Wednesday, August 29, 2007
New Year
Well, I bit the bullet and went into school yesterday. I had been dreading it, not ready at all to start the new year, but once I got there things went ok. I won't have 3rd graders this year (sniff, sniff), and as it stands right now, if every kid from last year were to continue (which probably won't happen), I would start with 59 kids. In the works this year is a Chamber Orchestra, for my kids who need a severe challenge--I actually have quite a few who will probably jump at the chance--so that is exciting. Because I won't have 3rd grade, I will have very few beginners, which will make next year very strange. But I can only take one year at a time right now. For now I am just hoping they don't cut the music program further.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Orff and String Teaching?
So here I am in the Eastman library with my favorite Java's drink in hand (iced chai) and supposed to be reading music history, reflecting for J, and creating a lesson for MH--and the library closes in two hours. Yeah, I got a late start, sleeping in to nearly 11:00. I don't think I've done that in ages, but lydee was kind enough not to shower and as a result I got much needed sleep this morning. (The shower is right next to my room and makes this horrible screaming sound.)
Anyways, it occurred to me yesterday that there are many things I learned in Orff that I automatically incorporate into my string teaching. On a very basic level, the level of interaction I have with my kids during our orchestra rehearsal is reminiscent of Orff. My kids are very involved and have a sense of ownership in the rehearsals as they choose our rhythms to use for scales, experiment with different ways we can play in rounds and make suggestions for improving our performances. I take the first 10 minutes of our rehearsal to do scales and sightreading. I've done scales with my kids since I started teaching, but this was the first year I've incorporated sightreading. And it happened at the suggestion of a student. I had ordered some easy duet books; a whole set that I could use during orchestra and was playing some with my fifth grade cellists. I briefly mentioned that I wasn't sure how I was going to use them with the rest of the kids, and one of the girls promptly said that we should use them for sight reading in orchestra. Our chorus teacher did something similar with her kids this year, and this is where she got the idea. It worked like a charm and was wonderful because my kids needed something more than scales to do for warmups. My kids could probably play scales in rounds in their sleep.
When we do scales, I have the kids choose the rhythms--slightly reminiscent of the building blocks we use in Orff--the kids choose different pizzas if we are in duple and pies if we are in triple. In Orff the idea is to stick to nature related things for the building blocks, but I have found that these two work great. What I have thought of doing is using the building blocks as the beginning for improvisation and composition in an ensemble. We've been doing a lot of that in Orff this week and it would be fun to use with my string kids, especially right at the beginning of the year when we don't have to prepare for a concert right away.
More thoughts on this later....
Anyways, it occurred to me yesterday that there are many things I learned in Orff that I automatically incorporate into my string teaching. On a very basic level, the level of interaction I have with my kids during our orchestra rehearsal is reminiscent of Orff. My kids are very involved and have a sense of ownership in the rehearsals as they choose our rhythms to use for scales, experiment with different ways we can play in rounds and make suggestions for improving our performances. I take the first 10 minutes of our rehearsal to do scales and sightreading. I've done scales with my kids since I started teaching, but this was the first year I've incorporated sightreading. And it happened at the suggestion of a student. I had ordered some easy duet books; a whole set that I could use during orchestra and was playing some with my fifth grade cellists. I briefly mentioned that I wasn't sure how I was going to use them with the rest of the kids, and one of the girls promptly said that we should use them for sight reading in orchestra. Our chorus teacher did something similar with her kids this year, and this is where she got the idea. It worked like a charm and was wonderful because my kids needed something more than scales to do for warmups. My kids could probably play scales in rounds in their sleep.
When we do scales, I have the kids choose the rhythms--slightly reminiscent of the building blocks we use in Orff--the kids choose different pizzas if we are in duple and pies if we are in triple. In Orff the idea is to stick to nature related things for the building blocks, but I have found that these two work great. What I have thought of doing is using the building blocks as the beginning for improvisation and composition in an ensemble. We've been doing a lot of that in Orff this week and it would be fun to use with my string kids, especially right at the beginning of the year when we don't have to prepare for a concert right away.
