PK-12 General Music RI Newsletter
Rhode Island Music Education Association
winter 2023
Finding Joy by Deb Wagner
As the students arrive at Springbrook Elementary School in Westerly, RI, they walk past the music room. I try to stand outside my door to greet the students as they go by. A student gives me a fist bump and enthusiastically declares “we have music today!” Another student exclaims “See you later!” Yet another student stops to ask if she can come by at dismissal time today to play a song on her recorder for me; a song that she has taught herself outside of music class. “Of course,” I reply. These seemingly inconsequential, out-of-class interactions should not be forgotten or dismissed; they are genuine and spontaneous reflections on the positive impact of what I do. I try to take time to reflect on these small moments that bring joy to my heart. I actively look for these small moments and treasure each and every one!
Don’t get me wrong, the big moments are important to celebrate. I love the afterglow of all the big moments that highlight my school year. I cherish the positive responses of students and families following a student concert. I marvel at the silent moment that sometimes follows a truly beautiful performance. I am thrilled to lead the entire school in singing with just my voice and my guitar; it’s a rush! I celebrate the amazing and sometimes surprising growth of an individual student. I enjoy the spontaneous clapping from students to acknowledge a performance of a classmate during music class. Who doesn’t like the accolades from colleagues and administrators following a school assembly or concert? All of these examples are certainly joy inducing moments, but as I reflect on my career, I truly cherish the unheralded, quiet moments of magic that we witness in our classes each day if we just look.
Yesterday, as my kindergarten and grade-one students were singing and playing Mi-So-La songs, I observed 2 special moments that brought me pure joy. With my kindergarten class, we sang the song “Apple Tree” with Curwen hand signs and talked about how our hands go up and down in a way that matches our voice. Next we played the “circle game.” To play the game, the students form a circle and one student-leader walks around them holding the “apple” (a playground ball) while we sing. When the song ends, the student stops and gently drops the apple and taps another student, who becomes the new leader. At one point in the game I was a bit slow in starting the singing for the next round of the game and the new student-leader started to lead the class in the singing all on her own. She independently began singing, starting on the correct pitch and led with confidence! In my head I said, “Yesss!” For me, this is one of those little moments of joy. Later in the day, a grade one student was practicing playing “Apple Tree” on the xylophone and I watched her face light up after she realized she was able to play the whole song by herself. Seeing that little moment of silent triumph when she smiled to herself is what makes music magic.
At the beginning of January I was joined in my classroom by a new student teacher (Caleb) who took on some of the teaching toward the end of last week. Caleb decided to share a story called “Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle” with a kindergarten class. This story has opportunities for vocalization and features hand motions that help visually tell the story. I had the opportunity to sit with the students to watch Caleb perform his story. As he sat on the rug with our students and performed his story, the students were mesmerized and had huge smiles on their faces. They were so enchanted by Caleb and his story that they spontaneously clapped at the end. Both Caleb and I took a moment to enjoy this reaction. When you can captivate all students and move them to literally cheer, you need to acknowledge the power of what we teach.
Earlier in the school year, a teacher’s aide who works with our kindergarten gave me a beautiful gift. She sent me a video from a kindergarten field trip to a farm during the Fall. The students pick pumpkins, participate in learning activities and, of course, take a hayride. The video showed some students on the hayride singing an autumn song that they were learning in music class. They were excitedly singing the song with hand motions. I was thrilled to see them engaged in singing this song outside music class, just for the joy of singing. What an awesome moment!
We have all heard the saying “ take time to smell the roses,” but it can be easy to forget to take time to recognize the little moments of success that happen everyday in our music classes. I have included only a few examples, but everyday there are many magic moments happening in your music class. The rush to keep the class agenda moving or distractions, big and small, may cause us to overlook these tiny moments of pure joy. These brief glimpses of music’s power are what have fueled my love of teaching for 37 years.
Will you look for these magic moments? They are often quiet or silent and may occur when you least expect them. You may be witness to the very moment that sparks a child’s interest to pursue music beyond your classroom. These tiny moments for me are the true measure of my impact on my students. I feel so lucky!
Author Deb Wagner teaches K-4 at Springbook Elementary School in Westerly. She has been a teacher for 37 years.
Applications of Music Learning Theory to Instrumental Instruction with Richard Grunow
What will participants be doing? We will be singing songs, mostly in major and minor
with tonic, dominant, and subdominant functions. (Playing recorders on same songs.) We
will also be singing tonal patterns with movable DO syllables and chanting rhythm
patterns with rhythm syllables based on rhythm function. I will check with GIA, they
might send some recorders. I will also bring some recorders. Individuals might be
encouraged to bring their own. Mine will be sanitized. �� I like to use recorders at the
start because it makes it a new experience for those who have not played recorder.
Starting with a familiar instrument often impedes learning something new. Do encourage
participants to bring their wind and string instruments. We should have time to make the
connection from recorder to winds, brass, percussion, and strings. I AM KNOWN FOR
KEEPING PARTICIPANTS IN THEIR COMFORT ZONE.
Saturday, Mar 18, 2023, 09:00 AM
Johnston High School, Cherry Hill Road, Johnston, RI, USA
Educator Spotlight: Erin Preston
RIMEA General Music Council
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