DRUMBEAT

I had the opportunity to do some professional development last week by going to a training program for Drumbeat.

D-Discovering
R-Relationships
U-Using

M-Music
B-Beliefs
E-Emotions
A-Attitudes and
T-Thoughts

This is a brilliant program that uses Djembe drums from West Africa to encourage students to work as a team, create music, have fun, and learn life skills. The 3-day training was packed full of great activites and lessons that can be adapted for a 1-off lesson or the full 10 week program. I am truley looking forward to including many of the drumming activities into the music program and also running a separate drumbeat group next term.

Tamaki Ukuleles

Enjoy this video of our ukulele group getting ready for the Kiwilele festival! The students have been practicing hard and are getting ready to go to a regional rehearsal on Friday.

Words Of The Week

In music class the students begin with writing a sentence using the, "Words of the Week." Recently the students have been using the words: strum, chords, co-operate,perform and tempo. Here are a few of the sentences the students have come up with:

"I am learning how to perform and I am also learning a lot of tempo words."
-Michelle, room 12

"Rooms 11 and 12 know how to strum the chords because we all co-operate."
-Yvonne, Room 11

"We co-operate with a partner and strum the strings softly."
-Folau, Room 12

Photos of Room 2 Performing In Music

Synergy and Raiden

Tiapa

Anthony

Back: Meshaq, and Philip

Front: Norman and Anthony

Lorenzo, Earle, and Beau

Ukulele Group 2010

So far this year our Ukulele Group has been meeting together each week to enjoy playing the ukulele together. Here is a short clip of "El Condor Pasa," one of the songs we've been practicing.

Ukulele Fun

Tom from room 12 and Jonathan from room 11 have been working hard at practicing the ukulele in music class and they've done a great job this term.


"Music tech has been fun, I liked learning the ukulele and I can't wait for next year when I'm back in Music." -Jonathan


"I enjoyed playing, 'El Condor Pasa' because it's really fascinating and fun! -Tom

Guitar Reflections from Room 2

Rhiana, Berttina and Xeneqe reflect on their learning in music class.

Music Reflection by Xeneqe

In Music class today I was nervous because we were getting tested on songs we knew. I got an “A” and two “P’s” which was pretty good. But after that I became confident I have really enjoyed music class.


Music Reflection by Berttina

I think music tech is cool because we get to learn new kinds of entertainment. Through this term, I have been nervous but I finally calmed down because I got one “A” and a “P” for my assessment.
Second, I think music is amazing to learn and understand. I would like to say thanks to Miss Dekker for teaching us new guitar chords so we can play the guitar.


Music Reflection by Rhiana

Today in music class I felt very depressed that we weren’t actually going to learn something new, we were having a test. Before I was tested, I felt very nervous. I started to build confidence after I played the first song and I got all A’s, which means “advanced,” my nerves disappeared.

Throughout the term in music class, I learnt heaps. Firstly, I learnt how to read and play notes on the guitar. Secondly, I learnt how to play the guitar very fast as Miss Dekker’s teaching is very understandable. Thirdly, I was a bit disappointed that Miss Dekker didn’t have time to teach us how to play the keyboards. Fourthly, I would like to thank Miss Dekker for teaching me and room 2 how to play the guitar. I really enjoyed music class.