Week 4- Overcoming Challenges

This week I have hit some road-blocks. There have been several challenges that I have overcome. One challenge I have found was that my hands get sore after playing for a while. I have been trying to deal with this challenge by playing for 20 minutes and taking a break. Since I use my left hand to play the chords and my right hand to strum, I find that my left hand has been getting sore. For some chords you have to stretch your fingers so I have been doing hand stretches and massaging my left hand to try to build up my stamina to play for longer periods of time.

Another challenge I have encountered this week was switching between chords. One song I learned this week was “Scarborough Fair” by Simon and Garfunkle (1966). This song is one of my favourites. However, the chord transitions are very quick. I overcame this challenge by practicing the transitions between chords by picking two chords to practice at a time and switching back and forth. This alternating of chords helped me to become faster at transitions.

This week was very productive. As previously mentioned I learned “Scarborough Fair”.  I also learned another song called “The More We Get Together” by ... . I chose to learn this song because it emphasizes welcoming students and singing their names in the verse of the song. I want to use this in my class to help my students feel welcome. This song also has a storybook to go along with it. I would use this song to facilitate students’ literacy development

I’m really enjoying my journey to learn how to play the ukulele. Every challenge I find is a learning opportunity. I believe in a growth mindset and it is important to understand that new challenges are critical for learning. Looking forward to sharing more with you!