More thoughts on this later....
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Blogging
I am thinking about setting up a blog to use with my string students. I am considering using Blogger, but am also looking for other suggestions. Got one? I would love to hear about it!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
School's Out!
Woohoo! Friday was the last day with kids; Monday is my last day. Once again, a bittersweet ending to the year. It is hard to say goodbye to the 5th graders I have worked with for 2 or 3 years, but at the same time I am looking forward to working with next year's 4th and 5th graders. It will be so good to have a change of pace and (hopefully) a break this summer. With teaching you go crazy for 10 months and then have two months to recover. Today was the first Saturday in a while where I could get caught up on normal people things like balancing my checkbook and cleaning my desk. Good times!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Jeans....
For the first time in 5 years of teaching I wore jeans to school. (I've worn them on Fridays to church, but never to my other school.) The event would not be noteworthy except for the fact that 3 people commented on how I great I looked in them! Who would've thought that something like that would be noticed?
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
End of the Year
Things are winding down...it is a bittersweet time, more so this year than others. I am done teaching at church for the year. The Lord really blessed our concert and my ministry there as a whole this year. While I am excited and looking forward to next year, I am ready for a break.
My two string concerts are over as well, and the Lord blessed them as well. Right now I am in the midst of report cards, inventory, and other misc. things. There is a chance that I could be teaching general music there next year. I'm not sure that I'm ready for it, I've thoroughly enjoy my break from it this year, and having my Monday's off have been wonderful. But I guess I have to trust the Lord to work that out.
The bad news is that they are cutting the 3rd grade string program (district wide) for next year--a sad event for everyone involved. Many of the current 2nd graders think that they are going to take a string instrument next year, but they will have a rude awakening when they get to CH next year.
This morning was our year end party for the 4th and 5th graders. As I was creating my awards to hand out, I was struck by how many of my kids have just been awesome this year in helping me set up and tear down for each rehearsal. I even had kids come in and help with the 3rd grade orchestra. Overall, my kids have been wonderful to work with this year. If I had to make a choice, I would much rather work with kids who have great attitudes than kids who can play well. A child's attitude and willingness to help out are more important to me than his or her ability to play an instrument well. If only I had learned this lesson when I was young!
Before I head off to shower and work on report cards, I have to say that it feels good to update and write on this blog. My life has been so hectic lately that I haven't been able to think about writing. The Bible says that He won't give us more than we can bear, so I must trust that He knows what He is doing in this regard. Have a good night!
My two string concerts are over as well, and the Lord blessed them as well. Right now I am in the midst of report cards, inventory, and other misc. things. There is a chance that I could be teaching general music there next year. I'm not sure that I'm ready for it, I've thoroughly enjoy my break from it this year, and having my Monday's off have been wonderful. But I guess I have to trust the Lord to work that out.
The bad news is that they are cutting the 3rd grade string program (district wide) for next year--a sad event for everyone involved. Many of the current 2nd graders think that they are going to take a string instrument next year, but they will have a rude awakening when they get to CH next year.
This morning was our year end party for the 4th and 5th graders. As I was creating my awards to hand out, I was struck by how many of my kids have just been awesome this year in helping me set up and tear down for each rehearsal. I even had kids come in and help with the 3rd grade orchestra. Overall, my kids have been wonderful to work with this year. If I had to make a choice, I would much rather work with kids who have great attitudes than kids who can play well. A child's attitude and willingness to help out are more important to me than his or her ability to play an instrument well. If only I had learned this lesson when I was young!
Before I head off to shower and work on report cards, I have to say that it feels good to update and write on this blog. My life has been so hectic lately that I haven't been able to think about writing. The Bible says that He won't give us more than we can bear, so I must trust that He knows what He is doing in this regard. Have a good night!
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