Reflection - Service Learning Session 2

I completed my second, and final service learning session on Friday. I must say that I would not recommend that anyone else goes twice in one week :)

Running on two hours of sleep made this session a little more difficult, but I think it went really well all things considered. I went with a smaller group this time: just Mark, Blythe and myself which is a challenge in itself because it means we were largely outnumbered by the participants. The good part about having a smaller group was that we all had to participate and take a more active role in the leading process. It was challenging because Mark and Blythe hadn't been before, so I had to do a little more of the initiating, but they got comfortable and adapted quickly. We didn't have time to do an extremely detailed plan, but we had enough ideas, so it was mainly a matter of adapting a little more on the fly.

I think our need to think more in real time was a very positive thing. Since the participants have gone through a number of sessions with our class, there were several participants who wanted to take a leading role. For example, I repeated the percussion game we played on Tuesday using hand signals to control volume, and who plays when. Ray decided he wanted to try leading this too. So after I did it once, he did it a second time. Everyone followed him very well, I think because it was like watching a peer, instead of a leader.

I repeated the Delacroze idea where everyone moves until the music stops, as well as the percussion game, and singing In the Jungle. With the percussion portion, we added an element of rhythm where I would play one note, and then everyone would play one back. And then I would play two notes, and the participants responded with two, etc. Then Blythe mixed it up (1, 5, 2, 4, etc.) which was a cool idea: the participants now had to wait to see how many she played before playing back. This was very effective. It was more difficult singing this time because we didn't have any instrumental support other than drums. I really enjoyed on Tuesday having Scott and Brian with their keyboard and guitar which is far more flexible and engaging than a CD. The a capella with drum accompaniment worked well though.

We added the idea of a round, singing Brother John while splitting into two groups, and then George wanted to sing it solo in French (Frere Jacques). He made me sing along with him, which was difficult because his French version was a lot different than the one I knew. But everyone knew he was singing in French! Blythe also taught a Native American song (I think) which was good because we were introducing songs in different languages. For singing Brother John, we had everyone clap so they could all stay together in the round.

We also sang the now required You are my Sunshine which is Ray's favourite song and danced to some Queen. Everyone enjoyed this section. One of the participants was even hitting on me. She said I was cute...too bad she has an intellectual disability:) When they all start dancing, all notions of "personal space" definitely disappear.

We discussed soundscapes again by asking them what sounds they hear everyday. Mark also introduced the "making rain" activity using clapping, stomping, hitting thighs and snapping to show that music and sound can be made with the body. It actually sounded like a rain storm, too.

At the end of the session, no one wanted to leave so I think they enjoyed it all. I was impressed with how we kept it moving and adapted on the fly. The participation from everyone was great, especially George who enjoyed singing several solos and Ray who led part of the percussion section.