Blog #7

10/22/18

I have a mentor! His name is Mr. Holzer, and he was actually my middle school band director. I had kind of known since the beginning of the year I wanted him to be my mentor so this worked out very well for me. He’s the head band director at Lawler Middle School, where I will be shadowing him. Anyway, I’m very excited. I’m also continuing to work on my original work, and I think I will create a lesson plan as if I were giving a presentation music leadership. I think I’ll teach what it means to be a leader in general. I thought of some games I could use to make it fun. I don’t know what any of them are called, but they’re very good teaching tools. I remember most of them from leadership camps I've been to. One of them is a maze game, where students are blindfolded and put into groups in a “maze”. It’s actually a small enclosed area, usually a circle or triangle, that’s easy to get out of, but the students are told it’s a maze. Once one student finds the way out, there’s a person waiting right outside and who will whisper to the student to not say anything, so students cannot communicate with others once they’re outside the area. Typically one student will find the opening and leave the area without alerting other students he may have found a way out. This shows the students the importance of communication and teamwork as a leader. Another great game is having students balance books on their head and telling them to make it to finish line without dropping them. If they drop their books, only other people have to pick the books back up and put them back on the others head. Most students usually go to the end without helping, but one or two will drop their book and focus just on helping others. This is a lesson on leaders not leaving anyone behind, and realizing everyone is vital. I remember them because they were fun, but taught viable lessons. I can probably research and find more too, so I’ll continue to work on it.