After last year's craziness I decided to try for a change - and it somehow worked! Last year each grade K-6 had two on-stage performances. For those of you that have never planned a performance with 100 kindergarteners that may not seem like very much...but believe me, it was a little ridiculous! The hardest part was the extreme amount of time it takes to prepare the kids to do well at each performance...it took about 2 months out of curriculum teaching to prepare for each concert. 4 months GONE out of the 9 that we have to be learning about music! In addition, I have about 30 minutes total of prep time each day...and to plan 16 interested and educational performances in that time WHILE also planning for daily activities AND keeping my room organized and myself sane was a challenge to the say the least. Time for a change, people!
The hardest part was that I wasn't really sure what I wanted the year to look like, so last spring I made a proposal to change from two yearly "performances" to one "performance" and one "informance". An "informance" is basically an in-class time when parents get to see what their kids can do, and the kids get to show off their abundant skills (in a comfortable, safe, and familiar environment). My principal said "go for it", the superintendent eventually said yes, the board said yes, and I found myself slowly figuring out what this year could look like! I love change...
And it ROCKED! I was pretty nervous the first night, as the elementary music program has been the same for the last 35 years, and Story City isn't exactly a community to embrace a 'rocking of the boat', but it went great, was very well received, and the year has been SO much smoother. I feel like the kids are internalizing concepts and learning so much more...AND they got to show off what they can actually do, instead of just a few cutesy songs they learned for one performance!
Here are some highlights. :)
 |
| A few of the cuties up close :) |
 |
| Playing "Christmas is Coming" |
 |
| And they're ALL on the steady beat! |
 |
| I love my job... |
 |
| What's music without some xylophone ostinati?! |
 |
| Beautiful! |
1 comment:
So proud of you!! Love the layout as well. Fabulous job doing your job. You are awesome!!
-R&B
Post a Comment