My name is Chantel and this is my teaching portfolio. It’s about a 15-minutes piano lesson l taught to a beginner student. Her name is Mika and this was her first time to learn piano. 

This portfolio includes:

• Lesson plan

• Commentary

• Reflection and Self-evaluation 
• Analysis of peer teaching 

Name of Student: Mika

Name of Tutor: Chantel

Date: 2026.04.14

Time: 15 minutes

Aims	Piano posture, hand shape, C major scale, forte and piano.
Objectives	Aural game; listening to “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and drawing; body movement and walking activity; playing “John Thompson Lightly Row.”
Extensions	Try different scales, guess which note each scale begins on, learn other note duration such as semiquavers, triplets, and rests, understand time signatures, and practice crescendo and decrescendo.

Time	Activities	Assessment Methods	Resources
5 minutes	Greetings, introducing myself and chatting about her hobbies.	Checking how she feels and reactions (smiling or no response).	/
10 minutes	Activity One: Posture and Hand Shape. Explain and demonstrate how to sit correctly on the piano bench, using concrete words like holding an apple for hand shape. Activity Two: C Major Scale – Singing with Finger Numbers and Solfège. Repeat several times. Activity Three: Aural Game – Listening to Ascending and Descending Sounds Activity Four: Rhythm with Fruit Names. Using her favourite fruits to learn rhythm (one syllable or two syllables) by saying and clapping them. Activity Five: Dynamics with Body Movement. Imagine there is a baby in the room, and we need to keep quiet. Walk softly on our toes. For forte, take big, heavy steps to scare the baby. Activity Six: Listening and Drawing. I play “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Give Mika paper, a pencil, and colour pen. Ask her to draw whatever comes to mind. Activity Seven: Playing John Thompson’s “Lightly Row”. Imagine a boat on a lake. Feel the waves—large waves represent forte, and small waves represent piano. Notice how the music flows.	For every activity, I will watch and check whether she can do what I have asked. Does she look focused or confused? Does she feel relaxed or tense? Does she answer or respond to me, or does she remain silent? Does she know what she is doing, or just guessing the correct answer? If she does, I will say something like, “Good job!” with a big smile. If not, I will slow down, explain again, and continue until she understands.	Piano bench, piano, a scale book, a rhythm exercise book, John Thompson’s Lightly Row, paper, pencil, colour pens, Mary Had a Little Lamb.
5 minutes	Recap everything we did during the lesson. Ask Mika how she feels and which activity she enjoyed the most. Provide positive feedback and assign simple homework.	Listen to her feelings and look at her expression.	/

Commentary

My goal for the first lesson was to create a safe and interesting environment for Mika’s initial piano session and to build a closer relationship with her from the moment she entered the classroom. I drew on the concept of audition developed by Edwin E. Gordon (1927–2015), the founder of the Gordon Music Learning Theory in the United States, which encourages students to listen to sounds rather than merely raising their fingers or counting beats (Gordon, 2011). Emphasising sound before symbols, through listening, singing, and bodily movement to melodies, students experience the sound of music. This approach mimics the way humans learn their native language: first listening and speaking, then learning to read and write. In my lesson, Mika learned the C major scale by ear, rhythm through fruit names, and dynamics by walking. She experienced the sound physically before seeing any notation. Gordon also says we shouldn’t make kids think that they should not being able to read music means they are not musical. I included listening and drawing activities into my teaching, this activity with no right or wrong answers, creativity before correctness.

In Mika’s first lesson, I divided the session into small sections. There is a theory called Information Processing Theory, developed by psychologist George Miller, which explains how the human mind processes, stores, and retrieves information. Information Processing Theory identifies three primary stages: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Miller suggests that teachers can implement various strategies to enhance information processing in their students, such as chunking, repetition and rehearsal, mnemonics, visual aids, and active learning. This also relates to Cognitive Load Theory, when faced with too much information or complex tasks, learners experience cognitive overload, leading to reduced learning outcomes. By splitting the lesson into small sections, Mika can focus on one small thing at a time. From posture to hand shape to touching the piano. Each small piece fits into her short-term memory. This way, she won’t feel too mess and tired. As a teacher, I can easily correct her immediately when she makes a mistake.

In my teaching, I used the VARK learning styles model, which was developed by Fleming and Mills (1992). VARK stands for Visual, meaning learning by seeing; Aural, meaning learning by listening; Read/Write, meaning learning by reading and writing words; and Kinesthetic, meaning learning by moving the body. So for a beginner student like Mika does not feel overwhelmed or confused.

