STORY In My Classroom

Story is placing your signature to a work to personalize it and give it character, according to Daniel Pink and my students are full of personality. They bring new and clever ideas to the learning environment and I would like to share.

D.H. is a character, ran for "Mayor' of Long Middle, but lost it to a former orchestra student, and has such a gift of gab. She's very popular in school, joined the orchestra as a 6th grader last year and, plays the cello. This really doesn't surprise me, as 90% of present and former orchestra students at Long, are the Gifted kids, hold high positions in Student Government, and Junior Beta Club Members. D.H. lately has started to disappoint me and her mom, as she was also a leader in the orchestra, and her mother was very involved in "Orchestra Parents". Being young and full of life's challenges, all I can really do is help her do her best when she comes and hope she opens her eyes.

During our Black History Month concert back in February, 2010, as I was directing, I glanced over at my cello players and noticed something very unique! As the norm with the youngsters I have taught, many kids remain unmoved my the music they are playing. They don't feel time, they are more or less performing notes without my interpretations. There is no emotion in what they are doing, dare I mention feeling is mechanical, for the most part.

D.H. was leading her section, much to my surprise! She had taken over M.O.s' leadership and exerted herself as the principal. Her section was arranged better than had been previously in the classroom. Being that we performed in the gym and had more space, they looked like a larger section. Of course I had them arranged by ability, but the staggering of the seating allowed for fluid motion of the bows (I am a raving fanatic when it comes to bow markings and technique). I was impressed. Here's the thing, though. Not only was she emerging as a leader, but D.H. was Mozart for a day! She was using her motions to express feeling in her playing and staying on beat. She may have made mistakes, but she was being the child Yo Yo Ma. It felt wonderful to witness child expression while performing. We Shall Overcome seemed to be a testament to what she may be going through!

DESIGN in my Classroom

Design is an integral component of what I do daily as a teacher. I craft lessons thas are well thought out for my students. Design utilizes two key components: utility and signifcance. The lessons must be tailored to benefit my beginning, intermediate and advanced orchestra students, while, at the same time, be fun and engaging for them to feel proud of what they do and how well they do it.

In terms of how design is best demonstrated here, "Balanced Instrumentation" comes to mind. As I prepare Crawford Long Middle School orhcestra students for the APS String Fling, a muscial evening of stringed music featuring all elementary, middle, and high school orchestra students, I have been given a few musical selections to teach my students. I have also been instructed to make sure the students I am sending to perform will be of an even blend of musicians to compliment the other performers and not too many in any particular section.

Currently, as things stand, I am preparing all of CW Long's performers to play the String Fling music assessing ability levels and behavior, making sure our school will be more than adequately represented. Its a major component of design where all instruments will be depicted in whole group representation. The "Big Picture". According to CHAD's Barbara Chandler-Allen, " To be a designers is to be an agent of change," and in many ways in our local school sites, we music teachers are just that. As our roles as agents of change, we make any performance a beautiful, pleasing environment for all those in attendance. In the String Fling, as each teacher stays with the structure of this design I just mentioned, the rest of the Six Senses will fall easily into place.

Teaching Using The Right Hemisphere of My Brain

According to Daniel Pink A Whole New Mind, the brain is divided into the two hemispheres; right and left. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, is sequential, decodes text, and analyzes details. Although the two have these separate functions, they could not function without the other.


My way of thinking is totally right brained or R- Directed. I tend to see the big picture, or the finished result, although the way I arrived at such an end point is just as important. Being a R-Directed thinker ties in to the way I have been allowed to creatively express myself over the many years of my musical education. I am an entertainer and inventor.



Usually I start my lessons with the end clearly in mind. Case in point when the subject of the lesson was Rhythms: Notating and Creating. OUTCOME?/Objective: At the end of this unit, students will be able to recreate the rhythm to a song that has been played on the radio and play it on their chosen instrument (simple transcribing). According to the GPS standards, the students of the orchestra are supposed to be performing at or very close to their level, and if not, then definitely by the end of the 5 weeks for assessments, show evidence of trying to achieve this goal.



