STEP Reflection #1

What?

I started out this Summer by purchasing a Stephanhouser soprano saxophone using the money provided by STEP. I also fixed up a flute, and got business cards from Vistaprint. I continued on my STEP journey by recruiting students to take music lessons from me. I have found 3 students that want to learn from me. I am teaching one of my students how to play the saxophone, one of my students how to play the flute, and I am teaching my third student how to sing. I have also joined an R&B band this Summer, and I am using the soprano and the flute that STEP has provided for me.

So What?

I have given a couple lessons to each of my students so far. I have found that vocalizing my ideas when I am trying to teach my students how to play music is more difficult than i expected it to be. It was a little difficult because I have a good idea of what I want my students to do, but explaining it to them using concepts that they can understand is difficult. It was great to see the growth that the students have shown me in the past couple of weeks. Usually I am the student when it comes to music lessons. It is nice to experience the other side of the music lesson process.

Now What?

I think the biggest thing that this STEP experience has given me is the satisfaction of making someone’s life easier. I am giving music lessons for free, and It is a great feeling to be able to share my main passion with my students. In the future, this STEP experience will help me greatly because I want to teach music lessons on top of being a music educator in the school system. I will most likely look back upon this experience and learn from my mistakes when I graduate from college. I think this experience has already made me a better educator, and I will continue to develop this skill until I retire. I love teaching music to students, and I can’t wait to get out into the working world and make a difference with this experience under my belt.

-Wil Walters