2014 Mad
Project Reflection
This year was a very good year for all
the students in the Middle school afterschool ensembles. They improved
immensely since the beginning of the year and I thoroughly enjoyed working with
them. We guided the middle school flutes in their practice weekly and their
improvement was astounding. This year, however, the students were not as
cooperative as the students we worked with last year. Last year, all the
students showed up on time and listened to what we had to tell them. Many times
this year, the students either turned up late or did not show up to practice.
Although the afterschool ensemble is voluntary, I was a little bit disappointed
at their attitude at times. This lack of enthusiasm, however, might be
attributed to the fact that they have a lot of homework and projects to finish,
leaving them very much exhausted by the end of the day. I think that if
teachers gave less homework to students, the students would be able to pursue
other extra-curricular activities that they really enjoy, like music.
A new thing that we did this year was
assisted the brass ensemble in their practice in the first semester. I found it
enjoyable to work with different music students throughout the year and it was
quite refreshing experience to work with the brass.
The middle school students worked a lot
on their intonation and expression of the music during the course of the year.
Their musicianship improved throughout the year. During practices, we would
focus on fixing different individual parts so that when the whole ensemble
played together, the notes would actually harmonize. Although there is still a
lot of room for improvement, I think that the improvement already made this
year has been beyond expectation.
This MAD project allowed me exercise my
God-given abilities in music to serve students. In addition to serving
students, I also volunteer weekly to tutor a girl flute in the Hong Kong Children
and Youth Services, Hung Hom Integrated Family Service Center. These
opportunities to serve in my community allow me to share my musical skills with
other people and also be a blessing to them. I have developed socials skills
while working on my MAD project and have also learned how to express myself
better to others. I really enjoyed working with the Middle School students this
year during the afterschool ensemble.
Since the
Spring Concert is still some ways away, I will continue working with the ensemble
members until concert time. This is not the end of my MAD project. I will
pursue this to the very end.
I would say that this MAD project has been
very successful.
