MAD Reflection

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.