Visual: Mika saw me demonstrating posture and hand shape. I did not describe it as curving your fingers or making a round shape.
Aural: Mika listened to the C major scale and guessed whether it was ascending or descending. This trained her ears to recognise every single note.
Kinesthetic: Mika clapped the syllables of fruit names such as “peach” and “ap-ple”. She also used her body to feel forte and piano by walking softly and heavily before playing the piano.
In the drawing and listening activity, she drew what she heard while listening. She had to listen to the sound (aural), then feel the music and use her own thoughts and creativity to create her drawing. After she finished, she looked at her picture and shared with me what she had drawn (visual).

Using VARK helped me keep Mika relaxed and interested. She was not stuck sitting still and listening to me talk the whole time. We moved around the room. She clapped her hands, walked on her toes, and stomped her feet. She also picked up pens and drew pictures.

Reflection and Self-evaluation 

According to Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom and Anderson (2010), teachers and great teacher leaders have two jobs: to provide direction and to exercise influence. In order to carry out these two jobs, teachers must support both stability and change; they need to offer students stability through clear teaching and change at the same time. If a teacher stays stuck for too long and never changes old teaching methods, those methods will become outdated and may no longer benefit the students.

I followed this idea by breaking my lesson into small sections, each focusing on a single aspect. I have summarised five strengths of my lesson.

First strength: I built a relaxed relationship before teaching. My lesson begins with some conversation, allowing me to get to know my student. I discover some of Mika’s interests. I make Mika feel relaxed, comfortable, and not under any pressure before starting the lesson. The first lesson is important; there is no other quite like it. Students are often full of excitement and anticipation (Paul, 2008). This helped Mika feel safe and ready for the lesson. As a teacher, I understand that feeling comfortable comes before learning.

Second strength: teaching scales.
I taught scales by ear and singing. I did not prepare a scale book or teach her by reading the notes. She learned the sounds before the symbols. This also worked as an aural training exercise, as she was training her ears and feeling the music in her voice. Create learning situations, every stage of musical education begins with practice—that is, the development of related listening skills. Students learn by listening and imitating, not by explaining concepts.

Third strength: learning rhythm.
Teaching rhythm is not simple; it can be tricky. Many beginners are just learning how to count, and understanding the value of each note can be challenging for them. I thought beginners needed something simpler and more concrete. In this exercise, I chose to use words instead of counting numbers like “one, two, three” to teach rhythm. This also removes the calculation step from learning rhythm. We learn to speak at a much younger age, and then we start to learn an instrument. The rhythm of speech is already ingrained in our brains and flows more naturally. Just saying words, the information comes from our brain, through the rhythm of speech, into our fingers, making it easier. The brain directs our fingers to play in that rhythm because we have used words like “peach” or “apple” much often than playing an instrument. This helps Mika feel the beat naturally and avoid playing too slowly or rushing.
My experience of learning rhythm when I was young, my tutor turning on the metronome and asking me to say “one, two, three, four” while playing. I always played a triple rhythm as a semiquaver-quaver-semiquaver syncopation and could not get it right. My tutor explained it to me many times: a triplet means three notes played in the same amount of time, with each of the three notes having the same length, dividing the beat into three equal parts. However, I still found it very difficult to learn in that way. If I were to teach triplets to my students, I would not use counting numbers or explain the value of each note. Instead, I would teach by saying the word “beautiful,” because “beautiful” has three syllables (beau-ti-ful). This method is easier and simpler for students.

Fourth strength: listening and feeling.This activity worked well. It helped Mika to feel the music, not just listen with her ears. She also used her imagination and inner feelings. I removed any pressure from Mika. After the earlier exercise, she might have been feeling tired. This activity allowed her to feel relaxed. We stopped thinking about how many notes there were, what the rhythm was, and what the key was. Instead, we felt the music with our whole body and mind.
The purpose of drawing was not to draw what the music looks like, such as drawing a musical note. It is to draw the feeling that the music gives you. We do not need to draw something correct. We draw whatever comes to mind.
Many students are afraid to draw because they feel their drawings do not look like the real thing. I didn’t compare her drawing to anyone else’s, nor did I grade her work, such as giving it a 90%. Students become scared of being wrong, which causes them to stop listening and start worrying. I believe the first lesson should be comfortable and build confidence, not testing ability. Mika did not freeze or ask, “Is this right?”

Fifth strength: checking how the student felt.
I asked Mika how she felt at the end of the lesson and what her favourite part had been. I wanted to understand and hear about her experience and feelings. I was very pleased that she did not say she was tired or confused.

