My school has new music textbooks for all 5 grades this year. That means I have lots of new materials to evaluate; Seeing what fits into the curriculum, what's worthy of inclusion into the repertoire,what tried-and-true methods to leave in and which ones to leave behind.
Summer is ticking away and I'm in the mental place where school MUST take a priority in my crafting world. Okay, crafting is not exactly the correct word to use in this context, but it is a fine line between "craft" and "art".
Teaching is a "craft" when all the hours of honing your skills and preparation set the stage for what happens in the classroom. I go into the lesson with a set of objectives and goals for learning, and then you get to "play" -like molding clay - bringing your students into the shape and form you want them to be. That sets up the next lesson, and the next, and the next. Pretty soon (months later), you have students who can sing and learn and read and laugh and play and enjoy making music. That's how I see the "art" in teaching. That's my job in a nutshell. That's my 30-plus year career in a nutshell. It's been a summer of soul searching through song.
It makes me excited to get back to work. Three weeks left!
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