MAD Update Nov. 9

Teresa and I have been working on our MAD project most Fridays teaching a couple students at a time. However, we haven't been able to continually work every Friday due to clashing schedules, sports, and various other circumstances. It's been great watching them steadily improve week after week. Michael has just most recently learned how to play a scale. We taped up Teresa's violin so he would know where to put his fingers and that seems to have helped him greatly. A way that we could speed up their learning processes is if they could somehow practice at home. I would be open to the idea of lending Michael my violin over the weekends, but the only problem would be that he would have to bring it to and from school because I need my violin at times as well.

Update #1

Teresa and I started our MAD project a couple of weeks ago. We've been teaching three students every week on Fridays after school and each session is about 1.5-2 hours long. Typically, we each stick with our own students so that they will have a more stable teacher and wouldn't be jumping around from technique to technique. The teaching is going pretty slowly (for my student at least, Teresa says that her student is quite fast), as our students are brand new to the violin and know very little about it. However, it's really nice to see them developing some skills, even if it is just basic skills like holding the violin and the bow. As we progress, we are going to need a special tape to put on the violin to mark their fingerings as well as some practice or theory books. I think that we are going to need to either ask Ms. Weldon for supplies or go buy them ourselves. Teresa had an idea of expanding this MAD project to other people. We want to try and expand this project beyond just violin and beyond just a few students, but maybe include people who play other instruments and other people who want to teach their own instrument. To do this, we need to find people who are willing to teach and learn. The people who teach need to be of a considerable proficiency in their craft.

2016 MAD Project

Every time I've tried to start a new blog, the message "The page you requested is invalid" always pops up. So, I deleted everything off of this blog and am reusing it for this 2016 year.

This year, I am doing a similar project to last year. I will still be tutoring violin with Teresa on Fridays, but this year, we will be expanding our focus to not only middle schoolers and people who already know the violin, but also new beginners. Some people might include Michael Ting, Jonas Tai, and Livia Lau.

Why are we completing MAD projects? What is the purpose? (hint: ICS core values) Reflect on why we do this and how it can move you closer to God.

We are completing MAD projects to give back to the community. Service is an important part of our lives as Christians and Jesus tells us to give back to Him and the people around us. Service also allows us to humble ourselves in spite of everything and get closer to God.