Areas I need to work on

The first thing I need to improve from this lesson is that I told Mika how to sit in front of the piano and what the correct posture should be, but I did not explain why good posture is important before we started playing the piano. For the next lesson, I will show and explain why. Good posture is not just about sitting up straight; it allows our arms and wrists to move easily and freely. Good form fingers, wrist, and elbow. Without this, the wrist twists, and scales become difficult to play. When we get the form right, we can play faster almost immediately. Correct posture can also help prevent wrist injuries. Repetitive motion injuries are common, especially when practising scales. Tension is why causes injuries. When we play with tension, the tendons and ligaments in the fingers and wrists are constantly under strain. Over time, they will break down, which leads to injury. The most important thing is to stay relaxed and avoid tension in the body.

The second thing I need to work on is that after I told Mika to shape her hand as if she were holding an apple, I did not explain why this hand shape is important or why we need it. I also did not do any wrist exercises with her. A good hand shape is not just about making the hand look right; it helps the wrist to move freely. When the hand moves away from the body, the wrist rolls down; when the hand moves towards the body, the wrist rolls up. This wrist exercise helps Mika play without tension and keeps her hands relaxed.

The third thing is that I did not explain to Mika how a scale is built. How scales are defined, organised, and categorised. The word ‘scale’ comes from the Latin word meaning ‘ladder’. Scales are orderings of whole steps and half steps. Both major and minor scales have seven different notes. The eighth note is the same as the first note but one octave higher. That is what makes a scale. The difference is in the pattern of whole steps and half steps between the notes. Major scales sound bright and happy, while minor scales follow a different pattern and sound dark and sad. It is also important to let Mika know that before we start playing a piece, we need to understand what key it is in.

Analysis of peer teaching 

I watched a video of a piano teacher giving a first lesson to a beginner. Her lesson covers posture and where to place your hands. She also explains the basic finger numbers, how to find note names by looking at the black key patterns, and the way to practise a piece.
She explained why good posture is important. Sit in the middle of the bench, with your knees should be right underneath the edge of the piano keys. Elbows at a 90-degree angle and how to adjust the height. Her explanation was clearer and more detailed than mine. She discussed every part of the body and what each part should do.She taught the students how to find notes by using the groups of black keys as landmarks, showing that the note C is located to the left of the two black keys. I had only pointed out middle C to Mika. I should teach Mika this method so she can find notes on her own.
She taught a complete piece in the first lesson: Happy Birthday. She divided it into four small parts and let students to learn one part before moving on to the next. Mika did not learn a full song in her first lesson. Next time, I want her to leave with one complete piece so she can play for friends and family. Teaching in small sections helps students build muscle memory. Repeating the same short phrase several times also helps our fingers learn where to go. She provided a clear practice schedule, asking students to practise for 15 to 20 minutes a day, five days a week. She also gave a warm-up exercise and told students to memorise the note names by next week. I did not give Mika any homework or practice plan, but next time I will give her simple daily tasks. Overall, this teacher helped me see where I need to improve. She explained things more clearly, especially the reasoning behind each step.

Watching my peers helps me see what I am missing and what I need to improve. It also shows me which areas I can do better. What I can give my students with a better experience in future lessons. One sentence she said really stayed with me: “Lessons go in depth, speed is not the goal here, the goal is complete analysis of peer teaching.” It tells me not to rush. She reminds me that going fast does not help the student; what matters is making sure the student truly understands.

Bibliography

Edwin, E(2011) Learning Sequences in Music: A Contemporary Music Learning Theory. GIA Pubns.

Rechel, D (2023) Miller’s Information Processing Theory. Available online: https://www.scribd.com/document/678309069/MILLER-S-Information-Processing-Theory [Accessed 02/04/2025].

Guanwan, (2024) Journal of Applied Science, Engineering, Technology, and Education, 179-189.

Martyn, S (2024) Learning Styles. Available online: https://space.leedsconservatoire.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/2351468/mod_resource/content/1/2022%20Learning%20Styles%20slides.pdf [Accessed 14/04/2025].

Paul, H (2008) Improve your teaching! Teaching beginners A new approach for instrumental and singing teachers. Bloomsbury House.

Piano Roadmap (2021) Free Piano Course – Lesson 1 for Complete Beginners. Available online: https://youtu.be/hyJEKmoFQDs?si=zHUYdWKAIF2_QTPU  [Accessed 10/04/2025].