Boomwhackers with MacPherson Primary

I've just completed my very first assignment with Town 4 Kids at MacPherson Primary!
Missing the students now. ):

I was there as an assistant teacher and my main job was to assist the lead instructor in class.
It's like training for me, to watch how she teach and handle a class of 40.

The whole course wasn't all about learning music.
It was to use music learning to develop the students' character, especially in terms of their social behaviour.
So whenever a student displays a behaviour that's not accepted, we've got to get them to reflect on their own behaviour.


The class was really rowdy at first.
They came running into the classroom, shouting at the top of their voices.
When we splitted them into groups, the boys and the girls refused to mix.
They only wanted to be grouped with their friends.
Even after we got the groups all settled, the boys and the girls in each group couldn't get along with one another.
They fought over the roles each had to play, quarrelled over little things like group names etc.

But the lead instructor really handled the situation well.

I've learned so much from her in the 3 days I've been with her.


Towards the end of the whole course, we could see the students learning to work with one another.
Some even learning to take care of their group members, giving up the instruments or position they wanted just to maintain the harmony of the group.
The whole experience was really enjoyable.
The students were so amusing with their silly actions and words.


It was so nice seeing them all work together.
I was so proud of them, I video-ed every single performance on the last day.

This was the group I'm always around.
When they first worked together, the boys and the girls all refused to talk to one another.
The girls wanted all the girly names for group names, like "Jelly beans", "Cupcakes", "Gummy bears" etc, and the group finally decided on "Rainbow" because there were 7 people in the group.
Everyone was always fighting over the boomwhackers.


But watch the video!
They came up with one of the better performances towards the end.
The boy on the right was always giving in to his group members, giving up whichever boomwhacker he was holding to the one who wants it.
He was so patient with his classmates, guiding them through the song slowly.
They were so good with it in the video!

Look at them!
They practiced the song over and over just to perfect the performance.

And the students put up their performances in the last hour of the class.

The students in this group talked to one another as though they all hated each other.
The boy on the right was the big bully of the class.
During breaks, he'd just go around cornering the smaller kids or jump out of nowhere to scare the girls.
But he's always asking the class to keep quiet whenever they were too noisy.
I can see him as a discipline master in future.

Hahaha the boy with the sunglasses is the funny one.
He brings a different cap to class every single day and he never fails to bring his sunglasses.
He goes around shouting "Oppa gangnam style" and doing all the hip hop moves.


This oppa gangnam style thing is really getting on my nerves.
It's not even funny.

Rainbow!
They were so well prepared for the performance.


The boy on the left is from China and it seems like he doesn't really understand English.
Whenever we speak to him in English, he replies in Mandarin.


"Would you like to be the MC for the day?"
"What's an MC?" (In Chinese of course)
"It means you'll be standing in front with the microphone, hosting the whole performance."
"What MC? I'm not even sick."


HAHAHAHAHAHA
It was so hilarious the lead instructor and I couldn't stop laughing.

The boy on the right's the vocal one in class.
And he's really cheeky too.


"Teacher, can I use shakers for my performance?"
"Oh, you brought your own musical instrument?"
"Yup, I have it in my bag"
"Okay, since you brought it"


And he took out his pack of shaker fries from his bag.


That made my day too. Hahahahha.
It's so funny to talk to them.

Look at the boy doing the "go to sleep" action!
Soooooo cute.
And he's really good at shuffling and moon walk.

This group lovessssss to use anything and everything they can find in the classroom as props.
Most cooperative group ever when it comes to group work.

The most adorable class ever.