy, my primary instrument is percussion, and my dream is to someday teach elementary general music. Through this program, I hope to increase my pedagogical repertoire and empathy when working with English language learners, to learn about myself as an individual, and to make an impact in the lives of the children in Torremaggiore, Italy. Feel free to browse through and return to my blog as I update it with my pedagogical and travel adventures! Archives
February 2020
Categories |