Permissions

Did I mention how much I love teaching Level III?  The Romance of it all blossomed anew yesterday as they paired up to teach some 13 short lessons that were inspired beyond any measure of a fantastic and memorable class. Using music from Orff and Keetman’s books Music for Children as the springboard, they dove into the depths of their imagination and the heights of inspired invention to bring the whole of themselves and their culture to their undertaking. Those old warhorse pieces conceived by two Germans over 80 years ago given new life with Chinese games, Colombian cross rhythms, Spanish castenets, Iranian Farsi texts and rhythms and more. There were stories about witches and birds and baked goods, new lyrics written, partner games and always, always, a circle with the full involvement of the body and voice before heading off to the Orff instruments. Had I attended any one of these lessons at an Orff National Conference, I would have left the room mightily impressed with the Orff approach and the quality of the presenters. (Truth be told, more so than I usually am). As it is, the future of this work seems to be in capable and wild, weird and wacky hands, fed by the underground stream of deep thought and dedicated practice. 

 

Without undue pride, I believe I can take a slice of credit for it all, not only by modeling the essential details of effective teaching, but having written about them in my Teach Like It’s Music book and given homework assignments where the Level III folks read the chapters and comment. Both their written papers, their daily response to my teaching and their own teaching prove beyond doubt that they get  it. They teach like it’s music with an enticing beginning, connected middle and satisfying end, teach from the body, expressive face and musical impulses uninterrupted by explanations “(Now we’re going to…"), understand the power of 3D teaching by Doing it first, Discussing it next and Doing it again, lead the group from playful exploratory Romance to the work of Precision and the culminating pleasure of Synthesis as they create something new. They hit each of the 4 H’s (Head, Hand, Heart and Hearing) and are learning the power of Variation with Repetition as they do one thing 100 ways. Instead of drinking the Kool-Aid of the latest pedagogical dogma dreamed up in windowless rooms far away from children, they’re drinking from the cool, refreshing springs off the path in the forest that slake the thirst of children by teaching the way children actually learn.

 

All of this is important. All of this makes a difference. All of this helps heal the wounds of how we have been poorly taught and how we have carried that dubious baton unthinkingly into our classroom before encountering another possibility. But I think the greatest gift I am giving them is simply permission. Permission to teach from the depth of their own character without apology, to allow those wild, weird and wacky parts of themselves to come out into the fresh air knowing that they won’t be shamed and in fact, welcomed and celebrated. Teaching a challenging rhythmic pattern and phrasing with a fun game with tennis balls, playing the one-legged chicken game where they bump their partner and send them sprawling to the floor as a way to get to play the instruments, going outside to meet the wise woman waiting by the bush. 

 

My friends, life is far, far too short to waste it checking off dull National Standards and using the keywords the bureaucrats decided you must say to obedient, head-nodding (actually from being bored to death, not from understanding) children. In my post-practicum closing comments, I affirmed all of the above and asked them to make each class memorable, to make themselves memorable, indispensable, irreplaceable so that when they’re gone, people will miss them like hell! Of course, none of us are indispensable or irreplaceable, life marches on. But for as long as the children  or adults we teach can remember the feeling they had in our classes, we indeed will be honored by the scent in the air we left behind. And if that’s not motivation enough to keep growing and glowing, I don’t know what is.

 

Best news of all? Three more days with these beautiful people! On to Day 8.