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This project was really fun and I loved it. It was cool to work with actual middle schoolers in a unique setting. I've also never really composed before so it was cool to get to do that. I love how bright the kids all are and I felt really motivated because of them. There is so much talent and knowledge inside of them that they don't even know about. I feel very honored to be able to help encourage them to access that. We gave out student lots of freedom and she needed a little push, but she had good ideas. She was shy at first, but when she became more comfortable, she started joking around with us and we got to see her personality come out. I think that this was definitely a beneficial experience where I learned a lot :)

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This project was a really fun and enjoyable experience, and I can’t wait to see how the documentary about it turns out. As someone who wants to get into composing and arranging, this was really a great opportunity for me to learn about some different ideas and techniques to use while composing. It was also a great introduction into our clinical experience getting to work with these middle school students. Their creativity is much bigger than what I initially anticipated and from what I saw and experienced, they were really fun to work with, and easy to talk to. Some feedback: I think maybe adding another week of this if possible would be great, just to give some more breathing room for the students to work together and get some more ideas flowing, but I understand they’re being taken out of classes so that might not be possible.

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I thought yesterday went really well and I loved this whole experience. We enjoyed taking our student's ideas, translating it on paper, and then working with our students to expand upon their ideas and form new ones on top of that.

This experience taught me that anything could be music, and that anyone could be a composer. As a (formally) non-composer, composing felt overwhelming but I understand now how rewarding and easy it is if you start with parameters. I also learned how creative our students can be if you give them the space to be.

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I had a lot of fun doing this project and I hope it continues in the future! Something I think that could be added is along with making compositions with college students, I believe the middle school students should have their own small ensembles. I could tell everyone had a great time, smiles all around. I really appreciate this being a way for students to perform for friends and family in a non-traditional band setting.

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For me, the project was very overwhelming at first. I haven’t done much composing, let alone with “found sounds” so it was a very new and different experience. It was fun getting to work with the middle schoolers and hear their perspectives and opinions on the project. I think it is a necessary type of project for young students in music, to show them that music does not have to be limited to band/choir/orchestra. It was also a good experience for working around things when they don’t go as planned, and being able to think quick on your feet. Next time, I would give more time to compose and brainstorm ideas, as it all felt very rushed. Overall, I had a very good experience.

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Being a part of the Dirty Beats Project was so much fun and I wish I could've done something like this when I was in middle school. I think the middle school students involved realized that they have a lot more to offer and felt very proud of the end result. This project has shown me the importance of making space for other activities besides learning, especially activities where the students get to have more autonomy and independence. I really appreciated the guidance before we went to the middle school because it helped me become more confident. If you continue to do this project I hope time will be made for that.

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Reflection: This project was very fun and rewarding. I was a little nervous at first since I do not consider myself a composer. After our first meeting with our middle school student, I felt so much better and I looked forward to working with them throughout the week! I definitely will try doing something similar when I am a teacher.
Feedback: A little more time with the compositions and less talking at the concert. I enjoyed the speeches but a lot but some parents, in my opinion, look a little restless especially since they had to wait to see their kid lastly

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This was a really great experience! I really enjoyed working and composing with my middle school student. They really made this project really fun since they took charge of the project and made their own, they came up with the all the sounds and I would just go with their ideas which made it more easy for me to help guide them in the process. I really we get to do some like this again in the future.

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This was an absolute blast! It was so much fun to see everyone perform and see these ideas change over time. None of the performances went the same way in practice as they did in performance and that's one of the most fun things about it. Everything was really unique and it was awesome to see the engagement from the students. It was great to see the students afterwards and how excited they were that they just accomplished this thing that many people didn't know was possible! Seeing the inspiration and joy on the students' faces made all of it worth it!
Feedback/Suggestion: I think it would've been nice to have some more items to bring for the middle school portion. On campus, we were able to go outside and grab sticks, rocks, or whatever we could find, but at Huntley it felt a little limited in our resources. We were still able to create amazing things with all of it, but more variety could help foster more creative ideas

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I had a great time with this project. It was a really great experience to be able to work with middle school students before getting into our actual clinical experience. Working with the students in this sort of a creative way is was very rewarding. Acting as a guide for creativity is not a role I have ever had before and it was very fun! The only thing that I really think would have added to this project is if there was somehow more time to work with the students.

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I really enjoyed the performance last night, and I could tell that the middle school students were really enjoying themselves. For me, this project reinforced the idea that teaching a band/orchestra/choir class does not need to only be practicing and performing repertoire; other experiences like composing are just as meaningful.

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The kids were so insightful and full of energy. It was so much fun seeing them take over and be excited about it at the same time.

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I had a great time participating in the Dirty Beats Project. It was a great way to start of my education experience with middle school and was also fun to do. I could tell the students had a load of fun, and were very supportive of each other, and the parents loved it as well. The project helped us to gain more educational experience, and it helped the students to become better composers, and musicians by forcing them to think outside the box. It personally helped me to push me outside of my comfort zone, and overall I had a great time.

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It was a great experience composing with the students. It was a unique experience I've never had before and a worth wild project. It showed me new ways to compose. I wish we had more time to work with the students, an extra day would've helped a lot

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The 7th graders were rock stars. I really loved working with our student and seeing what the other groups came up with.

Something that I think would be better for next time would be just one more in person meeting with the 7th graders before the big performance. I think several groups (including ours) were scrambling on that last day to put something polished on paper.

Overall, my biggest takeaways are these: anything can be made musical and kids WILL rise to any challenge presented to them if given the support and encouragement they need. You would not believe what a difference writing "You've got this! You're awesome!" above our student's part made in her final performance.

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This was a very cool project and I am glad that I was able to be apart of it. I learned that muisc doesn't stop at traditional insterments and anything can be muisc as long as make it so. Also middle school students are quite creative and are very open to explore new things in creating music.

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I think something I learned is that as teachers, our job is not to tell kids what to do and how to do it, our job is to guide them in discovering it for themselves. Especially in a creative project like this, letting the student have some control and decision making made room for endless ideas. Andrew and I saw a lot of confidence in our student and I hope to see the confidence again, or help students find it.

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Reflection: This project was definitely something that pushed me out of my comfort zone. As someone who has not really composed much, this project forced me to figure out how to compose. (And it also reinforced that just trying and doing is composing as well!)
Feedback: Maybe a little more time to put together the compositions would have been helpful, but since it takes out of class time, I am not sure how negotiable that is.