After teaching note and rest values, I show students how these values are placed in a measure that contains 4 counts. I show them how a whole note/rest looks with counts underneath, I show them how 2 half notes/rests are placed in the same measure, all the way down to how sixteen 16ths look all in the same measure. After making this Rhytmic Chart with notes and rests in each beat, the students enjoy clapping the entire chart, going around the room so everyone gets a chance. Can you say BIZ-ZEE NOISE??!!



After this major exercise, the students learn that we can then take any of these notes and rests and make simple little rhythms with appropriate counts. So on their lap top dry erase staff charts, they copy the 4 measure rhythm I place on the board. They are shown how to place counts underneath and when they are done, they challenge each other to see who can be the first to clap the rhythm. So by the 3rd or 4th week of rhythm exercises, they can clap out the rhythm to a well known song off the radio and soon after that, we place the notes to it and they can play it on their chosen instrument.



Some other supplemental exercises I do pertaining to rhythms are "Rhythm Taps" or as I say "Whack It" using the bow to tap out rhythms on the stand. The kids get such a big kick out of it, so much so, that I do it as we begin all of our new selections.

Another of My Musical Influences Has Passed Reverend Calvin Thomas

On April 3, 2010 my mother and I were given the news that my uncle(my mother's brother) passed away shortly after eating his breakfast. At first the details were unclear, but we knew he had been sick and ailing since December 2009. It is very unclear how long he was actually sick, because he was keeping his illness a secret for as long as he could. "He was handling things his way," my mom seems to believe.





The first bit of information he gave us was back in December when he took low sick with Renal failure(sp). I guess he figured he should let us know something when that happened. His usual baritone/tenor voice sounded so frail and breathy. He would still try to reminisce about the old times when he and my mom and their younger sister grew up. My mom says he remembers EVERY THING!! She used to think he'd be making most of it all up, since there was no way to really remember all that! But he filled his church with loving stories of his family especially with memories of his sister and her special operatic soprano voice to the point that when they met my mother and aunt, everyone felt as if they had already met them long ago.

He was a college professor of music, was a pastor and minister of music at his church. When I became a teacher, helped me with many questions and concerns of teaching music and how to design lessons for the students. He also critiqued my students performance and gave insightful help whenever I needed new ideas.

He was a great talented man, thought very critically, and touched lives everywhere he went. I miss him dearly.

Reflecting on the ARTAPS class to date

I have been out of commission for a while because of no computer to work from. I had and always had every intention to stay on track and keep my thoughts on point, but things always happen, and there is nothing you can do, but wait and hope that help is on the way.







This entry deals solely on my reflections of the ARTAPS course I elected to take. First off, I am glad I elected to take this course because I am surrounded by fellow music teachers who want to make a difference in how instruction is delivered in their classrooms. I joined the class because I wanted to open my mind and teach and think outside my ordinary usual manner and, in turn, free my children's thinking as well. The purposes of the class are clear: to perform, to create, to appreciate music. At times, I get challenged to move outside the comfort zone way of doing things, that my style gets to be "old hat" and old hat is boring and monotonous. The kids deserve a fun and exciting, challenging musical experience. I was the most qualified for the job, so I must make it happen for my students. The course is very innovative and contains presentations that are highly relevant to me as the leader of my musical society( my classroom) and is helpful in many ways.





I look forward to each class, as each class brings about a better understanding of what is expected of me as a student. I really want to do a webinar for the first time! I enjoy learning and putting to use new technological ideas. These are great tools that did not exist when I was in high school yet were evolving when I was in college, and as technology expands, so must my ideas to keep with the times. The class is very useful in my everyday life, in that I am consciously aware now of my thought process and in which way I am using my brain. I truly tend to be more right brained. It's inborn!