I teach approximately four hundred K-4th graders in a low income/high poverty school district in Wisconsin.
The energy that these kiddos possess is my true motivation!
Their is no challenge that they won't attempt, and they crave all things musical. I want to provide every opportunity for them to explore music in their lives - experiencing music in the every day or leading the way towards music specialties that have been piqued through sound experimentation in our music classroom.
After nearly two years of teaching these incredible students, huge strides have been made in their musical abilities. However, our classroom still houses some materials that are either well past their prime or lacking in musical effectiveness. I continue to sort through, dispose of damaged or ineffective materials, and freshen up my curriculum, using motivation as the key ingredient leading to their future success.
My Project
Our Recorder Karate course is one of the most active ways to learn music that I have personally witnessed. There is personal learning that goes on, yes, but students also help one another - get helped by one another, and lead one another in our music classroom. The blossoming that takes place, both emotionally, and socially, as students show independence and leadership with skills that make them shine in ways that may differ from the norm bridges the socio-economic gap and many other divisions within students. Observing students as they gain confidence and show pride in their musical accomplishments can make all of the difference in their future successes.
This year we began using music stands for our third and fourth grade musicians - students share their music, divide into groups when we learn separate parts for a concert, and learn how to read music individually and within various groups.
The music stands we currently use are unsafe, and truly hamper the growth and development of our students. Creating music and learning to make music with one another is one of the most positive and uplifting activities that we can do as a student body. Being able to conveniently, yet safely, read notes from scores, is of primary importance to student success in our classroom. We look forward to being able to do so with stands that exemplify the value that we, as a school, place on our students.
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