Some photos from our fourth week

It is hard to believe that we are in our FOURTH week!  We had a lovely visit today from Tricia Tunstall who graciously took pictures for us and helped out with bow holds and finding notes on the staff.  Students have learned so much in such a short amount of time.  It's hard for us (Terrence, Shanna, and I) to always realize the progress the students have made because we see them three times a week and do the hard and detailed work with them.  But Tricia pointed out that they have really come so far in less than a month.  They are playing their instruments, reading notes on the staff, reading rhythms, creating their own musical patterns, singing solfege, and learning about composers.  Having students three times a week (some El Sistema programs meet much more!) and having small class sizes does wonders.  We are starting to know the students' personalities and learning modalities.  It has been so much fun and such an exciting and rewarding experience for us as teachers.  So many stories and many more to come!  Take a look at the pictures from today (click on them to expand and watch as a slideshow).

Students learning bow holds- showing their bow "coyotes".