No One Left Out: Instruments Needed!

My Students

"Tell me, I forget. Show me, I remember. Involve me, I understand." This quote, a Chinese proverb, was often used by Carl Orff, a pioneer in music education. My students can watch and listen to others play instruments all day long, but they won't really understand until they can play themselves!

I am very fortunate to work with 574 brilliant elementary musicians across 2 buildings in my school district.

Many students attending my schools are classified as low income, as much as 49% in one building and 44% in the other. A growing number of students are also English Language Learners. Even though many of my diverse students are presented with obstacles, they are all full of energy and curiosity and hungry for new experiences. Music provides not only these new, engaging experiences but also encourages students to think critically, collaborate, communicate, and create often and usually without even knowing! I love to see their eyes light up each time we create something new together and smile to myself when I "trick" them into learning something new.

My Project

I am requesting 1 alto xylophone to add to our small but growing collection of Orff instruments and 1 set of mallets so 2 students can play together. At my school, the budget for elementary music education is not much compared to the cost of quality musical instruments. It is definitely difficult for teachers like me who rely on resources, costly instruments, and the experiences they provide to purchase the things we need to give our students a full understanding of the musical world. It is especially difficult to budget in bigger instruments because of their higher cost. Many times, one instrument's cost is more than an entire year's budget. Orff instruments are used almost daily in my classroom. Having a new instrument added to our collection will provide time for two more students to play each rotation. We use Orff instruments to accompany songs, play melodies, and create our own music by improvising and composing rhythms, melodies, and harmonies. With another instrument, students will be able to spend more time involved in music making and less time sitting out and waiting for the important hands-on experience they need.

In short, having another addition to our instrumentarium will give us more time for musical experiences.

Zoltán Kodály, another pioneer in music education, said, "Often a single experience will open the young soul to music for a whole lifetime.” I believe, as Kodály did, that is the school's responsibility to provide this experience. I don't want there to be a time when a student does not get to express her creativity or has his passion squelched because there are not enough resources available.